Exercises

  1. Formulate your own research question(s) that fits the application of in-depth interviews. Why are in-depth interviews the appropriate method to apply?
  2. Formulate an interview guide for your own research. Check whether the interview guide, research questions and conceptual framework link to each other. Show the interview guide to a fellow researcher and discuss whether it is appropriate for in-depth interviews. Adapt the guide accordingly. Conduct two pilot interviews, and again adapt the guide accordingly.
  3. For your own research, how would you establish an initial rapport with the study population? How do you present yourself? Reflect on your positionality.
  4. Where will you conduct your interviews? What would be the ideal seating for you and the interviewees? Why?
  5. Take one or two of the open questions in your interview guide. How will you pose the question(s) to the interviewee? Practice with a fellow researcher and pose the questions in different styles: like a teacher, a judge, a survey researcher and a qualitative researcher.
  6. Conduct an interview. After the interview, reflect on how it went. Transcribe the text and share the transcript with a fellow student/researcher. Reflect together on the interview.