Wk10- Interviews and Focus Groups Flashcards
‘Informed Consent’ definition
“A norm in which subjects base their voluntary participation in research projects on a full understanding of the possible risks involved” (Babbie, 2010: 66)
Obtaining ‘Informed Consent’ (4)
- Participation is voluntary (no coercion)
- Participant info sheet - detailing specifics of research process, aims, lengths of research, right to withdraw etc
- Plus signature on consent form and advanced agreement on anonymity
- Data not kept beyond time scale of research
Types of Interviews (3)
1) STRUCTURED
- Questionnaire- driven
- Not really qualitative
2) SEMI- STRUCTURED
- V. common
- Some consistency but adaptable
3) UNSTRUCTURED
- V. flexible
- Difficult if cold
- Can be more difficult to analyse
Semi- Structured Interviewing (4)
- Uses a ‘topic guide’ or ‘interview schedule’
- Each interview is different
i. e. qus not in the same order BUT still need to cover all the topics - Interviewee takes control (does >90% talking)
- Raises new topics, focuses on key topics, directs sequences of convo
- Care is needed to listen to respondents & allow them to speak
Interview Phases
1) ‘Warm Up’
- Easy to answer qus
“How did you get into pole dance?”
“Can you tell me a little more about your role in the society?”
2) ‘Interaction: Responding to Interviewee’
- Prompts and ‘Probes’
- Verbal & Non- Verbal: ‘Did you’ ‘Mmm’ and then eye contact, nodding etc
3) ‘Warm Down’
- -> Final broad qus
- -> Explicitly give interviewee opportunity to reflect (“is there anything we’ve missed?”)
Focus Groups
- Rougly 5 - 10 people for 1 -2 hours
- Participants may be PAID
- Interviewer acts as a ‘facilitator’ or ‘moderator’
- “Collective conversations”
Focus Group Organisation (2)
1) ‘Constructed’ Groups
- Assembled by researcher
2) ‘Natural’ Groups
- Members of a particular club/organisation
Focus Groups
Adv
- Socially- Orientated
- Lower- cost vs Individual Interviews
(More info in shorter time?) - Understanding how group values emerge
(DISCURSIVE REPERTOIRES: or how do groups make sense of different issues?) - Revealing aspects not anticipated by the researcher
- ‘Ideal’ approach for examining the stories, experiences, concerns etc of individuals
- Enables participants to develop their own qus and frameworks as well to seek their own needs/concerns in their own words on on their own terms
- Permit researchers to explore individual’s diverse perspectives since focus groups function within the social account of social network of groups
- Flexible too because method can be applied to elicit info from any topic, from diverse groups of people and in diverse settings (Stewart et al., 2009)
- Esp used for ethnic groups because can see how experience vary between group e.g. Racism in Leeds- important for where ‘complex patterns of behaviours/motivation are evident, where diverse views are held’ (Conradson, 2005)
Liamputtong (2011)
“Gap between what people say and what they do’
- Offers multiple lines of communication
Focus Groups
Disdv
- Researcher has less control over conversation
- Moderators require special skills
- More difficult to transcribe and analyse?
- Less vocal indiv? - either by nature of by presence of some group members = participants feel too intimidated to speak
- Group influence on opinion/Conflict/ conform to dominant ideas present - depends on DYNAMICS of group (natural vs constructed groups)
- Finding conducive env to conduct?
- Janet Smithson (2008) - Some research topics are unsuitable for focus group env e.g. too personal (abortion, HIV/AIDS, sexuality)
Nature of Data and Researchers
- Data are usually LINGUISTIC rather than statistical:
- CONTEXTUAL rather than cut out from everyday life: and researchers are engaged with their informants rather than separated from them as in a questionnaire survey
Art of Good Interviewing
- Conduct a conversation in such a way that the person whom you are talking about is able to freely express his/her opinions and feelings while, simultaneously, enabling you to meet your OWN RESEARCH OBJ
i. e. goal is to achieve an end result which satisfies both of you, informant and researcher
3 Main things influencing the decision whether to utilise Interviews as a research method
1) NATURE of the research project
2) ALTERNATIVE METHODS of achieving your objectives e.g. Stillwell and Phillips (2006)- qu. for overall pop to sample but for impacts of racism need interviews
3) CONSTRAINTS that will affect the ways in which you can achieve those objectives e.g ethical - interviewing campers
When is an interview suitable?
- If research proposal confers aspects of human geog in which one must make interpretations of the feelings, values, motivations and constraints that help shape people’s geographic behaviour
- Dean and Wilson (2009) - Immigrants getting jobs in Canada
and wellbeing effects - Need to understand the discourse through which different social groups make sense of complex issues
e. g. Stillwell and Phillips (2006) - Racism in Leeds for ethnic minorities
Suitable if you want to understand the complexities of the problem rather than reducing it to a set of key explanatory variables: if your aim is to undertake a case study rather than a representative sample of a wider pop
–> Leeds in particular
2 of the major constraints to be faced
1) ACCESS
- Can you get hold of those you want to talk to
2) TIME
- Will you gain the community’s trust in that time- if not, is it worth it?
- Best kind of qual. research builds over time with researcher moving backwards and forwards from the field to the interpretation of data and back into the field
How Many Interviews Are Enough?
- Balance between resources (time, money) and intellectual content: all qual researchers can describe the moment when they stop hearing new stories i.e. bounds of the subject has been reached
What Kind of Interview to Conduct (3)
- Who to Interview?
- How you will make contact?
- What kind of interview you will conduct: Formal or informal, one to one and/or focus groups
Snowball Interviewing
- INITIAL CONTACT with someone who might be able to provide you with other introductions- these people are often members of community- based organisations (e.g. gatekeeper)
- Inevitably moved on to a list of ‘people you really should talk to’ which grows at an alarming rate
Problems of Confidentiality
- People will need to be reassured about what will happen to the info they might give you: if you are interviewing one to one then need to decide where to conduct the interview- in home or office of public space or on the go?
Formal Interviews
- Questionnaire- based interviews
- Clear agenda of issues wishing to be covered- usually written beforehand, not as a set of qus but as important topics to be discussed
- Sometimes good to send the interviewee the schedule before you meet to give them time to prepare- also saves time which is v useful if your participants are busy bees
- Give security of knowing that full range of issues has been covered with informants whilst still being ‘flexible’
Focus Group Sessions
- Designed around an agenda of topics to be discussed by the group which are introduced by the facilitator
Informal Interviews
- Much closely resemble ordinary convos- aim is to discover how individuals DESCRIBE and make ASSOCIATIONS between diff kinds of ideas and experiences
- Tend to be much LONGER and TANGENTIAL to the problem: but can be full of insights into the life and personality of the person with whom you are speaking to
3 Issues to Consider when Conducting a Successful Interview
1) Interpersonal Skills you need to conduct the interview
2) Different ways of asking the qu
3) Recording of info
