Thread by @MagedZakher

Doing qualitative interviews? Have a look at this thread and let me know what you think. #AcademicTwitter @AcademicChatter -1

@AcademicChatter I've started to appreciate some of the attack on qualitative research in general and interviews in particular when attackers claim that 'anything passes' in a qualitative interview setting; after all interviewees are entitled to say anything about anything we, interviewers, ask!2

@AcademicChatter This thread is to articulate what can and cannot pass as a qualitative interview. I don't refer here to 'good' qualitative interviews: just simply 'qualitative interviews'. Enhanced, deeper interviews do have some criteria and I will be happy to share these in a future thread. 3

@AcademicChatter So, here are the must-have's. The basics. The very essence of qualitative interviewing, without which you cannot legally ( :) ) even call it a qualitative interview. 4

@AcademicChatter They have to be interVIEWS. A qualitative interview has to be built around the views of the interviewee. Views refer to 'things' that are not pure information or facts. 5

@AcademicChatter These include opinions, emotions, perceptions, values, attitudes, personal stories, frustrations, experiences, aspirations, struggles, etc. 6

@AcademicChatter A setting that produces mere facts and pure information is not a qualitative interview! An encounter where someone explains a mathematical idea or recite a list of ingredients or inform me of a series of historically verifiable events is not a qualitative interview. 7

@AcademicChatter A meeting where someone tells me of a series of complex steps for a medical procedure is not an interview. 8

If your interview data seem to teem with information and facts, you have not conducted a qualitative interview; you have gathered some facts. Bad? No, not at all! But such a waste of time (yours and your interviewee's), 9

especially if you can obtain such 'information' from other sources. Sources that can be more accurate, varied, verifiable, etc. In a nut shell, to collect such facts, a meeting with a person may lack the validity that is in other sources that can serve that purpose. 10

The purpose of a qualitative interview is to get the views of an interesting individual. 11

They also have to be INTERviews. This means that while you are after the views of an interesting individual, you're after those views in a conversational setting. Such a setting is cooperational. 12

You expect not only to throw a question and be bombarded with a long answer (teeming with insights, values, attitudes, etc.) but also to ask for clarification, to counter-argue, to show surprise, to disagree, to interact. 13

You, as interviewer, are not just using the interview as the research instrument; you ARE the instrument. You cannot simply send someone else to do your interviews as long as they have the interview schedule. 14

You cannot send off your interview questions and ask your participants to video him- or herself giving the answers. Well, you can; but that wouldn't be a qualitative interview. 15

There is something unique about natural conversations that can lend themselves to the previous point of seeking values, opinions, attitudes rather than facts, information and verifiable statistics. 16

My last point in what turned to be a longer-than-planned thread is that qualitative interviews have to produce data that have the interviewee at the centre. 17

Let me rephrase this: if you cannot see a human being coming through your 'interview' data, you haven't conducted an interview. 18

You may have gathered ideas about something, and such ideas were uttered by someone! You might as well have got them from a report, a book, or any other source. 19

An interview has to have taken place with someone interesting enough (for your Research Question) to be selected to be interviewed. 20

Does it really matter? It does! Remember that we sometimes criticise some quantitative pieces of research because they count the wrong thing. When you count the wrong thing, you still get a 'number'. 21

Getting a number could lead you to think that since you got a certain figure, then the design 'has worked'. There is a similar danger when you embark on collecting data via talking to people. 22

You can almost always guarantee that it will seem 'to work'. Simply because they will say things! 23

Unfortunately, there won't be an 'error' message saying 'you're asking the wrong question', or 'you're looking for the wrong data', or 'you're asking the wrong person' or 'you're not contributing enough to what should be a two-way conversation'. 24

Sorry, but you haven't conducted a qualitative interview if:
-You asked the Research Question(s) rather than some well-designed interview questions that in turn help you answer the RQs. 25

You haven't conducted a qualitative interview if:
-You sought 'information and facts' as your focus. You'd better obtain them from more valid sources (reports, books, etc.)
26

You haven't conducted a qualitative interview if:
-The data didn't show a human expressing their attitudes, values, opinions, etc.
-The encounter didn't include the interviewer's input. 27

OK :) That was everything I wanted to say :) 28

@HalaMansour @UNGradSchool

Interested in reading more? Here are some books&articles that I found useful:
Abell, J. and Myers, G. (2008) ‘Analyzing research interviews’, in Wodak, R. and Krzyżanowski, M. (eds.). Qualitative Discourse Analysis in the Social Sciences. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 145-161.

Arksey, H. and Knight, P. (1999) Interviewing for Social Scientists. London: Sage.
Cicourel, A. V. (1982) ‘Interviews, Surveys, and the Problem of Ecological Validity’, American Sociologist, 17, pp. 11-20.

Dana, N. F., Dana, T. M., Kelsay, K. L., Thomas, D. and Tippins, D. J. (1992), ‘Qualitative interviewing and the art of questioning: Promises, possibilities, problems and pitfalls’ Qualitative Research in Education Conference, Athens, GA, January 1992,

Douglas, J. D. (1985) Creative Interviewing. London: Sage.
Eggins, S. and Slade, D. (2004) Analysing Casual Conversation. London: Equinox.
Ezzy, D. (2010) ‘Qualitative interviewing as an embodied emotional performance’, Qualitative Inquiry, 16(3), pp. 163-170.

Gubrium, J. F. and Holstein, J. A. (2002) Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hermanowicz, J. C. (2002) ‘The great interview: 25 strategies for studying people in bed’, Qualitative Sociology, 25(4), pp. 479-499.

Hewitt, J. (2007) ‘Ethical components of researcher-researched relationships in qualitative interviewing’, Qualitative Health Research, 17(8), pp.1149-1159.
Holstein, J. A. and Gubrium, J. F. (1995) The Active Interview. London: Sage.

Kvale, S. (1996) InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kvale, S. and Brinkmann, S. (2009) InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. 2nd edn. London: Sage.

Mason, J. (2002) ‘Qualitative interviewing: Asking, listening, interpreting’, in May, T. (ed.) Qualitative Research in Action. London: Sage, pp. 225-241.
Mishler, E. G. (1991) Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Nunkoosing, K. (2005) ‘The problems with interviews’, Qualitative Health Research, 15(5), pp. 698-706.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement. London: Printer Publishers.

Roulston, K. (2010) Reflective Interviewing: A guide to theory and practice. London: Sage.
Roulston, K., deMarris, K. and Lewis, J. B. (2003) ‘Learning to interview in the social sciences’, Qualitative Inquiry, 9(4), pp. 643-668.

Rubin, H. J. and Rubin, I. S. (2012) Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data. 3rd edn. London: Sage.

Ryan, F., Coughlan, M. and Cronin, P. (2009) ‘Interviewing in qualitative research: The one-to-one interview’, International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 16(6), pp. 309-314.