Each of us involved have decided to blog about different topics we discussed throughout the skype session. I have decided to blog about the problems that may occur with using interviews as a research tool and how I intend to approach avoiding these issues.
The main issues we felt that would be in interviews is the difficulty in creating interview questions that will ensure you get the best answers from the interviewee. The scariest thing I believe to be in an interview is to have nothing more than simple "yes" and "no" responses, particularly as my inquiry research is solely dependant on qualitative information. It is important that my interviewee's give their complete opinions but how do I achieve this? How can you control an interview without affecting the interviewee's answers? Another problem is knowing how it is possible to know that you are getting truthful answers from the interviewee. This is of course being an almost impossible problem to solve.
I have had to consider these factors when planning my interview questions, interviewee's, interview time, setting and ideal atmosphere:
Questions
I've found it can be difficult to decide upon what questions would be best. I began by referring back to my original mind map that I created at the beginning of my inquiry research. With this I was able to remind myself what the different possible aspects of nutrition were that I wished to ask about. I drafted my questions into sections. This will hopefully help with the flow of my interview as the better the flow of conversation, the more likely the interviewee are to feel at ease. I also believe that it is important not to be closed minded with the questions. It is my intention to approach each interview with the confidence to change, add and remove questions where I feel it would benefit the interview. I wish my interview to be more like a discussion so that the interviewee's opinions can be developed where appropriate. I think it would be wrong to expect anyone to answer a question I would not be willing to answer myself and so I have made sure that I haven't included questions that I feel are too personal. I have, however, written open ended questions that made lead to more personal answers if they interviewee wishes, this is of course completely up to them. As I am wishing to compare all of the interviewee's opinions, despite their minor or major differences in career and lifestyle, much of the interview questions will remain along the same theme although may not refer to dance in particular. Relating the conjoined opinions to the needs of professional dancers will be something I will process in the analysis part of my inquiry.
Time
It is difficult having to limit yourself to a time as you worry that you may not retrieve enough information within that limit. I do believe, however, that it is important to create a time limit so that the interviewee is aware before hand of the possible amount of time I am asking of them. I have chosen to limit each interview to an hour. I believe this will give me enough time to discuss everything I have planned and leave room for any extra discussion that may arise during the interview. I also believe that one hour would the maximum amount of time necessary for the interview in terms of keeping the interviewee's interest, avoiding repetitious answers, not taking too much of their time which my deter them from wanting to take part and avoiding having too much dialogue to analyse afterwards.
Atmosphere/ Setting
I am of the impression that the more comfortable the person is, the more likely they are to be honest and open in their responses. Because of this I want all of my interviews to be in a setting that is decided by them. I preferably would have all of them face-to-face but I am aware that this is not always possible with conflicting schedules. Interviewing via skype has been my chosen alternative to face to face interviews as I believe it is more beneficial to get immediate answers from the interviewee rather than practiced or pre determined answers that may not be as honest. From what I have experienced from being an interviewee, it is very unnerving when you do not fully understand a question. This could make the interview more stilted. To avoid this I will give the interviewee my response to the question in order to give them a better understanding of what I am asking. Although I am weary of determining their opinion with my answer so I will need to be light a vague in my response. I may also give a variety of possible conflicting responses for them to pick and develop as their own.
Interviewee's
I have been quite lucky with my chosen interviewee's in that I have worked, been taught or spoken to them before. This will give me an advantage of an already quite comfortable rapport with the interviewee. I am, however, approaching each interview as though I do not know them. I do not want to make any assumptions about how they may answer and so it is important not to miss out questions that I believe I already know the answers to.
Questions
I've found it can be difficult to decide upon what questions would be best. I began by referring back to my original mind map that I created at the beginning of my inquiry research. With this I was able to remind myself what the different possible aspects of nutrition were that I wished to ask about. I drafted my questions into sections. This will hopefully help with the flow of my interview as the better the flow of conversation, the more likely the interviewee are to feel at ease. I also believe that it is important not to be closed minded with the questions. It is my intention to approach each interview with the confidence to change, add and remove questions where I feel it would benefit the interview. I wish my interview to be more like a discussion so that the interviewee's opinions can be developed where appropriate. I think it would be wrong to expect anyone to answer a question I would not be willing to answer myself and so I have made sure that I haven't included questions that I feel are too personal. I have, however, written open ended questions that made lead to more personal answers if they interviewee wishes, this is of course completely up to them. As I am wishing to compare all of the interviewee's opinions, despite their minor or major differences in career and lifestyle, much of the interview questions will remain along the same theme although may not refer to dance in particular. Relating the conjoined opinions to the needs of professional dancers will be something I will process in the analysis part of my inquiry.
Time
It is difficult having to limit yourself to a time as you worry that you may not retrieve enough information within that limit. I do believe, however, that it is important to create a time limit so that the interviewee is aware before hand of the possible amount of time I am asking of them. I have chosen to limit each interview to an hour. I believe this will give me enough time to discuss everything I have planned and leave room for any extra discussion that may arise during the interview. I also believe that one hour would the maximum amount of time necessary for the interview in terms of keeping the interviewee's interest, avoiding repetitious answers, not taking too much of their time which my deter them from wanting to take part and avoiding having too much dialogue to analyse afterwards.
Atmosphere/ Setting
I am of the impression that the more comfortable the person is, the more likely they are to be honest and open in their responses. Because of this I want all of my interviews to be in a setting that is decided by them. I preferably would have all of them face-to-face but I am aware that this is not always possible with conflicting schedules. Interviewing via skype has been my chosen alternative to face to face interviews as I believe it is more beneficial to get immediate answers from the interviewee rather than practiced or pre determined answers that may not be as honest. From what I have experienced from being an interviewee, it is very unnerving when you do not fully understand a question. This could make the interview more stilted. To avoid this I will give the interviewee my response to the question in order to give them a better understanding of what I am asking. Although I am weary of determining their opinion with my answer so I will need to be light a vague in my response. I may also give a variety of possible conflicting responses for them to pick and develop as their own.
Interviewee's
I have been quite lucky with my chosen interviewee's in that I have worked, been taught or spoken to them before. This will give me an advantage of an already quite comfortable rapport with the interviewee. I am, however, approaching each interview as though I do not know them. I do not want to make any assumptions about how they may answer and so it is important not to miss out questions that I believe I already know the answers to.
Later on in the inquiry process, when all my research has been acquired and analysed, I am going to organise a debrief with the interviewee, according to their agreement and availability. This will help with how I have perceived their answered as it is important to make sure you have used their words in the most honest form rather than altering to suit my needs. I also believe that it is respectful to those involved to show them my final work to make sure they comfortable with their involvement and included in the final parts of my inquiry.
If any one else has any opinions or advice that they believe would benefit an interview I would love to know as the discussion process we has via skype proved that although we may agree on a lot, each person learning, writing and researching approach can be very different.
At the end of the discussion Adesola asked us all to come up with a time management tip for present and future students on this course. I completely agreed with Adeola's tip of writing "to do" lists to help you identify what you need to do. Unfortunately for me, Adesola got there first on that one so here is another:
Managing Time tip:
My tip for time management is to always carry a notepad/notebook with you for every day. The mind can not always be convinced to come with ideas on the spot or when you wish it to so being able to note down any thought processes at any moment can be very helpful. I have always found that my mind wanders when I am travelling to/ from work which then meant I was able to maximise the limited amount of time I had in front of a computer.
My tip for time management is to always carry a notepad/notebook with you for every day. The mind can not always be convinced to come with ideas on the spot or when you wish it to so being able to note down any thought processes at any moment can be very helpful. I have always found that my mind wanders when I am travelling to/ from work which then meant I was able to maximise the limited amount of time I had in front of a computer.
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