Designing an Interview Study for A-level Psychology

I, Jyotika Varmani, tutor students of Psychology at all levels. I reside in Mumbai and tutor students online. You can contact me personally on my e-mail id jyotikapsychology@gmail.com or call/message me on 9892507784 for enquiries.

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Papers 2 and 4 of A-level psychology present questions for students to design studies. In the present lesson, I discuss in detail the design of a specific type of study - that of an interview. Please note, this lesson is not intended to explain or discuss the interview method of research - I assume that you are fully familiar with the method before you undertake this lesson. 

The following outline covers all aspects of an interview that students must consider and plan for while designing a study involving the use of the same:

• Every interview has a minimum of one interviewer and a minimum of one interviewee. While designing an interview, it is important to describe both (or more) of these parties in detail with characteristics of each that are relevant to the interview process;

• The designation, qualifications and/or experience of an interviewer are relevant to the interview process. For example, if an interview is to be conducted of a patient suffering from schizophrenia, an experienced clinical psychologist would be in the best position to do so. On the other hand, if an interview is to be conducted of a clinical psychologist on his experiences with various patients, a senior or fellow clinical psychologist might be most suited for the job. The identity of the interviewer must be presented clearly in the study designed.

• The experiences of an interviewee are relevant to the interview process. These experiences must be representative of the population whose experiences are to be deciphered though the interview. For example, if a typical college student is to be interviewed, then that college student needs to be interviewed who is average with respect to academics, extracurricular activities, appearance, interests, etc. for only he would have undergone the experiences which typical college students do. Selecting a high or low scoring student or one with exceptional talents would defy the purpose of the interview as such students do not represent the typical college student. Again, all characteristics of the interviewee relevant to the interview process must be clearly identified in the design of the study.

• The purpose of conducting the interview need also be explicitly mentioned in the design of a study. It involves both, a statement of the aim of the study as well as the justification for the selection of the interview as a research technique for the said aim.

• The aim of a study lends itself to being the basis of the unique research method chosen to conduct it. The aim and specialty of the research technique then, in conjunction, present a purpose of the use of the technique. For example, if the impact of social media on the daily lives of the youth is the research problem to be investigated, then the interview technique would provide rich, detailed first hand accounts from youth - something that other research techniques would not. Or, if information is to be gathered from individuals who are not adept at reading and writing, then the interview technique, being possibly oral in nature is more advantageous than written self-report techniques.

• The setting in which the interview will take place must also be specified in the design;

• While this might seem like bearing no consequence on the information obtained from the interviewee, settings of research studies do impact their outcome, as you would know from your study of generalizability and ecological validity of research. In the case of an interview, an interview conducted in a formal setting can elicit very different responses from an interviewee than one conducted in informal settings, given the comfort felt by the interviewee in each of these settings and the seriousness of the process as perceived by him in each setting. It is, therefore, very important to report the setting in which an interview will  be conducted in its design.

• The time at which the interview will be conducted and its duration are also an important part of its design;

• Just as the setting of an interview impacts the responses elicited on it, so does the timing of its conduct. The timing specified in a design need not be absolute in terms of the day and hour of the year in which it will be conducted or precisely down to the minute. It simply needs to be specified in relative terms - in relation to any important events concerning the research that they are connected to. For example, an interview with a consumer of a product may be conducted two months after he has been using the product in order to have him reveal his experience of its quality, durability, usefulness, etc. while the same interview may he conducted immediately after he has purchased the product to simply have him reveal his first reactions to the product. 

• The duration of an interview mainly indicates the depth or breadth with which information will be collected. Longer interviews cover either a wider range of topics or a few topics in great details. It is, therefore, important to have at least a rough idea of the time that will be dedicated to conducting the interview.

• The type of interview to be conducted makes for the next consideration in designing an interview;

• Based on the pre-determination of questions to be asked, interviews are classified as being either structured - in which all questions are predetermined; semi-structured - in which the broad themes to guide questions in the interview are predetermined; and unstructured - in which questions are asked spontaneously in the course of the interview. It is from among these that a type must be selected while formulating a design for a study. 

• The type to be implemented is chosen on the basis of the nature of the research problem that the technique is used to address. 

• If the nature of the problem involves collection of factual information that can be compared across a number of respondents, then structured interviews are most desirable. For example, if a researcher wants to collect the demographic details of participants and information on any previous diagnoses of disorders among them, then structured interviews are suitable. 

• If the nature of the problem involves the discovery of unexplored insights, then unstructured interviews are most suitable. For example, if a researcher wants to explore what educational psychologists think about a new policy of education introduced, then an unstructured interview that allows the educational psychologist(s) to decide which aspects they would like to discuss is most helpful.

• Finally, if the nature of the problem is such that it involves well-defined aspects or stages, then a semi-structured interview is advisable. For example, in interviewing a health psychologist regarding his experiences with an emerging health phenomenon, the interview can be structured around the themes of causes, symptoms, prevalence, potential treatment, etc. of the disorder.

• The mode of conduct of the interview is also an important part of the interview plan.

• With advancement of technology, available at disposable are online interview methods such as those done via video conferencing, via e-mail, via text messages, etc. The traditional face-to-face and telephonic options are also always available. Which of these methods is suitable to a study is typically determined by the availability of the interviewee and the availability of time for the interview. 

• Again, like other, considerations, the mode chosen to conduct the interview influences the seriousness with which the interview is perceived by the interviewee, how much information is elicited from him, the possibility of establishing rapport with the interviewee, the flow of the interview which can subsequently motivate or demotivate the interviewee to speak at length, and so forth. Hence, it is a very important part of the interview design.

• The questions to be asked form a core consideration of the planning process.

• The questions to be asked are developed in purview of the responses desired from the interviewee. At least a small sample of the questions to be asked should be presented in the interview design.

• Questions also tend to be various types, such as close-ended and open-ended questions; reflective, investigative and confirmatory questions; questions for building rapport and those for charting the research problem, etc. Keeping in mind the responses desired, suitable questions must be developed that serve their purpose best.

• The method of recording responses on the interview must be duly considered as well. 

• Responses of interviewees can be recorded by several means including tape recorders, video recorders, pen-and-paper notes or memorization for later writing. The method which is chosen affects the accuracy with which the interview is reported and subsequently analysed. Hence, it must be decided upon during the planning stage itself.

• The analysis that information obtained from the interview will be subject to also needs prior consideration.

• Since interviews typically yield detailed verbal information, they are subject to qualitative analysis in the form of either content or thematic analysis, done through the medium of coding performed by multiple scorers. It is important to plan exactly which qualitative analysis the resultant data will be subject to and with which aim in mind, in as much detail as possible.

While all of this might seem very extensive, there is actually no designing a good interview without having these steps as a guide in one's mind. These steps can be used as a mental checklist while developing the plan of the interview. 

I present an example below that utilizes all these steps and succinctly justifies them, for developing an interview plan and I strongly recommend that you identify each of these steps in the excerpt as an exercise:

Sample Question -

A renowned hospital is interested in exploring the everyday health-related choices of those suffering from heart problems. They wish to publish their findings in a reputed medical magazine. Design an interview for their investigation.

Sample Answer - 

To begin with preparing a plan for their interview study, the hospital could hold a brainstorming session with at least five cardiologists associated with their hospital, to get their help on how the interview process should be carried out. These same cardiologists could serve as interviewers for the study as they would have access to patients suffering from heart problems and also as their expertise would help them elicit relevant behavioural descriptions from their patients. To attain largely generalizable findings, the cardiologists could interview patients suffering from heart problems of all types and intensities; and those belonging to both genders and coming from various age groups. Since heart problems are fairly common in the population, interviewing a sample of at least a hundred patients would be easy for the interviewers. The interviews could be conducted in the hospital itself, face-to-face, when the patients would turn up for appointments with their cardiologists. Since the topic for the interviews, that of everyday health behaviours of patients is narrow, the interview would require a commitment of about ten or fifteen minutes from each patient, resulting in a focused session.

A semi-structured interview would be suitable for this purpose, with the cardiologists deciding upon the broad health-related themes that they would like to explore among their patients, such as 'diet', 'exercise', 'relaxation', 'medication', etc. The cardiologists' expertise would be useful in adapting questions to the nature of responses being presented by their patients. Open-ended questions would be most suitable to the present interview since they would provide an opportunity to interviewees to discuss any unusual or unexpected health practices of theirs. Few such sample questions relevant to the interview include-

• How would you describe your diet on a typical workday?

• How would you describe your diet on a typical weekend?

• How would you describe the medication schedule for your heart problem?

• How would you describe your adherence to your medication schedule?

• How would you describe your exercise routine?

• How would you describe your practice of relaxation and recreation?

Responses given by participants could be recorded on an audiotape for later qualitative analysis, with consent obtained for the same. The obtained responses could then be subject to a thematic analysis, identifying both common and unique patterns of health-related behaviours by the patients. The analysis could be centered around the themes adopted for the semi-structured interview. Coding of responses to define similarities and difference between them could be done by at least three independent raters, preferably other cardiologists who have not served as interviewers, to avoid researcher bias. Finally, an inter-rater reliability analysis could be performed on the coding done, to establish agreement and then, a report could be prepared and sent to the magazine for review.

Do think about the strengths and limitations of the study example presented above and let me know in the comments below if you would like a follow-up post on the same.

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As a summary of the lesson above I present a checklist below, of all the aspects of an interview that must be included in your interview design-

• Description of the interviewer(s) and interviewee(s);

• Description of the purpose of the interview;

• Description of the setting of the interview;

• Description of the timing and duration of the interview;

• Description of the type of interview - structured, unstructured or semi-structured;

• Description of the mode of conduct of the interview;

• Description of the nature of questions to be asked;

• Description of the means of recording of responses;

• Description of the analysis that the responses gathered will be subject to.

Ultimately, an interview is a tool of data collection. What you are asked to do in the paper is design a study and not simply to describe the implementation of a tool of data analysis. Keep this in mind as you design your study, for every study goes through phases of its methodology, including sampling, procedure and data analysis. All of these must be given due consideration while designing a study, irrespective of the particular technique implemented for data collection.

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Related to this post is a small but very important note that I would like you to make before I end this post- 

Whenever you design a study, be it one using the interview method or any other, DO NOT deliberately make errors such as needlessly including small samples or selecting the wrong technique of data analysis, such as using qualitative analysis for quantitative data. Some teachers have been advising that this be done so that the next answer, which involves an evaluation of the created design, may be 'easier' to attempt by just pointing out these flaws by the researcher in designing the study. Take note that evaluation of a design is based on the limitations of the methods employed - which are inherent in every method. An interview, for example, is limited, no matter how well designed, given that it is a self-report method that is qualitative in nature; and it is in view of it's this foundation and related facts that it must be evaluated. Evaluation cannot be made of the mistakes and oversights by a researcher in planning a study, for that is not an evaluation of the design itself but an evaluation of the researcher's capability.

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