8:16amJul 10 at 8:16am
Manage Discussion EntryHi Marcus,
Thanks for sharing in this week's discussion. You mentioned the importance of conducting a pilot study. Do you think all studies require a pilot study, if so which studies would not and why?
Designing an interview protocol When designing a qualitative study that includes interviewing, an interview script, guide, or protocol, is usually developed. In writing the script, what aspects must a researcher be concerned with besides those directly related to your research question? Solution: Interviewing is a data collection technique that helps us to address our research. In addition, it allows us to gain insights from the participants under study. There are different types of qualitative research interviews, such as unstructured, semi-structured, and structured interviews. These methods are a quick way to collect and analyze the complete information from the respondents in a short period. Under semi-structured or structured interviews are governed by a guide with discussion based on specific points and opinions with a good impact on the question under study. The type of question being asked is of closed-form or open-ended type. These questions can yield the maximum information possible, which goes with the objective of our research. While framing the script, we need to determine the study's objective and design the framework to focus on the individuals. Apart from the questions, the interviewer should build an environment of trust with the respondent to get adequate information. While conducting the interview, one has to make the respondent comfortable with the study while asking questions. At every point, it is advisable to seek clarification from the respondents if things become unclear ( Kvale, 1996 ). After framing the interview script, one should first attempt to conduct a pilot study. This can further help us look at our pitfalls and decide whether our questions are sufficient to gather the information and meet the objective of our research. The length of an interview varies depending on the structure of the questions. The time and place of conduct of an interview should be based on the respondent's choice so that he can give the best possible answers at his convenience. We also have to ensure that the respondents feel confident in sharing their information and that it will be kept confidential by the interviewer. The questions' framework should be designed so that they flow from general issues to specific issues while keeping in mind the objective of our study (Gill et al., 2008). According to Creswell et al. (2019), the number of questions asked in a qualitative interview shall lie in the range of five to ten. Using open-ended questions, we can design our protocol so that in-depth information is available. This further provides a better understanding and explores the opinions as well as the behavior of the phenomenon. Towards the end of the interview, one has to address the respondent with gratitude for patiently answering our questions. It further encourages the respondents to share their views if anything he feels was left uncovered in the study. This kind of relationship is essential to build to complete an interview successfully. References: Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Gill, P., Stewart, K., Treasure, E., & Chadwick, B. (2008). Methods of data collection in qualitative research: interviews and focus groups. British dental journal, 204(6), 291-295. Creswell, J. D., Lindsay, E. K., Villalba, D. K., & Chin, B. (2019). Mindfulness training and physical health: mechanisms and outcomes. Psychosomatic medicine, 81(3), 224.