PHD-homework-
Interview
topic- The impact of sexual counseling through educational programs on the marital satisfaction of couples with sexual dysfunction /Narrative approach
via Marriage and family Therapy theory)
Following the principles described in the text and the processes defined in the exercise, conduct an interview with at least two colleagues. (They can be fictional, just answer differently for the 2 colleagues) Submit a document that includes the following:
Identify who you interviewed and about what topic. (Colleague 1 & Colleague 2 can be their names)
Clearly outline the principles and how you applied them during the assignment.
Clearly outline the processes and how you applied them during the assignment.
Reflect on the entire assignment. What was fun? What was challenging? What would you do differently in the future? What was the most important thing you learned?
Length: 3 pages
References: Include a minimum of FIVE scholarly resources
Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.
Introducing Qualitative Research: A Student's Guide Interviews In: Introducing Qualitative Research: A Student's Guide By: Rosaline Barbour Pub. Date: 2019 Access Date: January 27, 2022 Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc. City: 55 City Road Print ISBN: 9781446254608 Online ISBN: 9781526485045 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526485045 Print pages: 111-132 © 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This PDF has been generated from SAGE Research Methods. Please note that the pagination of the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book. https://dx.
doi.org/10.4135/9781526485045 https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526485045 https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526485045 Interviews Aims • Taking the most commonly employed of all qualitative research methods, this chapter aims to encourage researchers to take a critical look at the assumptions underpinning its use. • It will advise the reader about the appropriate use of interviews – to elicit life stories through narrative and elite interviews, and to illuminate experience and meaning-making through focusing on specific episodes or issues. • Detailed guidance will be provided on developing semi-structured interview schedules and using these (together with prompts) in order to generate the desired data – in relation to both cross- sectional and longitudinal studies. • Advice will be provided on phrasing and ordering of interview questions. • The contribution of stimulus materials – in particular, vignettes – will be explored. • Planning and preparation are emphasized as key components of research design. • Hints are provided with regard to how to anticipate analysis. Introduction Often presented as virtually the ‘gold standard’ of qualitative research (Barbour, 2003), interviews nevertheless involve a somewhat rarefied in-depth exchange between researcher and researched. This chapter subjects interviews to critical examination, viewing them in a broader context, which explores both appropriate and inappropriate use. Although many texts stress the importance of asking questions, it is also important for the researcher to listen actively. In addition to discussing development of interview schedules and the challenges of flexible use of question order in ‘semi-structured’ interviewing, the use of prompts is discussed, and the accompanying exercises provide practice in using these to elicit data. Interviewing is both an art and a science, with approaches spanning a broad continuum. At one end (the ‘realist’ end) of this spectrum are studies that emphasize the application of technical skills in order to elicit respondents’ views (focusing on content). At the other (‘constructionist’) end are those usages which focus on form (through explicating the role of structural features of interaction in the construction of meaning). Most studies, however, are located somewhere in the middle of this continuum. There are benefits in attending to the potential insights afforded by both approaches if the full potential of interviewing as a means of eliciting relevant, valuable and analytically rich data is to be realized. This chapter will provide some hints with regard to developing necessary skills and capitalizing on your own inherent abilities. Everyone thinks they know what an interview involves – we are used to seeing these carried out on television by chat show hosts and political journalists and several commentators (e.g. Mischler, 1986; SAGE 2014 SAGE Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. SAGE Research Methods Page 2 of 22 Interviews Atkinson and Silverman, 1997) have argued that we live in an ‘interview society’. Many pieces in our broadsheet newspapers are generated through the use of interviews in order to present us with the views of celebrities, whether actors, pop stars, well-known novelists, or even the odd academic. Most of us will have been involved (perhaps on both sides of the table) at job selection interviews. Moreover, many practitioners utilize interviews as a standard tool in their practice. Latterly the online interview has become ubiquitous, and readily accessible, thanks to the medium of YouTube, in particular. Iyer (2006) reflects on the implications of these developments for professional journalism. He argues that internet search engines, such as Google, have made such material readily accessible and, through their concentration on the most frequently requested items, have resulted in interviewing becoming a circular form, whereby each new interviewer asks virtually the same questions as did previous interviewers. This could also present a danger to thoughtful and innovative qualitative research. Whatever your involvement in this process – whether as an active participant or as a consumer of interview- generated copy – it is likely that you have reflected on the importance of thinking through beforehand the sort of questions to be asked. This is enshrined in the checklists produced by professions in relation to diagnostic interviews and we have all probably encountered – even thought up – somewhat formulaic job interview questions, which are designed to allow ready comparison between candidates. When we employ interviews for research purposes, however, we are usually attempting to add to the knowledge base, either by questioning a new group of people about a topic, questioning people about a new topic – or both. What a perusal of the use of interviews in this wider context emphasizes is the role of the interviewer's style or personality. Although this reaches its peak in television interviewing (with some interviewers becoming celebrities in their own right) it alerts us, as academic researchers, to the need to pay attention to the match of individual interviewer and research method. Even where two researchers employ the same interview schedule the data produced may vary – some interviewers are better than others at making even a list of predetermined questions appear fresh and worthy of thoughtful consideration; some are more skilled than others at establishing rapport; and some seem to have a knack for encouraging interviewees to talk, knowing when exactly to prompt and when to leave room for the interviewee to mull over the question posed. When researchers describe their work as involving interviewing, they may actually be talking about rather different approaches. Again, a broad spectrum is involved, ranging from the use of highly structured interview schedules with identically worded questions being put in exactly the same order to each interviewee, through to very loosely structured encounters where the interviewee determines the content and order of the exchange. Developing and using Interview Schedules Before moving on to discuss the content of the interview schedule it is useful to consider the usefulness of pro-formas that can be designed to collect routine data on interviewees’ demographic characteristics. It is often more efficient to collect such information by means of a short questionnaire prior to interviews, as SAGE 2014 SAGE Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. SAGE Research Methods Page 3 of 22 Interviews this ensures that all such details are recorded in the one accessible place. It also cuts down on potential transcription time – and costs. This sort of information is invaluable when we come to identify patterning in our data (see Chapter 11) and allows us to provide useful thumbnail sketches (as provided in the exercise accompanying Chapter 11). This ensures that we routinely collect the same information from each interviewee. In comparison to questionnaires, interview schedules are relatively short, but their brevity belies the amount of work that goes into developing these. Researchers who are well-versed in survey research tend to produce long, detailed schedules with very precise wording. While this is a good discipline for designing questionnaires, it is not so useful for less-structured approaches. It is useful to remember that, in qualitative research, we are not seeking to measure attitudes or specify the exact nature of relationships between variables, but are, instead, concerned with eliciting in-depth accounts from people, with room for them to select which aspects they wish to emphasize. With quantitative approaches the onus is on the researcher to hone the instrument so that the maximum amount of precise information can be collected from the respondent as efficiently as possible. With qualitative research the interviewee is also invited to comment on the relevance of the questions posed and is also encouraged to expand at length on her/his chosen topics. In terms of drafting an interview schedule or ‘script’ (Kvale, 2007: 56) it is generally best to start with the least threatening questions and to move gradually through to those that might probe a little more. An opening question might be along the lines of ‘So can you talk me through how you came to be referred to the fertility clinic?’, as used for the study of couples’ experiences of sub-fertility and sub-fertility services. (See the excerpts presented in the exercises accompanying Chapters 11 and 12.) Such a question leaves room for the interviewee to select which parts of the story to stress and, importantly, where to start – some couples chose to talk about their relationship and how important having a baby was to them, while others began with the latest visit to their GP (where this was the referral route). Since this was a longitudinal study, with each couple taking part in up to 4 interviews, there was a lot of scope to develop the schedules as the project unfolded. This, however, was the list of topics that we provided for the ethics committee: Proposed Topics to be Covered in Interviews with Couples When they first consulted someone about their fertility problems. Who this was (GP or other professional). What the triggers were to the decision to seek advice/help. Whether couples consider that they are subject to pressure to reproduce. The nature and source of such pressures. What information couples have about fertility services and treatments on offer. SAGE 2014 SAGE Publications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. SAGE Research Methods Page 4 of 22 Interviews http://methods.sagepub.com/book/introducing-qualitative-research-2e/i515.xml http://methods.sagepub.com/book/introducing-qualitative-research-2e/i515.xml http://methods.sagepub.com/book/introducing-qualitative-research-2e/i515.xml http://methods.sagepub.com/book/introducing-qualitative-research-2e/i557.xml Sources of information – family, friends, media, further reading etc. Their expectations of the Clinic. Additional topics to be covered in second and subsequent interviews How satisfied couples are with services provided. Whether they receive counselling and whether this is helpful. Which aspects are most helpful. Changes in their expectations or views about the different services and options on offer. Factors which contribute towards making particular decisions. Interviewing as Interaction While none of the subsequent interviews strayed very far from these broad topic areas, this list gives little indication of the interactional richness and variety involved in the actual research encounters, as the researcher became familiar with the couples and their stories as these unfolded. With all of these sub-fertile couples, the interview involved a potentially emotive topic and the researcher