Discussion 1: Best Practices in Interviewing
"Ordinary conversations are about sociability and maintaining a relationship, while interviews are more about making a relationship to help find an answer to a research question" (Rubin & Rubin, 2012, p. 99).
For this Discussion, you will view videos that depict different interviewing techniques. You will then analyze and evaluate the techniques used, and you will discuss how you will utilize best practices when you conduct your own interviews.
To prepare for this Discussion:
• Review Chapter 12 of the Rubin and Rubin course text.
• Review the two media segments on interviewing. As you view the videos, practice your observation skills by creating field notes for yourself. Be careful to distinguish between observation and interpretation as Dr. Crawford warns in the videos.
• Consider the following questions for your post to evaluate the techniques used in each interview. Which practices could you use in your own interview? Which practices should you avoid? Where did the person in the video go wrong? How could this issue have been avoided or corrected?
Post a 2- to 3-paragraph evaluation of the interview techniques used in both interviews. Include commentary and analysis of best practices, practices to avoid, and how this viewing experience will inform your approach to the interviewing assignment introduced in this week's Major Assignment.
When appropriate, be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the reading(s) and/or video program(s) and use APA format.
Discussion 2: What Makes a Good Interview?
The intent of a qualitative interview is to encourage, elicit, and illuminate the interviewee's experience in rich, thick detail. Consider that most interviewees will only have a general idea of your research goals and the depth you need for analysis.
Therefore, your presentation of the interview questions and engagement with the interviewee are the tools that guide the process.
As you consider your interview, think about:
1. Asking of questions to ask to encourage stories and examples
2. How to "reframe" questions to reduce ambiguity and bias
3. What you can do to make the interviewee at ease
4. What you can do to build rapport and trust
For this Discussion, you will examine the characteristics of a good qualitative interview.
To prepare for this Discussion:
• Review the chapters of the Rubin and Rubin course text and consider the characteristics of a good qualitative interview.
• Review the Yob and Brewer interview questions in Appendix A at the end of the article and consider how interview guides are used in research.
• Review the Interview Guide Instructions and the Interview Guide Example found in this week's Learning Resources and use these documents to guide you during your interview.
Post your explanation of the characteristics of a good qualitative interview. Also include what makes a good interview guide. Use the interview questions from Yob and Brewer's interview guide to support your post.
Be sure to support your main post and response post with reference to the week's Learning Resources and other scholarly evidence in APA style.
Major Assignment : The Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data
In previous weeks, you completed Parts 1 and 2 of this Major Assignment. For this week's Assignment and for Weeks 8 and 9, you will complete Part 3: Results. But before you complete Part 3, you must conduct your phone interview. Please note that before you conduct your interview, make sure you have completed your Discussion 1 for this week.
To prepare for this Assignment:
• Review the Interview Guide Instructions and the Interview Guide Example found in this week's Learning Resources, and use these questions for your interview.
• Conduct your phone interview with your colleague from this course or another Walden student you selected.
• Make sure to record your phone interview for your transcription. (Note: It will be important for you to notify your interviewee that the interview will be recorded for transcription purposes prior to conducting the interview.)
• Review the readings and media programs in this week's Learning Resources related to coding and consider how you will code the data you have gathered for your Major Assignment 2.
• Once you conduct your phone interview, begin to transcribe and code your interview.
Once you complete your phone interview, continue with the Part 3: Results section of your Major Assignment 2. You will continue to work through your Part 3: Results section in Weeks 7-9.
Part 3: Results
During this course, you have coded your two Scholars of Change videos, you have conducted and coded your phone interview, and you have gathered data from the Walden social change website and any other documents or websites you might have included. For this Part 3 of your Major Assignment, you will write up the results of your findings. You will include the following in your write-up:
A. Data Sources-briefly describe each data source including location, duration of data collection, how data were recorded, and unusual circumstances.
o Two Scholars of Change videos
o One phone interview
o Resources from the Walden social change website
B. Instrumentation-briefly describe the type of instrumentation you used for your data collection.
a. Who developed each data collection tool and what is the date of publication?
b. Where and with which participant group has it been used previously?
c. How appropriate is it for current study and include whether modifications will be or were needed?
Data Analysis-based on the data sources in "A.", provide a detailed analysis to include the following:
o Report the process used to move inductively from coded units to larger representations including categories and themes.
o Describe the specific codes, categories, and themes that emerged from the data using quotations as needed to emphasize their importance.
1. 1st cycle-describe, give examples.
2. 2nd cycle-describe, give examples/moving from codes to categories.
3. Identify themes-provide examples and illustrate your results with a figure or a chart.