048 Interviews

Conversation to collect first-hand accounts of experience, opinions, attitudes, and perceptions

• They are best conducted in person to include nuances of personal expression and body language, but may also be conducted by phone or social media.

• They may follow a script of questions or simply have a guiding topic, which allows for flexible detours in conversational form.

• Stakeholder interviews focus on information from specific roles or people who may have a vested interest in the particular inquiry.

• Key informant interviews concentrate on people who have specialized or expert knowledge to contribute.

• Interviews of couples or groups should be moderated so conversations are not dominated by one person.

• Interviews can be more productive when based around artifacts, the inspiration behind methods, personal inventories, and picture cards.

See also   Contextual Inquiry • Questionnaires • Surveys

Interviews are a common research method, often used to verify and humanize data collected using complementary methods such as questionnaires and observations.