Created by: Dr Scott Tindal
Briefing for Topic 4: Qualitative data collection
Topic 4: Qualitative data collection
The research interview
All qualitative research stems from a preoccupation to try and understand the social world from the
perspective of those who live in it. Qualitative researchers seek to understand people’s views of the
social world, and the meaning that people give to it. “Meaning” in this context refers to how people
interpret the world, how they experience it, and as they live it. That people are witnesses to their
own life, and are able to participate in research not just as ‘subjects’, but as active participants. As
such, qualitative research seeks to “participate in the minds of others” (Bryman and Bell, 2003), to
have empathy with others, and to try and understand why people feel, believe, think, and
understand the word in the ways they do. It ultimately wants to see how people interpret the world
around them.
There are several ways to collect qualitative data, but the most common in business and
management research is through the research interview. A research interview is a conversation
between a researcher (interviewer) and a participant (interviewee). If there are more than one
participant being interviewed, it is called a focus group.
Within the research interview, the researcher will ask clear, unbiased, open questions, and listen
carefully to the answers. By listening carefully, and asking follow-up questions, the researcher can
explore with the participant important points of interest, clarify statements, or expand on issues.
The researcher and participant, through their conversation, generate data in the form of words.
These words are recorded and transcribed (written down, exactly as it was said). This written
document becomes a type of testimony; a qualitative record which contains within it the detailed
views, experiences, thoughts, reflections, and ideas of the participant.
Interview standardisation
The method of qualitative research interview can be divided into three types: structured; semistructured; and unstructured interviews.
A structured interview is a ‘standardised’ interview. It has a fixed set of questions which the
researcher will ask each participant. Each participant will be taken through the same questions, in
the same sequence. The strength of this approach is that because each question is asked in exactly
the same way, and in the same order, it is possible to compare responses on a like-for-like basis.
However there is no scope for asking additional questions during the interview to explore and
expand on what the participant has said, therefore missing potentially vital information.
A semi-structured interview is where the researcher will have a set of questions that they want to
ask the participants, but the exact way they will ask the question, and the order in which they are
asked, will vary. The context and circumstances of the interviewee may mean that the interview asks
questions differently, or that the order of the question may vary, depending on what the participant
has just said. There is also cope for asking additional, unscripted, questions which follow from what
the participant has said. This is the most common approach to qualitative research interviews in
business and management research. The strength of this approach is that it is more flexible,
questions can be adapted and changed depending on the participants’ responses. This creates
opportunities to explore new areas which were previously unknown to the researcher. The limits of
this approach are that it is no longer to directly compare responses to specific questions. Moreover,
Created by: Dr Scott Tindal
Briefing for Topic 4: Qualitative data collection
this approach requires good interpersonal and active listening skills from the researcher in ways that
structured interviews do not.
An unstructured interview is one where the researcher does not come with specific questions, but
may have a short list of topics that they want to discuss. This type of interview tends to be more
free-flowing, and may even look a bit like a storytelling conversation, rather than an interview. This
type of interview is common in anthropology and cultural studies, and rare in business and
management research. The strength of this approach is that it allows the participant to direct the
interview, to describe what is important to them, in their own words. The limitation of this approach
is that requires an extraordinarily skilled researcher to conduct these interviews, and it becomes
very different to compare interviews across participants.
Interview schedule
Regardless of the method of interview, researchers will work with a document which lists the
questions (or topics) to be covered in the interview. This is called an interview schedule. In
developing the questions to be included in the interview schedule, researchers start by thinking
about their overall research question(s). This will first set broad boundaries around what types of
questions they might ask to answer their research question.
You might generate specific questions from the existing academic literature, the types of questions
that businesses and practitioners are asking, questions being raised in the media, and the types of
questions that you might have in your own mind. All of these can be sources of thinking about what
you want to ask your participants about.
The questions themselves must not be judgemental, leading, or double-barrelled. They must be
open – that means that questions should not be answerable with a Yes/No type response.
The individual questions you ask each participant will need to be organised by theme, so that they
don’t jump back and forth. Each question might have sub-questions linked to it, or ‘probes’. “Probing
is a specific research technique used by interviews in individual interviews […] and focus groups to
generate further explanation from research participants. Probing may be achieved nonverbally with
pauses or gestures, or verbally with follow-up questions” (Roulston, 2012: 682).
The interview
In order to create good quality data, the interviewer must be empathetic with the participant, even
if the researcher fundamentally and strongly disagreed with the participant. For example, a former
colleague of mine, Dr Hilary Pilkington, completed her PhD where she interviewed activists from the
far-right English nationalist organisation; the English Defence League (see Pilkington, 2016). She
fundamentally disagreed with their views and politics, but as a good researcher, she asked questions
in a neutral and unbiased way, listened carefully to what they said, and asked follow-up questions.
Qualitative researcher must be engaged and actively listen to what the participants are saying. This
is a skill which is developed by practice. When interviewing with participants you must not interrupt,
or speak at length. The goal is to speak in ways which would encourage the participant to elaborate
or discuss their own views.
Created by: Dr Scott Tindal
Briefing for Topic 4: Qualitative data collection
References
Bryman, A., Bell, A. and Harley B. (2018) Business Research Methods. 5th Edition. Oxford University
Press: Oxford, UK. Chapter 14.
Irvine, A., Drew, P. and Sainsbury, P. (2012) ‘Am I not answering your questions properly?’
Clarification, adequacy and responsiveness in semi-structured telephone and face-to-face
interviews. Qualitative Research 13 (1): 86-106.
Novik, G. (2008) Is there bias against telephone interviews in qualitative research? Research in
Nursing & Health 31: 391-398.
Roulston, K. (2012) Probes and probing. In Givin, L (ed) The SAGE encyclopaedia of qualitative
research methods. SAGE: London.
Saunders, M.N.K., Lewis, P. and Thornhill. A (2019) Research Methods for Business Students. 8th
Edition. Pearson Education. Harlow, UK. Chapter 10.
Thomson, P. (2016) Ask not why, but how – musings on ‘the interview’: Accessible:
https://patthomson.net/2016/12/01/ask-not-how-but-why-musings-on-the-interview/