Qualitative Data Collection Methods

By
Dr. Abebe Megerso
(Ph.D, MPH/Epid., BSc/PH, Asst. Prof. of Epidemiology)

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 Session Outlines

– Interview
o In-depth interview
o Key informant interview
– Focus group discussion,
– Observation,
o Participant observation
o Non participant observation

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 Interview (Brainstorming)

• Have you ever conducted an interview?

• What do you think the purpose of interview?
• What are types of interview?
• Based on structure, how do we classify interviews?
• What are critical skills required to conduct interviews?
• What to avoid during conducting interviews?

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 Interview
• The word ‘interview’ stems from two words ‘inter  inside’ &
‘View  look’  meaning viewing the inside,
• An interview is asking questions, listening to, & recording the
answers,
• It is the most commonly utilized data collection method
in qualitative research,
• Why to use interview?
– To explore individuals perspectives & experiences,
– Address sensitive topics,
– Concerns about fear of reprisal/ punishment,
– When structured survey approach do not work
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 When to use individual interviews?
• When individual’s experience & unique interpretation of it is of
interest,
• When a topic may be too sensitive to discuss in a group,
• When respondents are too dissimilar to be meaningfully
grouped,
• Types of interviews:
– In-Depth Interviews (IDI)
– Key Informant Interview (KII)

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 In-Depth Interviews- IDIs
• In-depth interview is a process of two people
understanding each other:
– an emotionally loaded situation where researcher must be
sensitive & firm
– the goal is breadth not representativeness (up to data saturation),
– purpose is often to understand the lived daily world from the
subjects owns perspective - accessing insider’s perspective
– Exchange of sentiments, observations, ideas, opinion…
– Forms of interactions & level of reflections may differ depending on the
persons involved
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 Key Informant Interview (KII)

• Key Informant interview is an in-depth interview with a key

informant,
– Key informant is an individual selected due to his/her
knowledge, previous experience & social status,

• Selection is not random & there is potential for researcher

bias,

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 Qualitative Interviews Guides
• Are frameworks for interviewers,
• Usually start with general & introductory questions,
• List of main questions & probes,
• Open & non directive,
• Interviewer may diverge to pursue an emergent ideas in
detail,
• Interviewer may reword questions, drop/add questions
& change sequence based on context,
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 Qualitative Interviews Guides
• Types of probes:

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 Types of Qualitative Interviews Guides
• Can be any of the following or their combinations:
– Structured interviews
– Semi-structured interviews
– Unstructured interviews

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 Structured interviews

• Often used in quantitative research

• Same set of questions are asked, in the same order, using the
same words, to different interviewees,

• Structured interviews are convenient for comparing

responses,

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 Semi-structured interviews

• Researchers prepare interview guides that consist of a set of

questions to initiate discussion,
• Researchers generate other questions (probes) in
interesting areas of inquiry during the interviews,
• Widely used as the qualitative interview method,

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 Unstructured interviews

• Interviews without predetermined set of questions -

researchers & interviewees talk freely,
• Often used in combination with observation,
• Interview is flexible & highly responsive to individual
differences & emerging new information,
• Researchers have to generate relevant questions based on their
interaction with the interviewees – very difficult & requires
experience,

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 Key Issues in conduct of Interview

• Good rapport is imperative,

• Participants will to candidly only if they:
• Feel comfortable in the space,
• Trust the interviewer
• Feel secure about confidentiality
• Believe the interviewer is interested in their story,
• Do not feel judged,

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 Key Issues in conduct of Interview …

• Things to avoid:
– Influencing respondents by asking leading questions,
– Moving quickly from question to another,
– Interrupting the informants,

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 Tips to Interviewer

• Know your interview guide & probes well ahead of time,

• Rehearse your introduction,
• Be aware of power differentials (b/n the actors),
• Put on your qualitative researcher hat (be just an open minded
researcher without bringing other expertise in),
• Speak carefully & sensibly,

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 Class Activity (10 minutes)

• Be in pair
• Select one research question
• Develop an interview guide (short)
• Prepare to interview a colleague from other pair

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 Focus Group Discussion
• A qualitative data collection method in which one or two
researchers & several participants meet as a group to discuss
a given research topic
– Six to ten discussants per group for 30 min to 2hrs at convenient
places
– Encourages group interaction – participants can influence & be
influenced by other participants
– Complement other methods - Important to develop culturally
relevant questionnaire

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 Use of Focus Group Discussion
• Use FGD when:
– When group interaction will help address your research question:
bring out diverse points of view & contrast them in real time,
– Characterizing social & cultural norms,
– When breadth of data is more important than depth,
– Topic is NOT sensitive (exploring potentially sensitive topics),
– Sharing & comparing information,

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 FGD Vs. Group Interview
• Focus groups rely on interaction within the group based on
topics,
• The key characteristic which distinguishes FGD from
group interview is the insight & data are produced by the
interaction among participants,

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 FGD Moderator skill
• Strong interviewing techniques,
• Keen observational skill,
• Ability to control & guide discussion,
• Ability to suppress own personal views,
• Respect for participants (active listening, eye contact, concern
for comfort),
• Tips for good FGD:
– Create rapport among group members first,
– Establish safe space, engage the hesitant,
– Be prepared to redirect.

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 FGD: Advantages

• Do not discriminate against people who can not read &

write,
• Encourages participants reluctant to be interviewed,
• Help researcher to know expressions & jargon,

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 Observation
• Purpose is to get close enough to study subjects to grasp their
point of view; perspectives held by study populations
• The researcher participate in & observe sociocultural
context & obtain insight about daily life
• Two types:
– Non-participant observer,
– Participant observer,

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 Non participant observation

• Observing without participating – collecting data without

interacting or reacting visibly to participants activity (non
reactive technique)
• Technique helps to see how something happens rather than how
study participants perceive it happening:
– E.g. how are clients received, how long is the waiting time …
• Quality of the data will depend on your ability to watch & listen
without interrupting the natural flow of activity,

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 Participant Observation
• Observer directly interacts with study population & their
activities
• Requires competence in getting closer to people without
making them feel uncomfortable with the presence of the
observer,
• Researcher participate in & obtain insight about daily life in a
given socio-cultural context: dual purpose
– E.g. mystery client technique

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 Advantages of Observation method
• Provides deep understanding of the general setting
• Allows to observe whether people do what they say they do
• Useful to access knowledge of subjects -subconscious
knowledge that they would not be able to verbalize in an
interview setting
• Useful to capture a phenomenon & its specific components in
greater detail

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 Disadvantages of Observation Method
• Time consuming
• Require good skill in local language
• Requires good memory & ability to take note
• Enormous data may be generated
• Time lag between observation & note taking is likely
• Expensive,
• Ethical concerns vs. Hawthorn effect,

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Qualitative Data Collection Methods

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 Other Methods

• Simple qualitative Survey

• Document review …

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Thank you
!!!

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