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Research Methodology: Interviews

Interview Overview

Interviews are designed to collect a richer source of information from a small number of people about:

  • Attributes
  • Behavior
  • Preferences
  • Feelings
  • Attitudes
  • Opinions
  • Knowledge

Interviews are most effective for qualitative research:

  • They help you explain, better understand, and explore research subjects' opinions, behavior, experiences, phenomenon, etc.
  • Interview questions are usually open-ended questions so that in-depth information will be collected.

There are several types of interviews, including:

  • Phone
  • Face-to-Face
  • Online (e.g. Skype, Googlehangout, etc)

What are the important steps involved in interviews?

  • Design interview questions
    • Think about who you will interview
      • Think about what kind of information you want to obtain from interviews
      • Think about why you want to pursue in-depth information around your research topic
  • Develop an interview guide
    • Introduce yourself and explain the aim of the interview
    • Devise your questions so interviewees can help answer your research question
    • Have a sequence to your questions / topics by grouping them in themes
    • Make sure you can easily move back and forth between questions / topics
    • Make sure your questions are clear and easy to understand
    • Do not ask leading questions
  • Plan and manage logistics
    • Do you want to bring a second interviewer with you?
    • Do you want to bring a notetaker?
    • Do you want to record interviews? If so, do you have time to transcribe interview recordings?
    • Where will you interview people? Where is the setting with the least distraction?
    • How long will each interview take?
    • Do you need to address terms of confidentiality?

Do I have to choose either a survey or interviewing method?

No.  In fact, many researchers use a mixed method - interviews can be useful as follow-up to certain respondents to surveys, e.g., to further investigate their responses.

Is training an interviewer important?

Yes, since the interviewer can control the quality of the result, training the interviewer becomes crucial.  If more than one interviewers are involved in your study, it is important to have every interviewer understand the interviewing procedure and rehearse the interviewing process before beginning the formal study.

About Interviews

Conducting Interviews allow researchers to learn detailed information from individuals. It is useful when you want to learn more about indivduals who experience something first hand first or talk to someone knowledgeable about a topic. There are several different types of interviews including: face to face, phone, email, and chat.

Method Demonstrated by IQPs

Transcription Software

Why Transcribe Your Audio/Video Content?

Transcribing your audio and video content offers numerous benefits:

  1. Increased accessibility and usability
  2. Enhanced searchability
  3. Facilitated data analysis
  4. Legal compliance
  5. Improved archiving and documentation
  6. Ethical considerations
 

Available Transcription Services

Several captioning and transcription services are available to members of our university community. Before choosing a service, please consider the following important notes:

  • Research Projects: If you're transcribing content for research purposes, we strongly recommend contacting the  WPI's Institutional Review Board (IRB) at https://www.wpi.edu/offices/vice-provost-research/compliance/institutional-review-board for guidance on appropriate tools.
  • Privacy and Security*: We do not evaluate how these services (human or AI-based) use your content or assess any privacy/security concerns. Please check with the IRB and your project administrators to ensure these tools comply with their policies for your research.
  • Accuracy and Cost: Human transcribers generally provide higher accuracy than AI transcriptions but tend to be more expensive and have longer turnaround times.
  • Quality Assurance: For projects requiring high accuracy, we recommend proofreading all transcriptions, regardless of the method used.
  • Funding: If you have a grant-funded project, consider including transcription costs in your grant proposal.

 

Choosing the Right Transcription Tool

When selecting a transcription service, consider the following factors:

  • Required level of accuracy
  • Language(s) to be transcribed
  • Duration of audio/video content
  • Budget constraints
  • Preference for AI-based or human transcription
  • Desired turnaround time
  • Need for time-stamped captions or simple transcription
  • HIPAA or IRB compliance requirements
  • Real-time transcription for live content vs. recorded content transcription

By carefully evaluating these factors, you can choose the most appropriate transcription service for your specific needs.

 

 

Transcription/Captioning Services Available/In-use at WPI:

  • Adobe Premiere - AI captioning/transcription. Free for WPI users.

  • Zoom* - AI captioning. Provides live captioning as well.

  • YouTube* - AI captioning/transcription. Free for all users. YouTube can automatically generate captions in over 100 languages

 

There are new AI-based services all the time, and we recommend doing a survey of the current landscape if you think the services we list here may not meet your needs.

Books on Research Interviews