Qualitative Research methods

Lecture 3
dr. John Gelissen

Designing Fieldwork Strategies and Materials

Structuring data collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stages of discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Designing topic guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Incorporating other research instruments and materials .
Incorporating other research instruments and materials .
In-depth interviews
Perspectives on the interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Staging of an interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Asking questions to achieve breadth and depth I .
Asking questions to achieve breadth and depth II .
Question formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Further techniques for achieving depth . . . . . . . .
Handling interview situations and practical issues .
Examples I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examples II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examples III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examples IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Designing Fieldwork Strategies and Materials

Page 2 / 19

Structuring data collection

Level of structure required

Very exploratory studies vs. studies needing more structured data collection
Unstructured, non-standardized or in-depth interview vs. semi-structured or semi-standardized
interview
dynamic consistency of data collection across interviews

Ordering data collection

Easy questions first; difficult ones later

Neutral questions first; sensitive questions later
Behavior and activities first; feelings, emotions, experiences and explanations later

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

Page 3 / 19

Stages of discussion
Introduction

Easy, opening questions; more surface level

Background and contextual information
Definitional questions

Core part of interview or group discussion - questioning and

discussion is more in-depth
Move from circumstantial to attitudinal/evaluative/
explanatory questions
Move from general to more specific
Follow chronological order

Winding down
Questions looking to the future, suggestions

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

Page 4 / 19

Designing topic guides

Purpose and nature of topic guides

Aide-memoire
Documentation of fieldwork process

Establishing subject coverage

The structure and length of a guide
Language and terminology
Specification of follow-up questions and probes
Making the guide easy to use (objectives, introduction, summary of topics, layout, instructions,
ending, more than one topic guide)

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

Page 5 / 19

Incorporating other research instruments and materials

Collecting structured data

Using case illustrations and examples
Enabling and projective techniques

Vignettes (example: rate job, 10=best, 1=worst)

Start/end time

Permanent with a risk of losing the job and then

receive unemployment benefits
50 hours per week
Nobody but you decide over your work
The job entails work in different teams
The employer decides on work hours (not night
shifts) and can change this on a monthly basis

Education and training

The employer will not offer you a specific education

Intensity
Pension age

The job is very demanding, which means that you

need to stick to tight deadlines most of the time
This firm has no early retirement plan

Type of contract
Number of work hours
Influence on own work
Organisation of the work

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

More
More
More
More
More

More

Page 6 / 19

Incorporating other research instruments and materials

Enabling and projective techniques

Card-sorting
Giving information or showing written material
Mapping emergent issues
Projective techniques

Fieldnotes

Preparing for fieldwork and refining fieldwork strategies

Research team briefing

Preparation for fieldwork
Initial use and testing the topic guide

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Page 8 / 19

In-depth interviews
Perspectives on the interview

Perspectives on the interview

Key features of the in-depth interview

Knowledge constructed in interview vs. pre-existing phenomenon

Degree of activeness of interviewer
Degree of structuredness
Combine structure with flexibility, Interactive, Probing and other techniques to achieve depth,
Generative, Face-to-face

Requirements of a qualitative interviewer

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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Staging of an interview

Interview stages

Stage one: arrival

Stage two: introducing the research
Stage three: beginning the interview
Stage four: during the interview
Stage five: ending the interview
stage six: after the interview

The interview contract

Researcher and participant roles

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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Asking questions to achieve breadth and depth I

Content mapping questions

Ground mapping questions (Have you ever collaborated with another company to innovate
your products?)
Dimension mapping questions (What aspects of innovation do you find important?)
Perspective-widening questions (Are there any other reasons why you would collaborate with
another organisation to achieve innovation?)

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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Asking questions to achieve breadth and depth II

Content mining questions

Amplificatory probes (What was it exactly that you disliked about the collaboration with the
other organization?)
Exploratory probes (How did you react when you heard that the other organization wanted to
end the collaboration?)
Explanatory probes (And why did you decide to stop the collaboration with the other
organization?)
Clarificatory probes (Earlier you told me that the collaboration with the other organization
went really well, but youve also told me that during the project some disputes with the other
organization happened; so could those disputes be reconciled?)

In-depth iterative probing

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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Question formulation

Using broad and narrow questions

Avoiding leading questions (You must have been very disappointed when the other organization
decided to end the collaboration within the project?)

Neutralize question: add or not

Asking clear questions

Use simple preambles

Avoid double-barreled questions
Avoid academic language if you are not interviewing an academic, adapt to respondent

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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Further techniques for achieving depth

Listening and remembering

Facilitating the relationship with the participant

Expressing interest and attention

Establishing that there are no right or wrong answers
Being sensitive to tone of voice and body language
Allowing the participant time to reply
pacing the interview
Handling extraneous information

Turning assumptions and interventions into questions

Neutrality and avoidance of self-disclosure

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Handling interview situations and practical issues

Conducting sensitive interviews

Responding to emotion
Responding to anxiety or reticence
Responding to dominance of the interview agenda
Rambling responses

Practical considerations

Scheduling appointments
Venues
Recording
Other people attending the interview

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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Examples I

How do you feel about being allow to simply say anything beause of freedom of speech?

What do you think about the plan of secretary of finance Jan Kees de Jager to increase the taxes
on sigarettes?

Hoe staat u tegenover het zo maar alles mogen zeggen in het kader van de vrijheid van meningsuiting?

Wat vindt u van het plan van minister Jan kees de Jager om de accijns op sigaretten te verhogen?

What do you like in your work? For example the interaction with students, your freedom of a
scientist etc. . . .

Wat vindt u zoal leuk in uw werk? Bijvoorbeeld de omgang met studenten, uw zelfstandigheid als
wetenschapper, etc?

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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Examples II

Do you choose the side of the United States or the side of Russia with respect to the conflict in
the Middle East?

Kiest u de zijde van de Verenigde Staten, of die van Rusland in het Midden-Oosten conflict?

So surely you do not have money to afford a winter sports holiday?

Voor wintersportvakanties hebt u dan zeker helemaal geen geld?

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

Page 17 / 19

Examples III

And now a question that especially interests me as a sociologist: To what extent do you think
that sociological research is useful with respect to integration policies for minorities?

En dan nu nog een vraag, die mij als socioloog speciaal interesseert: in hoeverre acht u sociologisch onderzoek
nuttig in het kader van het integratiebeleid van minderheden?

Do you agree with the statement that current students are less motivated than the students of 20
years ago to study very hard for good grades?

Bent u het eens met de stelling dat de huidige studenten minder gemotiveerd zijn om hard te studeren voor
goede cijfers dan die van 20 jaar geleden?

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

Page 18 / 19

Examples IV

As a supervisor, have you gained more insight in the individual differences between your
employees since the introduction of the new performance evaluation system?

Hebt u als leidinggevende sinds de invoering van het nieuwe beoordelingssysteem, meer zicht gekregen op de
individuele verschillen tussen uw medewerkers?

Do you, in any manner, perform active recreation?

Doet u in enige vorm aan sportieve recreatieve?

Qualitative Research Methods Lecture 3

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