Taking Notes vs. Recording Interviews
I used to record every interview with my digital recorder (or tape-recorder in the old days) and then painstakingly transcribe it later, word for word. But a couple of years ago I was asked to do a...
View ArticleInterviewing: Tips From a Pro
Whenever I watch or listen to one of my favorite interviewers—Charlie Rose, Terry Gross, Alison Stewart, or Tavis Smiley—I try to figure out how they do what they do so well. But I have to admit, I...
View ArticleDavid Morgan on the Two-Person Interview
I’m fortunate to have made the acquaintance of Dr. David Morgan a few years ago. Dr. Morgan is a professor in the Department of Sociology at Portland State University and an internationally known...
View ArticleReverence in Qualitative Work
“Reverence is the virtue that keeps human beings from acting like gods.” —Paul Woodruff You may wonder what reverence has to do with research. Everything, really. Reverence, or the act of honoring the...
View ArticleQualitative vs. Quantitative
I’ve been looking for a better way to explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative research. Saying that qualitative researchers work with words and quantitative ones work with numbers...
View ArticleMaking Your Qualitative Data Trustworthy
From small nonprofits to large corporations, virtually every organization collects both qualitative and quantitative data in some form to set policy, measure progress, and effect change....
View ArticleThe Interview Guide
When we want to know more than the boxes and circles on a survey can reveal, we turn to the open-ended interview. Thoughtfully designed and skillfully delivered, interviews generate an infinite...
View Article‘Probing and Prompting’
Asking good follow-up questions is part of any conversation, whether between friends arranging a lunch date or between focus group leader and participants. As qualitative researchers, we’re taught to...
View ArticleA Code of Conduct for Qualitative Interviewers
Have you ever found yourself instantly disliking one of the participants in a focus group you’re conducting? Or feeling a strong revulsion for something an interviewee is saying? It happens all the...
View ArticleParaphrasing in Qualitative Interviews
Some people assume that qualitative interviewing is an easy job that almost anyone can do. But that’s not quite true. Conducting and interpreting qualitative interviews would be easy if our...
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