Preparing to do Interviews

Preparing to Do Interviews

As the youth team writes the interview questions, tell them to imagine asking their questions face to face. This can help them determine if a question isn ’t biased, too long, too short, etc. Have them imagine how they would respond to the question being asked, which can help them make decisions about the right questions to ask.

Encourage them to pay attention to the tone and structure of their questions. While writing their interview questions, have them keep in mind that they should learn about a participant’ s personal experiences in the community, their opinions on your issue, and their thoughts on your solution ideas.

Interviews are a one-sided conversation, so the youth should focus on listening to the answers and make the conversation comfortable.

The questions youth ask can also follow two formats: structured or unstructured.

There are benefits to both formats: with structured questions, it is easier to compare answers between participants, as they all were asked the same questions, with the same tone and same intent. However, with unstructured questions, youth could learn more than they expected and acquire more detailed data as they explore their questions in-depth with the participant. Youth will have to decide with their team which format works best with their goals and will provide youth with the data they need.

Youth will also need to have a method of recording the data while conducting an interview. Youth can record the interviewees ’ responses as they answer by writing notes as they talk or asking to audio record the interview. If you choose to type or write their responses, account for taking pauses to record a response fully. If you choose to record the audio of the

Don ’t fire off questions. The participant should feel heard and like their opinion is valued. Try to make the interview natural, not an interrogation. Be friendly with the interviewee.

Structured questions are direct and straightforward. Youth would ask each question without straying or going off-topic, and every participant is asked the same questions.

Unstructured questions are less formal. Using unstructured questions means that each participant could be asked different questions, and therefore, youth could go off-topic and discuss more than what the questions cover.