✨Kahoot✨

You have until next Wednesday (15th) at 4pm to attempt the Kahoot questions!

Overview

• Interview Scenarios & Techniques

  • Building rapport

  • Participant distress

  • Sensitive topics

  • Challenging disclosure

  • Researcher safety

Overview

• Interviewing is common method of data collection within qualitative research

• There are many locations you might interview someone:

  • Could be in a lab, online, out in the field, in people's homes...

• There are practical and ethical considerations when conducting interviews generally

• But there are also some additional things to consider when conducting interviews in these different settings to help your participants feel at ease, and to ensure the safety of yourself and your participants

• Today, we're going to focus on good and bad interviewing techniques, and on some of the practical and ethical considerations that are involved in interviewing

1. Rapport

• One of the most crucial components of an interview

• Rapport is a sense of connection or a positive bond between people

• Rapport is really important for all interviews, but especially for sensitive topics where participants are less likely to disclose information (or be honest)

• The goal of any interview is to gain information

  • But we also want our participant to feel safe and comfortable in the process

• Building rapport is an art form - it takes practice!

Ask The Audience

Imagine I've invited a participant into the lab to do an interview...

Ask The Audience

Imagine I've invited a participant into the lab to do an interview...

Building Rapport

• Warmly greet your participant(s)

• Use eye contact

• Use welcoming body language (i.e., avoid crossing arms)

• Be attentive

  • Use probes, follow up questions & open questions, be careful when taking notes

• Avoid asking 'why' - instead try 'could you tell me more about x'

• You might have to work harder to build rapport in online (or telephone) interviews

  • Think about your online classes/breakout rooms on Zoom as an example...

• Just be nice - even if your participant is saying something you completely disagree with

2. Participant Distress

• Sometimes you might be interviewing about sensitive topics that can cause your participant to become distressed

• Or it could be that something comes up in the interview unexpectedly that your participant isn't comfortable with and finds it upsetting

• Participants, just like normal people, have different reactions to personally distressing topics - they could become visibly upset (crying, shaking), they could go quiet, they could request to skip questions or ask to end the interview

• There are specific things that we should do and other things we should avoid if these situations occur...

Ask The Audience

My participant is distressed, what did I do wrong? What should I have done?

Participant Distress

• If a participant becomes distressed, the first thing you should do is stop the interview (even just temporarily) and acknowledge that they've become upset

  "I see that you've become upset, would you like to take a break for a while?"

• Before the interview, go over your questions and try to anticipate any topics that may cause distress, even if it isn't a particularly upsetting topic to you

• Think about what support would be appropriate and useful before commencing your interview, and have this available for participants

• Make sure that your participant is fully aware of what topics will be spoken about when they give their informed consent before starting the interview

  • i.e., you shouldn't tell them that you're researching dogs, and then solely ask questions about euthanasia of a pet

3. Sensitive Topics

• Participant distress can follow on from the discussion of anything, but is more likely surrounding sensitive topics

• Such topics include any objectively traumatic experience or personal information

• But there are other topics that might cause distress including:

  • illness
  • disability
  • social exclusion
  • relationships
  • bereavement
  • poverty
  • criminality
  • addiction
  • unemployment
  • culture
  • race
  • gender & sexuality
  • & more...

Sensitive Topics

• Very similar advice to participant distress applies here

• Make sure participants are informed of what they'll be asked about during the interview

• Make sure participants have access to relevant support during the interview (and afterwards)

• If the sensitive topic is likely to cause distress, use a distress protocol to identify potential triggers and develop strategies to deal with any issues that occur in advance

• The location/method of the interview is also important to consider - participants may not be able to safely disclose sensitive information in their home for example

• If feasible, it might be more appropriate to use telephone or online interviews to ask questions around sensitive topics for more honest responses

4. Challenging Disclosure

• Participants may disclose distressing information

  • Could relate to participation in illegal activities, or harm to themselves/others

• These types of disclosure are more common with sensitive or distressing topics, or vulnerable participant populations

Ask The Audience

My participant discloses 'challenging information', what do you think I should do?

Challenging Disclosure

• Issues around confidentiality apply here

  • In exceptional circumstances, confidentiality can be overridden

• Where there is an immediate or future risk of harm to themselves or someone else we have a university safeguarding policy

• Where there is a possibility of such disclosures, a 'confidentiality clause' should be added to the consent form/participant info sheet in advance, e.g.,

  • "I understand that in exceptional circumstances e.g. where the health, welfare and safety of myself or others is compromised by information I might disclose, the researcher has a professional responsibility to pass this information onto an appropriate individual or agency."

• 1-2-1 research contact with children would always have this clause & safeguarding protocols built in

Challenging Disclosure

• For criminal activity, other than under the Prevent Duty (i.e. anti-terrorism), there is no obligation to report it if there are no harm/danger implications

• This is especially important if reporting would involve breaching confidentiality when it has been promised

  • Sometimes people are being interviewed precisely because of their illegal activities (e.g. drug use, participation in illegal protests)

  • Guaranteeing confidentiality is essential for their own protection

5. Researcher Safety

• The participant isn't the only person in this interaction - you as the researcher are part of it too!

• Your mental wellbeing can be affected by the in-depth discussion of sensitive topics, by participants becoming distressed, or by the disclosure of challenging information (and the potential consequences of that disclosure)

• Your physical safety also needs to be considered - especially if you're interviewing away from the lab

• Any issues are particularly rare but there could be:

  • Risk of physical threat or abuse
  • Risk of psychological trauma
  • Risk of being in a compromising situation

Researcher Safety

• It's good to have an informal support network in place to talk to if an interview was emotionally challenging

  • This could be your supervisor or other people in your research group

• Keep in contact

  • If interviewing in the field/in people's homes, ensure that someone knows where you are at all times, you should contact them before conducting the interview, you should tell them how long it will take or at what time you expect to contact them next, and then again when the interview has concluded

• Complete risk assessments for the interview site

Summary

• Generally, the chances of an interview going particularly badly are teeny tiny!

• But if you are conducting interviews outside the lab, on sensitive topics that might cause distress, or with particular populations, then there are things you need to consider before conducting your interview

• For sensitive topics, building rapport is very important, as well as knowing what you will do if your participant becomes distressed

• You should also be aware of any confidentiality issues and how to approach any 'challenging disclosures' if relevant to your topic of investigation

• In addition to your participant, you also need to protect your own wellbeing and safety throughout the interview process

That's all - happy interviewing!