Conducting qualitative interviews: an introduction

Do you want to find out what peoplethink about an issue, or what their experiences are? Qualitative interviews areused to find out people’s views and experiences on a range of different topics.In this course, we will discuss what a researcher needs to consider before interviewingpeople, how to prepare and conduct a qualitative interview, and whatresearchers need to do after the interview. Whether you need to conduct research as part of yourjob, in a volunteer role, or as part of your studies, this free course Conductingqualitative interviews: an introduction is designed to help you design,carry out and record qualitative interviews. It has been developed from acutting-edge research project in which volunteer researchers from diversebackgrounds were trained as peer researchers, interviewing their friends andfamily members. The course has been developed from the findings of Reproductive Bodylore: The Role of VernacularKnowledge in Women’s Contraceptive Decision-Making,funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council(AHRC) Grant (AH/S011587/1) and led by a research team from The Open University(OU) and undertaken in partnership with Public Health England and The Folklore Society. Our thanks toall the volunteer researchers and participants in the Reproductive Bodyloreproject.

• 1 Why use qualitative interviews?
• 1.1 When are qualitative interviews useful?
• 2 Preparing for a qualitative interview
• 2.1 Ethical considerations
• 2.2 Creating interview materials
• 2.3 Setting up the interview
• 2.4 Equipment and practicalities
• 2.5 Pre-interview check
• 3 Conducting interviews
• 3.1 Asking questions
• 3.2 Ongoing consent
• 3.3 Dealing with distress
• 3.4 Ending the interview
• 4 After the interview
• 4.1 Making reflective fieldnotes
• 4.2 Uploading and sending files
• 4.3 Storing data
• 4.4 Anonymisation options
• 4.5 Feeding back to interviewees