ABSTRACT
The rich observations collected during participant or nonparticipant observations are often supplemented with in-depth, qualitative interviews. The in-depth interview is a flexible, semi-structured, and conversational technique for asking mostly open-ended questions; it is used predominantly in qualitative research. In survey research, the goal is to collect standardized responses from a large group of people; the aim of qualitative interviews is to get very detailed, in-depth information on a more limited, and probably not representative, group of people. Qualitative interviews are especially useful in capturing the perspectives and experiences of less privileged members of society. The more the interview seems like a conversation–and the more comfortable it is–the sooner the participants will open up. The order of questions is also important to maintain the conversational tone of the interview. The chapter identifies the purpose of focus groups and the conditions under which focus groups are the optimal research method.
