ABSTRACT
This chapter reiterates the need for ethnographic-style immersion to allow for the best possible interpretation of data and acknowledges the possibility that such immersion may not be directly possible. It introduces simple field note conventions that support subsequent analytical work. As opposed to focus group data, which reflect the social interactions of focus group members and are helpful for typifying a process or cataloging the range of responses to a certain type of situation or items in a specified category, interview data can yield extensive and nuanced case-based information. When interviewees are not available in person, phone interviews may be a valuable data collection method. The chapter develops and oversaw the incorporation of a telephone interview component into the evaluation after the planned quantitative analysis of program records faltered because of missing, invalid, and unreliable data. For one thing, with one-time interviews, time for discovery is limited. A contrasting view is that one-time events minimize the perceived need to self-censor.
