Qualitative interview techniques

Introduction

Key terms: qualitative research, interviewing skills, semi-structured in-depth interviews, introductory course, relevant for students in any PhD phase.

How can you design and conduct qualitative interviews that will generate valuable research insights? This course is designed to show you exactly how.

The course focuses on developing practical skills, but also pays attention to theoretical grounding of interviewing as a methodology.  Across three sessions, you will learn how to prepare for and conduct interviews, and how to integrate them into your research design. The course is highly practical, ensuring you will feel comfortable and confident to deal with sensitive or challenging interviews.  

Through a mix of readings, videos, and exercises, we move from theory to application, while focusing on your own research. By the end of the course, you will have developed both deeper methodological understanding and practical interviewing skills which you can immediately apply in your own academic work.

Please note that the course focuses on the practice of interviewing itself. It does not cover broader qualitative data analysis techniques, such as coding or software training. 

Course information

ECTS: 2
Number of sessions: 3
Hours per session: 3

Who is this for?

Relations with other courses

This course has no overlap with other EGSH offerings, but it does complement our courses about qualitative methodology and research design (such as the course Building your research proposal) by explaining with further detail how qualitative interviews can be designed and executed.

Sessions and preparations

Session 1: Introducing qualitative interviewing
•    Theoretical foundations of qualitative interviewing
•    Scientific approaches to interviewing
•    Is interviewing the right method for me?
•    How to integrate the method into your own research design

Session 2: Open interviewing as practice
•    Preparing and structuring in-depth interviews
•    Designing a topic list
•    Practicing verbal and non-verbal interviewing skills

Session 3: Dealing with and reflecting on sensitive topics and difficult situations
•    Conducting interviews on sensitive topics;
•    Managing unexpected or uncomfortable situations;
•    Developing strategies for ethically and effectively handling challenges.