Research Guides: Library Support for Qualitative Research: Conducting Interviews

Recording Your Interviews

Equipment and Software

Tech Loan:
- Lamont Library loans microphones and podcast starter kits, which will allow you to capture audio (and you may record with software, such as Garage Band).
- Cabot Library loans digital recording devices, as well as USB microphones.

If you prefer to use your own device, you may purchase a small handheld audio recorder, or use your cell phone.

How-To Guides:
- Audio Capture Basics (PDF) - Helpful instructions, courtesy of the Lamont Library Multimedia Lab.
- Getting Started with Podcasting/Audio: Guidelines from Harvard Library's Virtual Media Lab for preparing your interviewee for a web-based recording (e.g., podcast, interview)
Recording Tools:
- Camtasia Screen Recorder and Video Editor
- Zoom: Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing

Need Help?

Visit the Multimedia Production Resources guide! Consult it to find and learn how to use audiovisual production tools, including: cameras, microphones, studio spaces, and other equipment at Cabot Science Library and Lamont Library.
Try the virtual office hours offered by the Lamont Multimedia Lab!

Best Practices for Delivering Interview Questions

The way a qualitative researcher constructs and approaches interview questions should flow from, or align with, the methodological paradigm chosen for the study, whether that paradigm is interpretivist, critical, positivist, or participative in nature (or a combination of these).

Quick Handout

Research Interviewing Tips (Courtesy of Dr. Suzanne Spreadbury)

Remote Interviews

Seeking Consent

If you would like to see examples of consent forms, ask your local IRB, or take a look at these resources:

Model consent forms for oral history, suggested by the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University
For NIH-funded research, see this resource for developing informed consent language in research studies where data and/or biospecimens will be stored and shared for future use.

Books and Articles

"App-Based Textual Interviews: Interacting With Younger Generations in a Digitalized Social Reallity."International Journal of Social Research Methodology (12 June 2022).
Discusses the use of texting platforms as a means to reach young people. Recommends useful question formulations for this medium.
"Learning to Interview in the Social Sciences." Qualitative Inquiry, 9(4) 2003, 643–668 by Roulston, K., deMarrais, K., & Lewis, J. B.
See especially the section on "Phrasing and Negotiating Questions" on pages 653-655 and common problems with framing questions noted on pages 659-660.
"Slowing Down and Digging Deep: Teaching Students to Examine Interview Interaction in Depth." LEARNing Landscapes, Spring 2021 14(1) 153-169 by Herron, Brigette A. and Kathryn Roulston.
Suggests analysis of videorecorded interviews as a precursor to formulating one's own questions. Includes helpful types of probes.
Technique isn’t everything, but it is a lot. (2006). In I. Seidman, Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
A concise overview of the best techniques to improve your research interviews, including how to listen better, follow up on what you hear, probe (or explore), ask better questions, and engage participants more authentically.
Using Interviews in a Research Project by Nigel Joseph Mathers; Nicholas J Fox; Amanda Hunn; Trent Focus Group. A work pack to guide researchers in developing interviews in the healthcare field. Describes interview structures, compares face-to-face and telephone interviews. Outlines the ways in which different types of interview data can be analysed.
“Working through Challenges in Doing Interview Research.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods, (December 2011), 348–66 by Roulston, Kathryn. The article explores (1) how problematic interactions identified in the analysis of focus group data can lead to modifications in research design, (2) an approach to dealing with reported data in representations of findings, and (3) how data analysis can inform question formulation in successive rounds of data generation. Findings from these types of examinations of interview data generation and analysis are valuable for informing both interview practice as well as research design.

Library Support for Qualitative Research