With a friend, each decide on a topic about which you think it would be interesting to interview the other person. Separately develop your interview themes and prepare an interview guide for a semi-structured interview. At the same time, decide which one of the ‘difficult’ participants in Table 10.2 you would like to role-play when being interviewed.

Data from in Table 10.2

a. Conduct both interviews and, if possible, make a recording. If this is not possible either audio-record or ensure the interviewer takes notes.

b. Watch each of the recordings – what aspects of your interviewing technique do you each need to improve?

c. If you were not able to record the interview, how good a record of each interview do you consider the notes to be? How could you improve your interviewing technique further?

d. As an interviewer, ask your friend an open question about the topic. As your friend answers the question, note down her/his answer. Summarise this answer back to your friend. Then ask your friend to assess whether you have summarised their answer accurately and understood what s/he meant.

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Table 10.2 Difficult interview participants and suggestions on how to address them Recognised difficulty Participant appears willing only to give monosyllabic answers, these being little more than 'yes' or 'no' Participant repeatedly provides long answers which digress from the focus of your interview Participant starts inter- viewing you Suggestion Reasons for this are varied If it is due to limited time, or worries about anonymity, then this can be minimised by careful opening of the interview (Box 10.9) If the participant gives these answers despite such precautions, try phrasing your questions in as open a way as possible; also use long pauses to signify that you want to hear more Although some digression should be tolerated, as it can lead to aspects in which you are interested, you will need to impose more direction This must be done subtly so as not to cause offence, such as by referring back to an earlier relevant point and asking them to tell you more, or requesting that they pause so you can note down what they have just said This can suggest that you have created rapport. However, you need to stress that you are interested in their opinions and that, if they wish, they can ask you questions at the end