Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.

FCS6012

Conducting an In-depth Interview1

Lisa A. Guion, David C. Diehl, and Debra McDonald2

In-depth interviews are a useful qualitative data collection • Semi-structured Format. Although it is important to
technique that can be used for a variety of purposes, pre-plan the key questions, the interview should also be
including needs assessment, program refinement, issue conversational, with questions flowing from previous
identification, and strategic planning. In-depth interviews responses when possible. For example, if an interviewee
are most appropriate for situations in which you want to remarks that “The elections are approaching,” an ap-
ask open-ended questions that elicit depth of information propriate response would be, “How do you feel about the
from relatively few people (as opposed to surveys, which candidates involved?”
tend to be more quantitative and are conducted with larger
numbers of people). This paper provides a brief introduc- • Seek Understanding and Interpretation. It is important
tion to in-depth interviewing as a tool for collecting rich to use active listening skills to reflect upon what the
information that can inform program development and speaker is saying. The interviewer should try to interpret
evaluation. what is being said and should seek clarity and under-
standing throughout the interview.
What is an In-depth Interview? • Recording Responses. The responses are typically
In-depth, qualitative interviews are excellent tools to use audio-recorded and complemented with written notes
in planning and evaluating Extension programs because (i.e., field notes) by the interviewer. Written notes include
they use an open-ended, discovery-oriented method, which observations of both verbal and non-verbal behaviors as
allows the interviewer to deeply explore the respondent’s they occur, and immediate personal reflections about the
feelings and perspectives on a subject. This results in rich interview.
background information that can shape further questions
relevant to the topic. The key characteristics of in-depth In sum, in-depth interviews involve not only asking ques-
interviews are the following: tions, but systematically recording and documenting the
responses to probe for deeper meaning and understanding.
• Open-ended Questions. Questions need to be worded
so that respondents expound on the topic, not just answer
“yes” or “no.” Many open-ended questions begin with Skills and Attributes of the
“why” or “how,” which gives respondents freedom to Interviewer
answer the questions using their own words. A skilled qualitative interviewer should be:

1. This document is FCS6012, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service,
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date October 2001. Revised January 2006; August 2011. Original
written by Lisa A. Guion, former faculty member, revised by David C. Diehl and Debra McDonald. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Lisa A Guion, former faculty member; David C. Diehl, assistant professor; Debra McDonald, project coordinator; Department of Family, Youth and
Community Sciences; Florida Cooperative Extension Service; Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences; University of Florida; Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to
individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national
origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A&M University Cooperative
Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean
 Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.

1. Open-minded. Judgment or criticism can act as barriers to Conducting an In-depth Interview

communication, so it is important to maintain openness
Kvale (1996) details seven stages of conducting in-depth
during the interview process. If interviewees perceive
interviews: thematizing, designing, interviewing, transcrib-
that they are being judged or evaluated, then they are less
ing, analyzing, verifying, and reporting.
likely to openly share their opinions. Any conclusions
that need to be made can be written in a journal after the Stage 1: Thematizing. In this stage, it is important to clarify
interview is over. the purpose of the interviews. The first question is whether
you are using the interview for program planning. For ex-
2. Flexible and responsive. Human interactions are complex
ample, you may want to use in-depth interviews as part of
and people’s responses to questions are rarely predictable,
the needs assessment process by interviewing key members
so good interviewers can think on their feet, respond to
of the target audience and/or influential stakeholders. Or,
challenges, and make sure that the core purpose is being
your desire may be to use in-depth interviewing to comple-
served.
ment other methods of evaluating your program. Once
3. Patient. Allow the respondent to speak freely and open up you have decided on your general purpose, then you can
at a pace that is personally comfortable. pinpoint the key information you want to gather through
the in-depth interview process.
4. Observant. Good interviewers are observant, picking up
subtle cues such as facial expressions, body language, and Stage 2: Designing. After you determine what you want
tone of voice. to know, you should design a way to elicit this information
through the interview process. An interview guide that in-
5. A good listener. A good listener is one who listens actively, cludes the key topics and questions will be your formalized
using strategies such as: plan for collecting information. See “Qualitative Research
Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide” in the References
• Attending fully to what the speaker is saying by focusing and Resources section for a sample interview guide.
wholly on what is being said. Active listening requires the
listener to give full attention to the speaker until either The interview guide should be designed to help the
the message has been received or the speaker has finished interviewer focus on topics that are important to explore,
speaking. maintain consistency across interviews with different
respondents, and stay on track during the interview
• Paraphrasing what the speaker is saying to confirm process.
to the speaker that the listener is actually listening and
that the message conveyed is the message received. The three basic parts of the interview guide are as follows:
Paraphrasing also has the added benefit of forcing a
speaker to focus wholly on the conversation, thus limiting 1. The facesheet, which is used to record the time, date,
distractions. and place of the interview, special conditions or circum-
stances that may affect the interview, and demographic
• Reflecting back to the speaker the emotions inherent in information about the respondent being interviewed
the message. By paying attention to tone and emotional
content, the interviewer can gain a greater understanding 2. The interview questions, which are placed on the left side
of the messages being delivered. of the page, along with a blank space on the right side of
the page for written observations
Although active listening sounds easy, it can take a lot of
practice to learn. Thus, prior to conducting an in-depth 3. The post-interview comment sheet, which is a place to
interview, it is important to practice active listening on a write notes after the interview; these notes should include
friend or colleague. Begin by instructing a friend to talk feelings, interpretations, and other comments that arose
about a topic of interest and practice your active listening during the interview
strategies during the conversation. Afterward, ask for
Stage 3: Interviewing. In the beginning of the interview,
feedback and continue with different topics until active
it is important to make introductions, explain the purpose
listening becomes a natural way of interacting.
of the study, and put the respondent at ease. If you plan to
audio record the session, obtain the respondent’s permis-
sion and test the equipment to make sure it is working

2
 Archival copy: for current recommendations see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or your local extension office.

properly. Your main responsibility is to listen and observe communication, and in-depth interviews provide the
as you guide the respondent through a conversation structure to ensure that these conversations are both
until all of the important issues on the interview guide well-organized and well-suited to your purpose. While
are explored. Please see the earlier section on “Skills and At- time-consuming and labor-intensive, in-depth interviews
tributes of the Interviewer” for guidance on how to conduct can provide rich data to inform Extension programming.
good interviews.

Stage 4: Transcribing. Transcribing involves creating a ver-

References and Resources
batim text of each interview by writing out each question Boyce, C. & Neale, P. (2006). Conducting In-depth
and response using the audio recording. The interviewer’s interviews: A Guide for Designing and Conducting In-depth
side notes should also be included in the transcription, and Interviews for Evaluation Input. Online. http://www.
properly labeled in a separate column or category. pathfind.org/site/DocServer/m_e_tool_series_indepth_in-
terviews.pdf?docID=6301
Stage 5: Analyzing. Analyzing involves re-reading the
interview transcripts to identify themes emerging from Burley-Allen, M. (1995). Listening: The Forgotten Skill (A
the respondents’ answers. You can use your topics and self-teaching guide). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
questions to organize your analysis, in essence synthesizing
Donoghue, P.J. & Siegel, M.E. (2005). Are You Really
the answers to the questions you have proposed. If the
Listening? Keys to Successful Communication. Notre Dame,
interviews raise more questions than they answer, then
IN: Sorin Books.
more interviews may be necessary to properly examine the
issue at hand.
Friesen, B. (2010). Designing and Conducting Your First
Interview Project. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Stage 6: Verifying. Verifying involves checking the cred-
ibility of the information gathered and a method called
Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative
triangulation is commonly used to achieve this purpose.
Research Interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Triangulation involves using multiple perspectives to
interpret a single set of information. For example, a study Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry.
that uses triangulation to examine the outcomes of a Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Parenting Communication class would require researchers
to interview at least three groups of participants: parents, Longsfield, Kim (2004). In-depth Interviews. Online. http://
children, and other household members. When each www.aidsmark.org/ipc_en/pdf/manual/14_Research-
participant says the same thing in the interviews, then the Toolkit-Ch6-In-Depth-Interviews.pdf
information that results is considered valid.
Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K., Guest, G., &
A simpler way to use triangulation in a study would be Namey, E. (2005). Qualitative Research Methods: A Data
to have two colleagues read and analyze the same set of Collector’s Field Guide. Online. http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/
transcripts, and then compare notes. If the notes agree, then Pubs/booksReports/QRM_datacoll.htm
the information is credible.
Rubin, H. J. & Rubin, I. S. (2004). Qualitative Interviewing:
Stage 7: Reporting. Finally, it is important to share results The Art of Hearing Data (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
from the in-depth interviews with internal and external Sage Publications.
stakeholders through a written or oral report; these reports
should describe not only the results, but how the results will Wertz, F., Charmaz, K., McMullen, L., Josselson, R.,
shape future work. When respondents see the information Anderson, R., & McSpadden, E. (2011). Five Ways of Doing
being used, they are more likely to participate in future data Qualitative Research. New York: Guilford Press.
collection efforts.

Summary
When you want to gather rich data about Extension pro-
grams, in-depth interviews can be a valuable tool to guide
your work. There really is no substitute for face-to-face