Deck 2: Interviewing

Question 1

The type of interview in which the researcher has set a list of predetermined questions is a ______ interview.

A) semi-structured
B) biased
C) valid
D) loosely structured

Answer 1

semi-structured

Question 2

In a loosely structured interview, you generally have a list of ______ that you want to cover.

A) exact questions
B) general topics
C) methodologies
D) theoretical concepts

Answer 2

general topics

Question 3

The purpose of research conducted using interpretivist methodology is to ______.

A) understand the world deeply from the perspective of your participants
B) follow the scientific method
C) gather the exact same information from all your participants
D) collect data that are as unbiased as possible

Answer 3

understand the world deeply from the perspective of your participants

Question 4

From an interpretivist perspective, objectivity means ______.

A) making sure that your own personal experiences and characteristics do not affect the research outcomes in any way
B) treating every research participant in exactly the same way
C) accurately reporting the views and experiences of your participants, even if you don't like them
D) asking each participant the same questions in the same order

Question 5

Interpretivists believe that all research, no matter how you conduct it, is ______.

A) biased
B) objective
C) judgmental
D) valid

Question 6

If you use interpretivist methodology, you will try to gather ______.

A) as much in-depth data from a small group of people as you can
B) a little bit of information from as many people as you can
C) data that can be generalized to a larger population
D) data that can be easily replicated by other researchers

Question 7

Interview research largely grew out of ______ theory.

A) critical
B) structural functionalist
C) symbolic interaction
D) feminist

Question 8

In your own words, explain why loosely structured interviews lend themselves to theory building.

Question 9

Which of the following is an appropriate topic for interview research?

A) social trends
B) attitudes
C) decision-making processes
D) cause and effect

Question 10

Interview research can be used to study ______.

A) perceived causes and effects
B) actual causes and effects
C) actual causes but only perceived effects
D) only perceived causes but actual effects

Question 11

Which of the following is included in an informed consent for interview research?

A) That participants can only withdraw from a study before or during their interviews but not after.
B) If interviews will ask about emotional events, such as a death or divorce, you must include emotional discomfort as a possible risk on the informed consent statement.
C) If a participant asks you to turn off a recording device, you may not begin recording them under any circumstances.
D) Teens under 18 can give their own informed consent.

Question 12

Which of the following is true regarding the informed consent statement?

A) Participants should always sign their pseudonym on the consent statement.
B) You do not have to reveal to participants who is conducting the study.
C) It is better to tell participants that the research will take less than an hour, even if you think it will be longer, so that they will be more likely to agree to participate.
D) Participants should be told they do not have to answer any questions they don't want to answer.

Question 13

In conducting interview research, one of your participants expresses some sexist sentiments. As the researcher, you should ______.

A) try to change their views of masculinity and femininity
B) include your negative impressions when presenting the results
C) listen to them respectfully and avoid passing judgment
D) discontinue the interview and ask them to leave

Question 14

In conducting interview research, if your participant discloses White supremacist views and you find this disturbing, you should ______.

A) educate them about the dangers of racism
B) report them to the police
C) listen to them respectfully
D) discontinue the interview

Question 15

You are working for the local Boys' and Girls' Club. You are conducting research for them on the ways in which the parents of the children at the center struggle with parenting. The BGC's idea is that they would like to expand their services to parents but need to first determine where the greatest area of need is. Which sampling method would you most likely choose for this research?

A) snowball sampling
B) maximum variation sampling
C) homogenous sampling
D) convenience sampling

Question 16

You are working for a local nonprofit that provides funding for food assistance programs. You have been tasked with evaluating barriers to WIC (sometimes referred to as "food stamps") enrollment in families headed by one or more undocumented immigrant parents. Which sampling method would you most likely choose for this research?

A) snowball sampling
B) maximum variation sampling
C) homogenous sampling
D) convenience sampling

Question 17

Random selection is an inappropriate way to get participants for interview research because ______.

A) it is biased
B) it coerces them to participate
C) you will get the richest data from people who are interested in telling you their story
D) it decreases the validity of your data

Question 18

The purpose of interview sampling is to ______.

A) find participants that are representative of the general population
B) locate participants who are willing to share lots of detailed information with you
C) assure everyone has the same chance of being chosen for your research
D) choose participants that you think will have the best information

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a type of nonprobability sampling?

A) random sampling
B) maximum variation sampling
C) snowball sampling
D) convenience sampling

Question 20

You are conducting research on the experiences of adult children whose parents live in a dementia care center. Who is most likely to be the best gatekeeper for your research?

A) the person who works at the front desk where visitors sign in
B) the CEO of the center
C) the sister of one of the nurses
D) the staff physician

Question 21

Your gatekeeper is a professor on your campus. Which information are you allowed to reveal to them?

A) the full interview audio and transcript files
B) the names of students in their class that participated, so that they can give those people extra credit
C) information that participants shared that is relevant to the professor's area of expertise
D) information about the study, such as your research question and length of time of interviews

Question 22

Your gatekeeper is the office manager at a local tech company. Which information are you allowed to reveal to them?

A) the full interview audio and transcript files
B) the names of those who have agreed to participate so that you can get contact information
C) information that participants shared that is relevant to office functions
D) information about the study, such as your research question and length of time of interviews

Question 23

Which would most likely be a sample size that you would use for interview research?

A) 2
B) 20
C) 200
D) 2,000

Question 24

If John is interviewing university administrators, what would be the most appropriate for him to wear?

A) a three-piece suit
B) jeans and a T-shirt
C) dress slacks and a button-down shirt
D) anything, it doesn't really matter

Question 25

You are interviewing women who work in executive positions in Fortune 500 companies. One of your participants says that they have never experienced any gender prejudice from any of their coworkers in this or any other job. Familiar with the sociological research on gender relations in high-level corporate workplaces, you have a hard time believing this. What is the most appropriate way for you to respond?

A) "Nobody has really ever treated you differently because of your gender? Are you sure? Maybe you're just too used to it to notice."
B) "Well, the rest of my questions were going to be about your experiences of prejudice, so if you haven't had any, I guess I don't have any more questions for you."
C) "Most of my other participants have had a lot of experiences of gender discrimination. Why do you think your experience is so different from theirs?"
D) "The research on gender relations in the workplace documents that it is super common, so I have a hard time believing that. I mean, are you saying that the research is wrong?"

Question 26

If you are interviewing college students, what would be the most appropriate to wear?

A) sweatpants
B) jeans
C) dress slacks and a button-down shirt
D) anything, it doesn't really matter

Question 27

You are interviewing African American employees at predominately White companies. One of your participants says that they have never experienced any prejudice from any of their coworkers in this or any other job. Familiar with the sociological research on race relations in the workplace, you have a hard time believing this. What is the most appropriate way for you to respond?

A) "Nobody has really ever treated you differently because of your color? Are you sure? Maybe you're just too used to it to notice."
B) "Well, the rest of my questions were going to be about your experiences of prejudice, so if you haven't had any, I guess I don't have any more questions for you."
C) "Most of my other participants have had a lot of experiences of prejudice. Why do you think your experience is so different from theirs?"
D) "The research on race relations in the workplace documents that it is super common, so I have a hard time believing that. I mean, are you saying that the research is wrong?"

Question 28

If a participant is silent after you ask a question, it is generally best to ______.

A) move on to the next question
B) stay silent until they answer
C) repeat the question
D) ask them if they feel uncomfortable with the question and want to skip it

Question 29

Which of the following is the best interview question for getting thick description?

A) What do you usually argue with your parents about?
B) How do you resolve conflict with your parents?
C) Can you tell me about the worst fight you have ever had with your parents?
D) How often do you argue with your parents?

Question 30

Which of the following is the best way to end an interview?

A) ask, "Is there anything I didn't ask that I should have?"
B) ask, "Do you have any questions for me?"
C) ask, "Are there any of your answers you want me to delete from the interview or transcripts?"
D) say, "Here's my card. If you want to change any of your answers after you've thought about them, just let me know."

Question 31

When conducting semi-structured interviews, you should try to ______.

A) ask questions in the exact order they appear on your cheat sheet
B) ask your questions with the same wording for all of the respondents
C) try to link the questions to something the participant has just said
D) avoid asking any follow-up questions that other participants haven't also answered

Question 32

Compare and contrast the data collection process for semi-structured interviews and loosely structured interviews.

Question 33

Which stage of analysis involves looking for different kinds of patterns among your codes?

A) open coding
B) axial coding
C) selective coding
D) searching for negative cases

Question 34

You are beginning your analysis of your interviews with engaged couples about their relationships with their soon-to-be parents-in-law. You start out with several codes that came out of your literature review, including "disapproving," "not good enough," "stealing the child away," "acceptance," "attempts to make nice," and "better than own family." These are examples of ______.

A) a priori codes
B) indigenous codes
C) axial codes
D) open codes

Question 35

You are beginning your analysis of your interviews with engaged couples about their relationships with their soon-to-be parents-in-law. Your participants use the terms "monster-in-law," "meddlesome," and "mama's boy." These are ______.

A) a priori codes
B) indigenous codes
C) analyst-constructed codes
D) open codes

Question 36

You are beginning your analysis of your interviews with mothers who have recently returned to full-time work after having children. In your interviews, you find several codes appearing frequently including "abandonment," "conflicted," and "pressure." These are examples of ______.

A) a priori codes
B) indigenous codes
C) axial codes
D) open codes

Question 37

Your analysis of your interviews with retired emergency service providers reveals that the majority of your participants expressed feelings of having lost their sense of purpose after retirement. This is an example of what kind of pattern?

A) magnitude
B) type
C) process
D) frequency

Question 38

Your analysis reveals that there are four steps to falling out of love: disappointment, feeling abandoned or betrayed, distrust, and detachment. This is an example of what kind of pattern?

A) magnitude
B) type
C) process
D) structure

Question 39

Why is the search for negative cases important?

A) It makes your analysis systematic.
B) It proves you tested your hypotheses correctly.
C) It shows that you see the participants' viewpoint correctly.
D) It makes your research generalizable.

Question 40

Analysis occurs ______ data collection in interview research.

A) before
B) after
C) concurrently with
D) separately from

Question 41

Which of the following is an example of conceptualizing in interview research?

A) developing a list of interview topics/questions
B) defining new codes as you create them
C) deciding which markers to follow up on
D) deciding which codes to apply where in the transcript

Question 42

For interview research, validity is improved by ______.

A) searching for negative cases
B) finding patterns in the data
C) giving participants incentives for participating
D) proving your hypothesis

Question 43

Which of the following does interview research aim for?

A) replicability
B) validity
C) generalizability
D) objectivity

Question 44

You are starting a research project on experiences of underage drinking at your university. Write a feasible research question for this project.

Question 45

You are starting a research project on racism at your university. Write a feasible research question for this project.

Question 46

You are conducting interview research in your city on changing family dynamics as parents become elderly. Write a feasible research question for this project.

Question 47

Apart from providing the informed consent, you must do several things to protect the identities of your participants. Describe how you would go about keeping anyone else from discovering their identities.

Question 48

Describe six things you would do in order to protect participants who have volunteered for your interview research.

Question 49

List six things you would do during your loosely structured interviews to establish rapport or ensure the quality of the interview.

Question 50

List six things other than establishing rapport that you would do during the interview to get high-quality, rich, detailed information from your participants.

Question 51

Describe what negative cases are, and why they are important in qualitative analysis.

Question 52

What should you do when you find negative cases?

Question 53

Describe what you would do during each of the three stages (open coding, axial coding, selective coding) of data analysis in interview research.

Question 54

Describe the difference between patterns of frequency and patterns of magnitude.

Question 55

Why do researchers write memos during analysis?

Question 56

Explain why it's important to analyze your data while you are still conducting interviews.

Question 57

The evaluation of the quality of interview research is based on the validity of the data and the analysis. Explain what each of these means in this case of interviews.

Question 58

Describe how and when you operationalize for qualitative interviews.

Question 59

By what criteria should interview research be judged?

Question 60

Your university's Women's Center wants to understand why it is that although most young women in their 20s agree with the basic principles of feminism, very few actually identify themselves as feminists. The Women's Center asks you to design a research study for them to investigate this phenomenon. You decide on qualitative interviews as the most appropriate method for this project. What is your research question?

Question 61

You are the Programming Coordinator for the local domestic violence shelter. They want to expand their services to include issues of elder abuse but have much to learn about the topic. They ask you to conduct research that will help them understand this phenomenon. You decide to conduct loosely structured qualitative interviews. What is your research question?

Question 62

You work for a center that provides mental health services in your county. Your department is surprised by new statistics that show that suicide rates are rising fastest among people aged 65 and over. Your organization wants to set up services aimed at preventing suicide among this population but doesn't have a good understanding of why people in this age are committing suicide. You decided to conduct qualitative interviews to better understand this.
What is your research question?

Question 63

Two years ago, the adoption agency you work for started a new program for "open adoptions" (the birth mother and the adopting family have contact with one another, with the birth mother having at least occasional visits with the adopted child). The adoption agency wants to know how this program is working, and whether they should continue it. They hire you to conduct the research that will serve as the basis for their decision to continue or curtail this program. You decide that qualitative interviews are the most appropriate research method for this project.
What is your research question?

Question 64

You work for County Behavioral Health, a county-run mental health clinic that provides counseling, support, and when necessary medications and supervision to those struggling with mental health issues but who do not have insurance that will pay for private care. The clinic finds that they are seeing an increased number of family members of military personnel who have recently returned from service in the Middle East. In other words, the soldier has returned home safely, but members of the family are seeking help from mental health services. The clinic wants to understand more about this phenomenon in order to better meet the needs of these clients and asks you to conduct research on it. You decide to conduct qualitative interviews.
What is your research question?

Question 65

You work for a local homeless shelter that provides temporary shelter, food assistance, and other crisis services to homeless individuals in the community. Recently, the shelter has seen a rise in reports of sexual assault among its LGBTQ cliental. You have been tasked with designing a qualitative interview research project to better understand the victims' experience with sexual violence while receiving services and to identify possible preventative measures.
What is your research question?

Question 66

You work for the California State University Research Foundation and are beginning a project to better understand how/why victims of natural disasters choose to access relief services or not. Though the state and federal government offer many types of assistance to disaster victims, your literature review revealed that these services are vastly underutilized. You would like to better understand this phenomenon and how disaster victims perceive their access (or lack thereof) to disaster relief services in California. You decide to use qualitative interviews as your research method.
What is your research question?

Question 67

A year ago, a charter school started a program to provide support services to their low-income students and families, with the goal of strengthening the social support they have both in the home and in school. The school wants to know how this program is working, and whether they should continue it. They hire you to conduct the research that will serve as the basis for their decision to continue or curtail this program. You decide that qualitative interviews are the most appropriate research method for this project.
What is your research question?