Information
As for the preparation for an interview, it is very important to define the place where the interview will be held. This is so because the setting itself may significantly affect the atmosphere during the interview. It is important to select such a place that will help to build the trust between the interviewer and interviewees.
The next step involves defining the time, and making sure that the people who are to be interviewed appear. It would be good to get informed about the interviewees in advance, though it may lead to some prejudice, which can affect the results.
The interviewees should not be prepared for the interview in advance, though there are different opinions about this. Sometimes the interviewees participate in such activities for the first time, and due to enormous pressure, may provide less accurate information. In such cases, some prior preparation of participants is justified.
As for the content of the interview, the interviewer has to determine clearly and precisely which information is needed and which is not, and explain the concepts thoroughly according to it. A good interview guide requires careful planning followed by some piloting in order to ensure that the questions elicit sufficiently rich data (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 137). The guide serves as the main research instrument – it ensures that the domain is properly covered, and that nothing important is left out by accident; it suggests appropriate question wording, and offers a list of probe questions to be used if needed, as well as a template for the opening statement, and it lists some comments to bear in mind (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 137).
According to Dörnyei (2007, pp. 137–138), a variety of questions can be included in an interview, but they only provide a framework whereas the real meaning is usually uncovered through explanatory and unstructured responses that deviate from the interview guide. The first few questions are particularly important, not so much from the content point of view, but rather because they set the tone, and create the initial rapport. If they make the interviewees feel competent, they will relax and be encouraged to open up. These questions are often quite personal. As for the content of the questions, there are 6 main types that may be asked on any possible topic, and they focus on: (a) experience and bahaviour, (b) opinions and values, (c) feelings, (d) knowledge, (e) sensory information, and (f) background or demographic information. The emergent nature of qualitative interview data can be enhanced by applying various probes, using what the interviewee has said as a starting point to go further and increase the richness and depth of the responses. They may include detail-oriented and clarification questions. The final closing question permits the interviewee to have the final say. As simple a question as: Is there anything else you would like to add? has proven to have the power to elicit extremely rich data (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 138).
