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1. Interviewer Effects in Live Video and Prerecorded Video Interviewing.

   https://doi.org/10.1093/jssam/smab040  

   West, B.T.; Ong, A.R. (April 2022, Journal of survey statistics and methodology)

   Live video (LV) communication tools (e.g., Zoom) have the potential to provide survey researchers with many of the benefits of in-person interviewing, while also greatly reducing data collection costs, given that interviewers do not need to travel and make in-person visits to sampled households. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of in-person data collection to public health crises, forcing survey researchers to explore remote data collection modes—such as LV interviewing—that seem likely to yield high-quality data without in-person interaction. Given the potential benefits of these technologies, the operational and methodological aspects of video interviewing have started to receive research attention from survey methodologists. Although it is remote, video interviewing still involves respondent–interviewer interaction that introduces the possibility of interviewer effects. No research to date has evaluated this potential threat to the quality of the data collected in video interviews. This research note presents an evaluation of interviewer effects in a recent experimental study of alternative approaches to video interviewing including both LV interviewing and the use of prerecorded videos of the same interviewers asking questions embedded in a web survey (“prerecorded video” interviewing). We find little evidence of significant interviewer effects when using these two approaches, which is a promising result. We also find that when interviewer effects were present, they tended to be slightly larger in the LV approach as would be expected in light of its being an interactive approach. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for future research using video interviewing. 

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2. Evaluating the quality of interviews with a process-based, self-reflective tool

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--43453  

   Brooks, Amy; Huff, James (June 2023, ASEE Conferences)

   This methods paper presents the interview quality reflection tool (IQRT) to evaluate the quality of qualitative research interviews. Qualitative researchers commonly use semi-structured interviews that rely on the interviewers’ ability to improvise in real time based on the needs of the study. Given that interviewing involves numerous tacit skills that cannot be delineated by a simple written protocol, it is necessary that researchers develop interview competencies through practice and reflection. While prior literature on interviewing has often focused on developing interview protocols, we know little about how interviewers themselves may be trained to gather high-quality data. In this paper, we focus on how the IQRT may be used to guide the self-assessment of research interviews. We discuss how interviews are used in engineering education, how we developed and applied the IQRT, and how lessons learned through using this tool might lead to improved interviewing skills through careful examination of interview structure, content, and context within the mentoring process. 

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3. Special Session: Honing the Craft of Conducting Interviews in Engineering Education Research

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343431  

   Rivera-Jiménez, Sindia M; Huff, James L; Henderson, Jerrod A (October 2023, IEEE)

   Engineering education research heavily relies on qualitative studies that utilize interview-based approaches. The quality and depth of knowledge derived from these studies depend heavily on the craft of conducting interviews, a facet often overlooked in prior work on qualitative methods. This special session aims to address this gap by guiding engineering education researchers in honing their interviewing skills for qualitative research. Participants will learn best practices for developing interview protocols, creating an accessible environment, and capturing high-quality data. Through case studies and hands-on activities, attendees will gain confidence in moderating conversations, improving data collection, and enhancing their overall skillset. This session provides an opportunity for researchers interested in qualitative research and scholarly educators to deepen their understanding of conducting meaningful interviews. By bridging the gap between the importance of qualitative studies and the need for skilled interviewers, we aim to contribute to the advancement of engineering education research. 

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4. Who Tells Your Story? A Card-Sort Activity for Eliciting Authentic Narratives

   https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211053104  

   Brent, Rebecca; Orr, Marisa; Brawner, Catherine_E; Mobley, Catherine (October 2021, International Journal of Qualitative Methods)

   Card sorting has been used in qualitative studies in various fields to better understand how individuals organize information and make choices based on it. As part of a mixed-methods study of why Black engineering students initially chose their major and why they subsequently decided to persist in or switch out of it, we developed a card-sort activity and used it in 79 semi-structured student interviews. Besides generating data relevant to the mission of our study, the activity shifted the students' focus to their own experiences and away from the interviewers, who were not matched with them on race or age and with whom there was a power differential (interviewers with doctorates talking with undergraduates). The article contains a brief overview of the broader study, a description of steps taken to promote authentic storytelling by the interviewees, an outline of the development and application of the card-sort activity, representative findings, and recommendations for other researchers contemplating using a similar technique. We believe our experience in using the card-sort technique and our subsequent mixed-method analysis of the resulting data will benefit qualitative researchers seeking authentic stories. 

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5. Building Rapport in Interviews with Adolescent Trafficking Victims

   https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2864  

   Dianiska, Rachel E.; Simpson, Emma; Kim, Sarah; Lyon, Thomas D.; Quas, Jodi A. (March 2024, Child Abuse Review)

   Abstract Though much is known about children's sexual abuse disclosure, less attention has been directed towards disclosure in other types of youthful victims, especially those who may be reluctant to tell due to either normative development or victims' specific experiences. Trafficked youth, particularly those who are adolescents, represent one such group. Understanding how suspected youth trafficking victims are questioned by authorities, especially with respect to establishing rapport and trust, is important for informing professionals how to effectively question this unique population of victims to overcome their reluctance. We examined transcripts of interviews conducted by federal interviewers (n = 12,653 question‐answer turns across 33 interviews) and police (n = 4,972 question‐answer turns across 14 interviews) with trafficked youth between the ages of 12 and 18. Interviews were reliably coded for the length of pre‐substantive questioning, provision of instructions and ground rules, and use of rapport building and supportive strategies. Federal interviewers used pre‐substantive instructions and built rapport with potential victims more often than police did. Also, and although infrequently used overall, supportive interviewing strategies were evident more often by federal interviewers than police. Results provide much‐needed knowledge about how law enforcement investigators interview and elicit disclosures from vulnerable populations of adolescent victims. 

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