Here is a little video I did on how to do a research interview.

30 minutes long, fairly straightforward, I now have the technology sorted that I can make videos like this fairly easy and with decent quality. Might have used a better microphone, but what the heck, it works and only took me about four hours, including writing the outline.

As usual with these things: Caveat emptor. But this approach works for me.

Outline posted below the fold.

How to do a research interview

Espen Andersen, BI Norwegian Business School, March 2021

• Most common method in research and consulting
• No real instruction in how to do it – and doing it well requires preparation and a certain technique
• I have done more than 1000 interviews with executives from all over the world, have evolved a technique for doing it
• This works well for what I do – talk to execs about technology and business – your mileage might vary?
• An interview is a two-way conversation

Before the interview

• Schedule well in advance, getting on people’s calendars is major undertaking, and it takes time.
• Not more than three per day, you will lose the energy to make it a real conversation
• Set aside one hour for the interview and one hour for writing up the notes afterwards
• FTF, video or telephone?
  • FTF takes travel time, creates distractions, but allows for conversations over a whiteboard or for visiting production facilities and other things
  • Video does not add much, mainly a distraction
  • Phone conversations is quick, easy, and allows you to multitask (being your own notetaker, for instance)
• Recording or not?
  • Spooks some people (though they tend to forget it)
  • Of limited value (confirmation, etc.) In any case, you’ll need permission to publish anything
• Get the technology right!
  • Headset – good sound is essential!
  • Keyboard or handwriting?
    • FTF: Handwriting
    • Video: Handwriting unless you do touch
    • Telephone: Handwriting or keyboard
  • Get a good and quiet keyboard!
  • No disturbances, cell phone quiet,
• Role of interviewers
  • Chat show host, keep the conversation going
  • Note taker, color commentator
• Interview guide
  • Not too specific
  • Free-form (i.e., no set order)
  • Supporting a conversation, not filling out a form)

During the interview

• Standard introduction
  • Who you are, why you are doing this (what do you want from this interview)
  • Everything confidential, only seen by research team
  • Nothing published in identifiable form unless explicitly allowed
• Start with a broad background question
  • “To begin with, tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do?”
  • Try to establish common ground
    • Easier with experience
    • Young students are less threatening, though
  • Listen to what the other person says
  • Steer them back if they wander off topic
  • Ask for examples
  • If you don’t understand something, ask right away
  • Keep time
  • End with a question that is a natural ending
    • Is there something I should have asked?
    • What keeps you awake at night?
  • Thank them, say you will send over the notes right away

After the interview

• Do your notes at once. Not an hour later, not after lunch. Now!
• Write them out longhand, write out abbreviations, add in everything you remember.
• Then rewrite like a real interview, including inserting questions (from interview outline) that were never asked, yet answered
• If material is referenced, link to it, perhaps include it.
• When the interview is done, write an executive summary on top, in italics
  • Communication to the interviewee what you saw were the high points
  • Makes it easier to remember the interview later
• Make it a nice, complete document, then send it off to the interviewee right away, asking for comments
  • This shows you are taking the interviewee seriously and trying to get their meaning right
  • It gives them a sense of control and achievement
• Archive in a standard format, so you can go back and analyze

And that is how you do a research interview. It is an exhausting process, which is why I don’t think you should do more than three per day.