Qualitative Research Methods: Interviews & Group Discussions

Posted on Jul 13, 2025 in Teaching & Education

Effective Interviewing Techniques

By Iñiguez Lupicinio

The Interviewer’s Essential Role

  • Conducting the interview: The interviewer’s role is essential for fostering a natural conversation.
  • Key Principles for Conducting an Interview:
    1. To present the topic.
    2. To focus or repeat issues.

Deepening Tactics in Interviews

  • Brief Expressions of Interest: Use clear understanding cues like “Ahhh, you are absolutely right.”
  • Short Expressions: Concise verbal affirmations.
  • Echo or Mirroring: Repeating key words or phrases.
  • Restatement or Partial Summary: Briefly summarizing what has been said.
  • Repeating the Theme: Clarifying a point, e.g., “You say your problem is a financial debt?”
  • Short Pauses: Allowing for reflection.
  • Addressing Involuntary Misunderstandings: Offering to clarify, e.g., “I can repeat what I didn’t hear.”
  • Proposing Counterexamples: To explore different perspectives, e.g., “How would you respond to a counterexample?”

Focus Groups & Discussion Groups: Key Methodologies

Understanding Discussion Groups

  • A qualitative technique aimed at collecting information.
  • A setting where the group contributes to social discourse.
  • Seeks social meaning through group conversation.
  • Aims to find the meaning of speech.
  • Meaning is understood as:
    • Contextual
    • Ideological
    • Cultural
    • Symbolic

Guiding a Discussion Group

  • Choose a research topic.
  • Participants are invited to the group discussion.
  • The group raises the issue.
  • The group takes the topic, focusing around it.
  • The group develops the content of the topic.

Role of the Discussion Group Facilitator

  • Promote equal, symmetric group participation.
  • Participate in critical conversation.
  • Leads the discussion.

Structure of a Discussion Group

  • A group should ideally consist of 10 persons.
  • The group discussion can occur in 1 or 2 sessions.
  • The duration of a conversation lasts 1 to 1.5 hours.
  • If a person chooses not to speak, their decision is respected.

Understanding Focus Groups

  • A technique aimed at collecting qualitative information.
  • The final sense suggests individual speech related to:
    • Psychosocial aspects
    • Perceptions
    • Personal meanings
  • Features: It’s a controlled group based on:
    • The type of participants.
    • The theme and focus of the theme.
    • The questions asked.
  • The aim is to understand a topic from a focused standpoint, bounded to capture the depth of data.
  • The goal of a focus group is for each person to talk.
  • The group builds its representation from within.

Role of the Focus Group Moderator

  • The role is clearly to lead or direct the group to the delimited topic.
  • Often two moderators participate: one leads and the other assists in directing.
  • Moderators must collaborate to effectively guide the group.

Focus Group vs. Discussion Group: Key Differences

Focus Group
  • Sense: Individual speech.
  • Control: Participants and questions are controlled.
  • Role: Direct role (moderator).
Discussion Group
  • Sense: Social discourse.
  • Subject: Discussed openly and globally.
  • Role: Facilitator.