3.6.2.1 Scripting the Interview
Since the interviews were semi-structured, I developed an interview guide which was scripted and based on theory and literature with which I had familiarised myself. Before the interview script was finalised, the researcher developed two interview guides: one with the project’s thematic research questions and the other with interview questions to be posed, taking both the thematic and dynamic dimensions into account. The interview schedule was piloted and amended until it became appropriate to serve its purpose. It included an outline of the topics to be covered, with suggested questions. Since the aim of the interviews was to explore how young Maltese women incorporated the music they listened to into everyday discourses and identities, funnel shaped interviews made up of indirect questions with the interviewer revealing the purpose only after the interview is over (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009), were avoided. The participants were informed of what the research was trying to explore. Questions were scripted in such a way as to have both a
thematic and dynamic dimension. This was done so that questions would contribute to the knowledge production as well as to a good interview interaction.
Since at a later stage, analysis of the interview would be done, including coding of responses and narratives, it was important for me, as the researcher, during the interview, to keep this in mind so that I could clarify the meaning of responses with respect to the categories which would later be used.
Questions were scripted in such a way as to ensure a positive interaction with the interviewee, and to keep a flow of conversation going. Questions were easy to understand, short and devoid of academic language.
The interview script was only used as a guideline since during the interview, questions vary with different subjects since same things might have different meanings to different people. Therefore, in order to have questions mean the same thing to different people, questions in the interview script were modified to fit the vocabulary, educational background and comprehension of each participant (Kinsey et al., 1948).
3.6.2.2 Setting the stage
In my role as interviewer, I was aware that the first few minutes of each interview are very important since that is the time when the interviewees will want to have a grasp of the interviewer before they feel free to expose their experiences to a stranger (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). I therefore made it a point to be at ease and to be very clear as to what I wanted to know. I tried, in each case, to establish good contact by being attentive, showing interest, understanding and showing respect for what the subject was saying all through the interview.
The interviews started with a briefing. Interviewees were informed about the subject of the research and the purpose of the interview. I explained the use of the voice recorder asking for permission to record the interview explaining that this would enable me to faithfully transcribe the interview and later analyse it. Participants were asked whether they had any questions before the interview started. During the interview, whenever possible, I took note of the social context explicit during the interview, the emotional tone of the interaction, body language and tone of voice. At the end of the interview, there was always a debriefing when respondents were asked if they wanted to add anything. Then, the recorder was switched off.
3.6.2.3 Types of questions
According to Kvale and Brinkmann (2009) there are several types of interview questions, of which various types were used in the interviews in this study. All interviews started with introductory questions such as ‘Can you tell me about…?’; ‘Could you describe in as much detail as possible…?’ Such questions encouraged spontaneous and at times very rich descriptions of the respondents’ experiences and as many aspects of the topic as possible. Follow-up questions and probing questions were used when the respondents’ answers needed to be extended for the researcher to be able to analyse at a later stage. When respondents’ statements were too general, I as the interviewer followed up with specific questions which encouraged the respondent to give more detailed descriptions and accounts of experiences. When, towards the end of the interviews, some key areas were not touched upon, I made direct questions about them. In cases when respondents did not seem very willing to talk about themselves, indirect questions were asked about their opinions about other people’s attitude so that through that, indirect statements about their own attitudes could be obtained. In some interviews where the respondents tended to go at a tangent or to repeat at length the same information, I politely broke off long answers that were irrelevant to the study and introduced another topic using phrases like, ‘I would like to introduce the next topic now…’ Moments of silence were allowed in the interviews, so that the respondents could reflect on the topic at hand and usually the respondents broke the silence themselves with fresh information. Since my role in the research was that of interviewer and analysing data, I also made sure of clarifying whether my interpretation of what was said was correct where necessary.
3.6.2.4 Second questions
The interviewer not only has to be capable of asking questions but the interviewer must listen actively to the interviewee. Everything the interviewee says might change the structure of the interview. The interviewer must have knowledge of the interview topic and must be sensitive to the fact that the interview is a means to an end. Thus at times, as the interviewer I did not limit myself to the interview guide but spontaneously asked questions that would eventually encourage answers which would enrich and be relevant to the research questions (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p.171). Since this research was exploring new ground, during the initial stages of the interviewing process, I did not know what would be relevant and significant to the research. Only as I proceeded and analysed
interviews did I start developing an idea of what would be significant. This enabled me to focus on those areas in the later interviews.