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Methodology

Semi-Structured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples

Published on January 27, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

A semi-structured interview is a data collection method that relies on asking questions within a predetermined thematic framework. However, the questions are not set in order or in phrasing.

In research, semi-structured interviews are often qualitative in nature. They are generally used as an exploratory tool in marketing, social science, survey methodology, and other research fields.

They are also common in field research with many interviewers, giving everyone the same theoretical framework, but allowing them to investigate different facets of the research question .

• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order.
• Unstructured interviews : None of the questions are predetermined.
• Focus group interviews : The questions are presented to a group instead of one individual.

Table of contents

What is a semi-structured interview, when to use a semi-structured interview, advantages of semi-structured interviews, disadvantages of semi-structured interviews, semi-structured interview questions, how to conduct a semi-structured interview, how to analyze a semi-structured interview, presenting your results (with example), other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about semi-structured interviews.

Semi-structured interviews are a blend of structured and unstructured types of interviews.

• Unlike in an unstructured interview, the interviewer has an idea of what questions they will ask.
• Unlike in a structured interview, the phrasing and order of the questions is not set.

Semi-structured interviews are often open-ended, allowing for flexibility. Asking set questions in a set order allows for easy comparison between respondents, but it can be limiting. Having less structure can help you see patterns, while still allowing for comparisons between respondents.

Semi-structured interviews are best used when:

• You have prior interview experience. Spontaneous questions are deceptively challenging, and it’s easy to accidentally ask a leading question or make a participant uneasy.
• Your research question is exploratory in nature. Participant answers can guide future research questions and help you develop a more robust knowledge base for future research.

Just like in structured interviews, it is critical that you remain organized and develop a system for keeping track of participant responses. However, since the questions are less set than in a structured interview, the data collection and analysis become a bit more complex.

Differences between different types of interviews

Make sure to choose the type of interview that suits your research best. This table shows the most important differences between the four types.

Semi-structured interviews come with many advantages.

Best of both worlds

No distractions, detail and richness.

However, semi-structured interviews also have their downsides.

Low validity

High risk of research bias, difficult to develop good semi-structured interview questions.

Since they are often open-ended in style, it can be challenging to write semi-structured interview questions that get you the information you’re looking for without biasing your responses. Here are a few tips:

• Define what areas or topics you will be focusing on prior to the interview. This will help you write a framework of questions that zero in on the information you seek.
• Write yourself a guide to refer to during the interview, so you stay focused. It can help to start with the simpler questions first, moving into the more complex ones after you have established a comfortable rapport.
• Be as clear and concise as possible, avoiding jargon and compound sentences.
• How often per week do you go to the gym? a) 1 time; b) 2 times; c) 3 times; d) 4 or more times
• If yes: What feelings does going to the gym bring out in you?
• If no: What do you prefer to do instead?
• If yes: How did this membership affect your job performance? Did you stay longer in the role than you would have if there were no membership?

Once you’ve determined that a semi-structured interview is the right fit for your research topic , you can proceed with the following steps.

Step 1: Set your goals and objectives

You can use guiding questions as you conceptualize your research question, such as:

• What are you trying to learn or achieve from a semi-structured interview?
• Why are you choosing a semi-structured interview as opposed to a different type of interview, or another research method?

If you want to proceed with a semi-structured interview, you can start designing your questions.

Step 2: Design your questions

Try to stay simple and concise, and phrase your questions clearly. If your topic is sensitive or could cause an emotional response, be mindful of your word choices.

One of the most challenging parts of a semi-structured interview is knowing when to ask follow-up or spontaneous related questions. For this reason, having a guide to refer back to is critical. Hypothesizing what other questions could arise from your participants’ answers may also be helpful.

Step 3: Assemble your participants

There are a few sampling methods you can use to recruit your interview participants, such as:

• Voluntary response sampling : For example, sending an email to a campus mailing list and sourcing participants from responses.
• Stratified sampling of a particular characteristic trait of interest to your research, such as age, race, ethnicity, or gender identity.

Step 4: Decide on your medium

It’s important to determine ahead of time how you will be conducting your interview. You should decide whether you’ll be conducting it live or with a pen-and-paper format. If conducted in real time, you also need to decide if in person, over the phone, or via videoconferencing is the best option for you.

Note that each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages:

• Pen-and-paper may be easier for you to organize and analyze, but you will receive more prepared answers, which may affect the reliability of your data.
• In-person interviews can lead to nervousness or interviewer effects, where the respondent feels pressured to respond in a manner they believe will please you or incentivize you to like them.

Step 5: Conduct your interviews

As you conduct your interviews, keep environmental conditions as constant as you can to avoid bias. Pay attention to your body language (e.g., nodding, raising eyebrows), and moderate your tone of voice.

Relatedly, one of the biggest challenges with semi-structured interviews is ensuring that your questions remain unbiased. This can be especially challenging with any spontaneous questions or unscripted follow-ups that you ask your participants.

After you’re finished conducting your interviews, it’s time to analyze your results. First, assign each of your participants a number or pseudonym for organizational purposes.

The next step in your analysis is to transcribe the audio or video recordings. You can then conduct a content or thematic analysis to determine your categories, looking for patterns of responses that stand out to you and test your hypotheses .

Transcribing interviews

Before you get started with transcription, decide whether to conduct verbatim transcription or intelligent verbatim transcription.

• If pauses, laughter, or filler words like “umm” or “like” affect your analysis and research conclusions, conduct verbatim transcription and include them.
• If not, you can conduct intelligent verbatim transcription, which excludes fillers, fixes any grammatical issues, and is usually easier to analyze.

Transcribing presents a great opportunity for you to cleanse your data . Here, you can identify and address any inconsistencies or questions that come up as you listen.

Your supervisor might ask you to add the transcriptions to the appendix of your paper.

Coding semi-structured interviews

Next, it’s time to conduct your thematic or content analysis . This often involves “coding” words, patterns, or recurring responses, separating them into labels or categories for more robust analysis.

Due to the open-ended nature of many semi-structured interviews, you will most likely be conducting thematic analysis, rather than content analysis.

• You closely examine your data to identify common topics, ideas, or patterns. This can help you draw preliminary conclusions about your participants’ views, knowledge or experiences.
• After you have been through your responses a few times, you can collect the data into groups identified by their “code.” These codes give you a condensed overview of the main points and patterns identified by your data.
• Next, it’s time to organize these codes into themes. Themes are generally broader than codes, and you’ll often combine a few codes under one theme. After identifying your themes, make sure that these themes appropriately represent patterns in responses.

Analyzing semi-structured interviews

Once you’re confident in your themes, you can take either an inductive or a deductive approach.

• An inductive approach is more open-ended, allowing your data to determine your themes.
• A deductive approach is the opposite. It involves investigating whether your data confirm preconceived themes or ideas.

After your data analysis, the next step is to report your findings in a research paper .

• Your methodology section describes how you collected the data (in this case, describing your semi-structured interview process) and explains how you justify or conceptualize your analysis.
• Your discussion and results sections usually address each of your coded categories.
• You can then conclude with the main takeaways and avenues for further research.

Example of interview methodology for a research paper

Let’s say you are interested in vegan students on your campus. You have noticed that the number of vegan students seems to have increased since your first year, and you are curious what caused this shift.

You identify a few potential options based on literature:

• Perceptions about personal health or the perceived “healthiness” of a vegan diet
• Concerns about animal welfare and the meat industry
• Increased climate awareness, especially in regards to animal products
• Availability of more vegan options, making the lifestyle change easier

Anecdotally, you hypothesize that students are more aware of the impact of animal products on the ongoing climate crisis, and this has influenced many to go vegan. However, you cannot rule out the possibility of the other options, such as the new vegan bar in the dining hall.

Since your topic is exploratory in nature and you have a lot of experience conducting interviews in your work-study role as a research assistant, you decide to conduct semi-structured interviews.

You have a friend who is a member of a campus club for vegans and vegetarians, so you send a message to the club to ask for volunteers. You also spend some time at the campus dining hall, approaching students at the vegan bar asking if they’d like to participate.

Here are some questions you could ask:

• Do you find vegan options on campus to be: excellent; good; fair; average; poor?
• How long have you been a vegan?
• Follow-up questions can probe the strength of this decision (i.e., was it overwhelmingly one reason, or more of a mix?)

Depending on your participants’ answers to these questions, ask follow-ups as needed for clarification, further information, or elaboration.

• Do you think consuming animal products contributes to climate change? → The phrasing implies that you, the interviewer, do think so. This could bias your respondents, incentivizing them to answer affirmatively as well.
• What do you think is the biggest effect of animal product consumption? → This phrasing ensures the participant is giving their own opinion, and may even yield some surprising responses that enrich your analysis.

After conducting your interviews and transcribing your data, you can then conduct thematic analysis, coding responses into different categories. Since you began your research with several theories about campus veganism that you found equally compelling, you would use the inductive approach.

Once you’ve identified themes and patterns from your data, you can draw inferences and conclusions. Your results section usually addresses each theme or pattern you found, describing each in turn, as well as how often you came across them in your analysis. Feel free to include lots of (properly anonymized) examples from the data as evidence, too.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Student’s  t -distribution
• Normal distribution
• Null and Alternative Hypotheses
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Data cleansing
• Reproducibility vs Replicability
• Peer review
• Prospective cohort study

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Placebo effect
• Hawthorne effect
• Hindsight bias
• Affect heuristic
• Social desirability bias

A semi-structured interview is a blend of structured and unstructured types of interviews. Semi-structured interviews are best used when:

• You have prior interview experience. Spontaneous questions are deceptively challenging, and it’s easy to accidentally ask a leading question or make a participant uncomfortable.

The four most common types of interviews are:

• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order. 
• Semi-structured interviews : A few questions are predetermined, but other questions aren’t planned.

Social desirability bias is the tendency for interview participants to give responses that will be viewed favorably by the interviewer or other participants. It occurs in all types of interviews and surveys , but is most common in semi-structured interviews , unstructured interviews , and focus groups .

Social desirability bias can be mitigated by ensuring participants feel at ease and comfortable sharing their views. Make sure to pay attention to your own body language and any physical or verbal cues, such as nodding or widening your eyes.

This type of bias can also occur in observations if the participants know they’re being observed. They might alter their behavior accordingly.

The interviewer effect is a type of bias that emerges when a characteristic of an interviewer (race, age, gender identity, etc.) influences the responses given by the interviewee.

There is a risk of an interviewer effect in all types of interviews , but it can be mitigated by writing really high-quality interview questions.

Inductive reasoning is a bottom-up approach, while deductive reasoning is top-down.

Inductive reasoning takes you from the specific to the general, while in deductive reasoning, you make inferences by going from general premises to specific conclusions.

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• What is a semi-structured interview?

Last updated

5 February 2023

Reviewed by

Cathy Heath

Short on time? Get an AI generated summary of this article instead

When designed correctly, user interviews go much deeper than surface-level survey responses. They can provide new information about how people interact with your products and services, and shed light on the underlying reasons behind these habits.

Semi-structured user interviews are widely considered one of the most effective tools for doing this kind of qualitative research , depending on your specific goals. As the name suggests, the semi-structured format allows for a more natural, conversational flow, while still being organized enough to collect plenty of actionable data .

Analyze semi-structured interviews

Bring all your semi-structured interviews into one place to analyze and understand

A semi-structured interview is a qualitative research method used to gain an in-depth understanding of the respondent's feelings and beliefs on specific topics. As the interviewer prepares the questions ahead of time, they can adjust the order, skip any that are redundant, or create new ones. Additionally, the interviewer should be prepared to ask follow-up questions and probe for more detail.

Semi-structured interviews typically last between 30 and 60 minutes and are usually conducted either in person or via a video call. Ideally, the interviewer can observe the participant's verbal and non-verbal cues in real-time, allowing them to adjust their approach accordingly. The interviewer aims for a conversational flow that helps the participant talk openly while still focusing on the primary topics being researched.

Once the interview is over, the researcher analyzes the data in detail to draw meaningful results. This involves sorting the data into categories and looking for patterns and trends. This semi-structured interview approach provides an ideal framework for obtaining open-ended data and insights.

• When to use a semi-structured interview?

Semi-structured interviews are considered the "best of both worlds" as they tap into the strengths of structured and unstructured methods. Researchers can gather reliable data while also getting unexpected insights from in-depth user feedback.

Semi-structured interviews can be useful during any stage of the UX product-development process, including exploratory research to better understand a new market or service. Further down the line, this approach is ideal for refining existing designs and discovering areas for improvement. Semi-structured interviews can even be the first step when planning future research projects using another method of data collection.

• Advantages of semi-structured interviews

Flexibility

This style of interview is meant to be adapted according to the answers and reactions of the respondent, which gives a lot of flexibility. Semi-structured interviews encourage two-way communication, allowing themes and ideas to emerge organically.

Respondent comfort

The semi-structured format feels more natural and casual for participants than a formal interview. This can help to build rapport and more meaningful dialogue.

Semi-structured interviews are excellent for user experience research because they provide rich, qualitative data about how people really experience your products and services.

Open-ended questions allow the respondent to provide nuanced answers, with the potential for more valuable insights than other forms of data collection, like structured interviews , surveys , or questionnaires.

• Disadvantages of semi-structured interviews

Can be unpredictable

Less structure brings less control, especially if the respondent goes off tangent or doesn't provide useful information. If the conversation derails, it can take a lot of effort to bring the focus back to the relevant topics.

Lack of standardization

Every semi-structured interview is unique, including potentially different questions, so the responses collected are very subjective. This can make it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from the data unless your team invests the time in a comprehensive analysis.

Compared to other research methods, unstructured interviews are not as consistent or "ready to use."

• Best practices when preparing for a semi-structured interview

While semi-structured interviews provide a lot of flexibility, they still require thoughtful planning. Maximizing the potential of this research method will depend on having clear goals that help you narrow the focus of the interviews and keep each session on track.

After taking the time to specify these parameters, create an interview guide to serve as a framework for each conversation. This involves crafting a range of questions that can explore the necessary themes and steer the conversation in the right direction. Everything in your interview guide is optional (that's the beauty of being "semi" structured), but it's still an essential tool to help the conversation flow and collect useful data.

Best practices to consider while designing your interview questions include:

Prioritize open-ended questions

Promote a more interactive, meaningful dialogue by avoiding questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no, otherwise known as close-ended questions.

Stick with "what," "when," "who," "where," "why," and "how" questions, which allow the participant to go beyond the superficial to express their ideas and opinions. This approach also helps avoid jargon and needless complexity in your questions.

Open-ended questions help the interviewer uncover richer, qualitative details, which they can build on to get even more valuable insights.

Plan some follow-up questions

When preparing questions for the interview guide, consider the responses you're likely to get and pair them up with some effective, relevant follow-up questions. Factual questions should be followed by ones that ask an opinion.

Planning potential follow-up questions will help you to get the most out of a semi-structured interview. They allow you to delve deeper into the participant's responses or hone in on the most important themes of your research focus.

Follow-up questions are also invaluable when the interviewer feels stuck and needs a meaningful prompt to continue the conversation.

Avoid leading questions

Leading questions are framed toward a predetermined answer. This makes them likely to result in data that is biased, inaccurate, or otherwise unreliable.

For example, asking "Why do you think our services are a good solution?" or "How satisfied have you been with our services?" will leave the interviewee feeling pressured to agree with some baseline assumptions.

Interviewers must take the time to evaluate their questions and make a conscious effort to remove any potential bias that could get in the way of authentic feedback.

Asking neutral questions is key to encouraging honest responses in a semi-structured interview. For example, "What do you consider to be the advantages of using our services?" or simply "What has been your experience with using our services?"

Neutral questions are effective in capturing a broader range of opinions than closed questions, which is ultimately one of the biggest benefits of using semi-structured interviews for research.

Use the critical incident method

The critical incident method is an approach to interviewing that focuses on the past behavior of respondents, as opposed to hypothetical scenarios. One of the challenges of all interview research methods is that people are not great at accurately recalling past experiences, or answering future-facing, abstract questions.

The critical incident method helps avoid these limitations by asking participants to recall extreme situations or 'critical incidents' which stand out in their memory as either particularly positive or negative. Extreme situations are more vivid so they can be recalled more accurately, potentially providing more meaningful insights into the interviewee’s experience with your products or services.

• Best practices while conducting semi-structured interviews

Encouraging interaction is the key to collecting more specific data than is typically possible during a formal interview. Facilitating an effective semi-structured interview is a balancing act between asking prepared questions and creating the space for organic conversation. Here are some guidelines for striking the right tone.

Beginning the interview

Make participants feel comfortable by introducing yourself and your role at the organization and displaying appropriate body language.

Outline the purpose of the interview to give them an idea of what to expect. For example, explain that you want to learn more about how people use your product or service.

It's also important to thank them for their time in advance and emphasize there are no right or wrong answers.

Practice active listening

Build trust and rapport throughout the interview with active listening techniques, focusing on being present and demonstrating that you're paying attention by responding thoughtfully. Engage with the participant by making eye contact, nodding, and giving verbal cues like "Okay, I see," "I understand," and "M-hm."

Avoid the temptation to rush to fill any silences while they're in the middle of responding, even if it feels awkward. Give them time to finish their train of thought before interrupting with feedback or another prompt. Embracing these silences is essential for active listening because it's a sign of a productive interview with meaningful, candid responses.

Practicing these techniques will ensure the respondent feels heard and respected, which is critical for gathering high-quality information.

Ask clarifying questions in real time

In a semi-structured interview, the researcher should always be on the lookout for opportunities to probe into the participant's thoughts and opinions.

Along with preparing follow-up questions, get in the habit of asking clarifying questions whenever possible. Clarifying questions are especially important for user interviews because people often provide vague responses when discussing how they interact with products and services.

Being asked to go deeper will encourage them to give more detail and show them you’re taking their opinions seriously and are genuinely interested in understanding their experiences.

Some clarifying questions that can be asked in real-time include:

"That's interesting. Could you give me some examples of X?"

"What do you mean when you say "X"?"

"Why is that?"

"It sounds like you're saying [rephrase their response], is that correct?"

Minimize note-taking

In a wide-ranging conversation, it's easy to miss out on potentially valuable insights by not staying focused on the user. This is why semi-structured interviews are generally recorded (audio or video), and it's common to have a second researcher present to take notes.

The person conducting the interview should avoid taking notes because it's a distraction from:

Keeping track of the conversation

Engaging with the user

Asking thought-provoking questions

Watching you take notes can also have the unintended effect of making the participant feel pressured to give shallower, shorter responses—the opposite of what you want.

Concluding the interview

Semi-structured interviews don't come with a set number of questions, so it can be tricky to bring them to an end. Give the participant a sense of closure by asking whether they have anything to add before wrapping up, or if they want to ask you any questions, and then give sincere thanks for providing honest feedback.

Don't stop abruptly once all the relevant topics have been discussed or you're nearing the end of the time that was set aside. Make them feel appreciated!

• Analyzing the data from semi-structured interviews

In some ways, the real work of semi-structured interviews begins after all the conversations are over, and it's time to analyze the data you've collected. This process will focus on sorting and coding each interview to identify patterns, often using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Some of the strategies for making sense of semi-structured interviews include:

Thematic analysis : focuses on the content of the interviews and identifying common themes

Discourse analysis : looks at how people express feelings about themes such as those involving politics, culture, and power

Qualitative data mapping: a visual way to map out the correlations between different elements of the data

Narrative analysis : uses stories and language to unlock perspectives on an issue

Grounded theory : can be applied when there is no existing theory that could explain a new phenomenon

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Semi-structured Interviews

• Reference work entry
• First Online: 01 January 2020
• pp 4825–4830
• Cite this reference work entry

• Danielle Magaldi 3 &
• Matthew Berler 4  

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Open-ended interview ; Qualitative interview ; Systematic exploratory interview ; Thematic interview

The semi-structured interview is an exploratory interview used most often in the social sciences for qualitative research purposes or to gather clinical data. While it generally follows a guide or protocol that is devised prior to the interview and is focused on a core topic to provide a general structure, the semi-structured interview also allows for discovery, with space to follow topical trajectories as the conversation unfolds.

Introduction

Qualitative interviews exist on a continuum, ranging from free-ranging, exploratory discussions to highly structured interviews. On one end is unstructured interviewing, deployed by approaches such as ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology. This style of interview involves a changing protocol that evolves based on participants’ responses and will differ from one participant to the next. On the other end of the continuum...

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Magaldi, D., Berler, M. (2020). Semi-structured Interviews. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_857

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Mastering Semi-Structured Interviews

Introduction

What is the difference between structured and semi-structured interviews, when to use a semi-structured interview, best practices for conducting semi-structured interviews, semi-structured interviews in qualitative research.

Interviews are an integral part of qualitative and social science research . While observational research explores what people do, interviews look at what people say and believe. The interview is an important research method to capture people's perspectives and experiences concerning relevant topics.

Three different types of interviews can be utilized in research. In this article, we will look at the semi-structured interview. This form of interview offers a balance between a rigid interaction that produces neatly organized data and a fluid conversation that can explore unexpected but relevant aspects of the phenomenon under study.

Among research methods , interviewing focuses on the experiences and perspectives that people have about a particular topic. In contrast, other research methods such as experiments and observations focus on what people do or how things work. However, people may look at the same cultural or social practice and think different things about it, making interviews important to capture potential nuances in experiences and interpretations.

Conducting an interview is a more complex task than simply talking with people. Qualitative researchers can adopt three different approaches to talking with interview respondents. The most straightforward form of interview is the structured interview , which is a rigid form of interview that asks a specific set of questions. It is fully structured in that all questions are specified beforehand and the interviewer poses the same questions to all participants, without any variations or asking any follow-up questions on the spot. A strength of structured interviews is that asking only predetermined questions produces uniform data that makes comparisons across participants easier, as answers from structured interviews can be quickly sorted into a matrix or spreadsheet for simple comparison.

Another type of interview is the semi-structured interview, which also has predetermined questions but allows for follow-up questions for deeper exploration. In this case, the interview can be seen as a formal conversation, with the researcher having a predetermined set of topics and questions they want to ask, while at the same time remaining open to asking other questions as the conversation unfolds. As a result, a semi-structured interview offers the necessary flexibility for researchers to explore any relevant ideas that may emerge as the participant answers questions and shares new information.

Advantages of semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews allow the researcher to probe deeply into the perspectives of interview respondents, while structured interviews have a rigid format that does not allow for the interviewer to elicit more detail if given the opportunity.

The semi-structured format also provides the necessary guidance for researchers to stay focused on the key topics at hand. While the interview may go through the questions in a different order or explore additional topics, the predetermined questions in a semi-structured interview ensures that the important topics are sufficiently explored.

Disadvantages of semi-structured interviews

Unlike in a formal interview, the open-ended nature of semi-structured interviews can allow for the interview respondent to take the conversation in unanticipated directions. While this is a useful feature of semi-structured interviews, it is also important for the interviewer to guide the conversation toward the topic of study to ensure that the collected data will be relevant to the research question.

A semi-structured interview also requires the interviewer to engage in active listening to be able to take advantage of opportunities to ask probing questions. In this respect, interviewers may require training to ensure that they can effectively conduct a semi-structured interview that explores respondents' perspectives deeply enough while collecting data relevant to the research inquiry.

Unstructured interviews

One more distinction to keep in mind is that of the unstructured interview . While structured and semi-structured interviews have predetermined questions tailored to address the research question , unstructured interviews have no framework set before conducting the interview.

These kinds of interviews are meant to be more informal or exploratory in nature; they allow respondents to answer as freely as possible and permits the interviewer to follow the dialogue wherever it goes. While both semi-structured and unstructured interviews can employ spontaneous follow-up questions, semi-structured interviews are designed to ensure that a set of key questions are asked to all respondents to ensure relevant data is collected.

While interviews can follow predetermined structures to different degrees, interviewing as a data collection method is a social act that involves developing rapport with the interview respondent so that they feel comfortable to answer freely. This is also important to collect rich data that shed light on the phenomenon under study.

Keep in mind that any qualitative interview, regardless of type, focuses on open-ended questions. Any study that is more suited to closed-ended questions may find survey research more conducive to addressing their research inquiry.

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A semi-structured interview is ideal when you want to explore individuals' experiences and perspectives around a particular topic. It is also important to have a clearly defined research agenda with specific objectives that your interview respondents can address. Your research objectives can inform the core questions you can pose to respondents.

In addition, if you are still looking to inductively generate theory in areas that have little theoretical coherence or conceptualization, a semi-structured interview is ideal because it allows you to probe further into the ideas that emerge from your respondents. Semi-structured interviews are thus powerful data collection tools when you are looking to build a theory or explore individuals' experiences or perspectives.

Interviewing in qualitative research is not merely an act of conversing with research participants. It is a research method aimed at exploring the perspectives and ideas of research participants as deeply as possible.

When you conduct semi-structured interviews, it is important to intentionally consider every major element of the study, from the selection of participants to the questions asked, even the setting in which the interviews take place.

Preparing for a semi-structured interview

Think about which participants can adequately address the objectives in your study. For example, if your research inquiry deals with a specific cultural practice from a particular perspective, then you will benefit from choosing respondents who can best speak to that perspective.

Also reflect on how you will interact with your respondents. What is the best way to reach them and elicit their ideas? To engage in a meaningful conversation with your participants, it is important to pose questions in a way that is easy for others to understand, avoiding any jargon and preparing alternative ways to ask each question. Moreover, interview questions should be adjusted to each participant. Interviewing children is a different matter from interviewing adults. If the respondents' first language is different from yours, you may also want to consider adjusting your language to make yourself understood. The respondent's individual circumstances will play an important role in how you conduct your interview.

In addition, consider what equipment you will use to collect qualitative data in the form of audio or video recordings , and aim to record in as high a quality as possible. While the audio recorder on most smartphones is adequate enough to capture most conversations, you may want to think about using professional equipment if you are conducting interviews in public environments like cafés or parks. A camera may also be appropriate if you want to record facial expressions, gestures, and other body language for later analysis.

Semi-structured interview questions

A researcher should prepare an interview guide that lists all the necessary questions to be asked and topics to be explored. The guide can be flexible and researchers can ask the questions in whichever order naturally unfolds during the conversation. Nonetheless, having a guide helps ensure that the researcher is collecting data relevant to the research question.

When designing interview guides, consider how your questions are framed and how they might be received by the interview respondent. Avoid leading questions that may elicit socially desirable responses, and prepare alternative ways to word your questions in case participants don't understand a question.

Preparing follow-up questions

Probing questions make for effective follow-ups that encourage respondents to provide in-depth information about the topic at hand. A common challenge of interviews is that participants may provide very brief responses or not deeply engage with the conversation. Preparing prompts and probes can help researchers encourage participants to open up or provide more details if needed.

In general, an interviewer should invite the respondent to elaborate on answers when additional details can benefit the research. Taking advantage of such opportunities in a semi-structured interview can greatly contribute to the theoretical development arising from the interview study. These prompts and probes can be as simple as asking for more details, nodding along, or practicing silence. Another helpful tactic is to ask participants to provide an example or walk you through the story they are sharing.

The interview itself is just one of the components of the interview study. During and after the semi-structured interview, take the following into consideration to ensure rigorous data collection .

Collecting qualitative data in the form of interviews

In most cases, interview data takes the form of transcriptions of raw audio or video recordings of the interview conversations. It's important to ensure that you have the necessary equipment to record and transcribe the interview. Being able to count on high quality recordings is crucial to make transcription easier and more accurate.

While you can certainly analyze the actual recordings, textual data can make the analysis process easier and more manageable. You can use qualitative data analysis software such as ATLAS.ti to analyze multimedia or text data; another benefit of text data is that many additional analysis tools can be used to analyze the structure or contents of the data.

An interview researcher should also consider how the interview is conducted. After all, the two-way communication in a face-to-face interview has different effects on the interview respondent from an interview that is conducted online or by email. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the environment in which you will conduct the interview so that you can anticipate any issues that arise regarding clarity between you and your respondents.

During the course of any interview, it may benefit your analysis to capture detailed notes about the interactions you have with your respondents. A good practice is to note down any observations or impressions immediately after concluding each interview while the interaction is fresh in your mind. Many interviewers use these notes to remind them of potentially significant theoretical developments that can be used when coding the data.

Interviews with vulnerable populations

For interview projects that involve sensitive issues, the researcher should be mindful of how questions are posed and what is asked to avoid interview respondents becoming uncomfortable or anxious.

This is especially true in studies that involve children, people in conflict zones, and other vulnerable populations. The interviewer should take great care to balance data collection with the responsibility of protecting the well-being of their research participants.

Informed consent with interview respondents

In terms of addressing ethical considerations , the researcher should also ensure that they receive participants' consent before collecting any data . Informed consent is a crucial standard in research involving human participants, and it involves both the interviewer and interview respondent being cognizant of the purpose of the study, the procedures taken during the interview, and the measures in place to preserve the respondent's privacy and personal data .

Especially with respect to interviews that collect open-ended data from participants, researchers should ensure that respondents have an in-depth understanding of the interview study in which they are participating.

Preparing semi-structured interviews for analysis

Unlike interviews for news outlets or entertainment programs, the interview research process doesn't end at the conclusion of the conversation with the participant. A research paper is not simply a reporting of what was said in an interview or set of interviews. Instead, the respondents' utterances should be carefully and rigorously analyzed to determine what themes and patterns arise from the data and how these relate to the research question guiding the study.

Transcription of interview recordings is a standard practice for analyzing interviews. You can either manually transcribe interviews, outsource transcription to a professional service, or use software that automates the process. Whatever you choose, make sure that the transcription is accurate and has the level of detail (e.g., thinking sounds, pauses) that you are looking for in your analysis.

Coding and analyzing semi-structured interviews

Qualitative data typically undergoes a coding process in which data segments are labeled with descriptive codes. These codes help to identify patterns in the data. Ultimately, the goal of coding is to help the researcher condense and organize the data to address their research objectives.

For semi-structured interviews, consider first coding every answer based on the questions in the interview guide. This will allow you to compare respondents' answers to the same interview questions when viewing and analyzing each question code later on. You can supplement these codes with interpretive codes based on emerging themes to further explore patterns across participants' experiences or perspectives.

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Semi-Structured Interviews

What are semi-structured interviews.

Semi-structured interviews are a research method that uses both predetermined questions and open-ended exploration to gain more in-depth insights into participants' perspectives, attitudes, and experiences.

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Semi-structured interviews are commonly used in social science research, market research, and other fields where an understanding of people's attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs is important.

Key Characteristics of Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews have several key characteristics that differentiate them from other types of interviews: 

The flexible nature allows researchers to dive deeper into a topic and adapt the interview based on new insights or issues. Unlike structured interviews, which rely on a fixed set of questions and responses, semi-structured interviews allow for more open-ended discussion, which can lead to unexpected insights and perspectives.

Their emphasis is on participant perspectives and experiences. Rather than simply gathering participant data or information, the purpose of semi-structured interviews is to understand how participants think and feel about particular topics or issues. This approach allows researchers to understand better the social and cultural contexts in which participants live and work.

They are often used in research projects that aim to generate new ideas or theories rather than test existing ones. Because they allow for open-ended discussion and exploration, they can effectively generate new insights into complex social phenomena.

Types of Questions for Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews use a combination of predetermined questions and open-ended exploration to learn more about participants' perspectives. There are three main categories of questions you can use:

Open-ended Questions: These are broad, general questions that allow participants to express their thoughts and feelings on a topic without restriction. Open-ended questions typically begin with phrases like "Tell me about..." or "How do you feel about...". These questions help encourage participants to share their experiences and perspectives in their own words.

Closed-ended Questions: Closed-ended questions are more specific and provide the participant with predetermined responses. These questions typically begin with phrases like "Do you agree or disagree with..." or "Which option best describes...". Closed-ended questions can help gather data on specific attitudes or behaviors.

Probing Questions: Probing questions are follow-up questions that aim to clarify or expand upon a participant's response. These questions typically begin with phrases like "Can you tell me more about..." or "Why do you think that is...". Probing questions can help a researcher to understand a participant's thought process or experience.

Steps to Conduct a Successful Semi-Structured Interview

Proper preparation is key to conducting successful semi-structured interviews. Below are some tips for preparing for your interviews:

Define Your Research Questions: Before conducting interviews, it's important to understand your research questions and objectives clearly. This will help you develop a set of initial questions to guide your interview process.

Develop an Interview Guide: An interview guide is a list of questions and prompts designed to elicit information from participants. It should include open-ended and closed-ended questions and probing questions to encourage participants to elaborate on their responses.

Pilot Test Your Interview Guide: It's important to pilot test your interview guide with a small group of participants before conducting full-scale interviews. This will allow you to identify potential issues or areas where the questions must be revised.

Identify and Recruit Participants: Ensure that your sample is representative of the population you are studying. Consider using targeted sampling methods, such as snowball sampling or maximum variation sampling, to recruit participants who can provide diverse perspectives.

Schedule Interviews: Once you've identified and recruited participants, it's time to schedule interviews. Be sure to allow adequate time between interviews for transcription and analysis.

Conduct Interviews: During the interview process, it's important to establish rapport with participants and create a comfortable environment where they feel safe sharing their experiences and opinions. Be sure to follow your interview guide while allowing flexibility in response to unexpected information during the discussion.

Provide Compensation or Incentives to Participants: Consider offering compensation or incentives to participants to encourage their participation. Compensation can come in many forms, such as gift cards, cash, or vouchers. It can also be non-monetary, such as offering participants the opportunity to receive a summary of the study's findings or the chance to participate in future research projects. Compensation or incentives can help to show participants that their time and contributions are valued and appreciated.

Plan your research with this helpful checklist . Then, get ready to conduct semi-structured interviews! Download this template for help in creating different types of interview questions. 

Learn More about Semi Structured Interviews

Take our course on User Research – Methods and Best Practices. 

Read more about the process of conducting semi-structured interviews .

Learn how to analyze the data from your semi-structured interviews .  

Read this reflection on semi-structured interviews as a research instrument .  

Learn how to use the snowball sampling method to recruit participants.

Do you need more diversity in your study? Try maximum variation sampling .

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What are semi-structured interviews?

• Interviews that consist only of casual conversations without any structure.
• Interviews that follow a strict set of questions without deviation.
• Interviews that use both predetermined questions and allow open-ended exploration.

Why is building rapport important in semi-structured interviews?

• It allows the interviewer to dominate the conversation.
• It encourages participants to provide honest and detailed responses.
• It guarantees the interviewer sticks to the script.

Which type of question do researchers commonly use in semi-structured interviews to gain in-depth responses?

• Multiple-choice questions
• Open-ended questions
• Yes/no questions

Why are semi-structured interviews beneficial in research?

• They allow for the exploration of new topics based on responses.
• They are easy to analyze quantitatively.
• They require minimal preparation.

What is the purpose of probing questions in semi-structured interviews?

• To clarify and expand on participants' answers
• To gather specific predetermined data
• To limit the participants' responses

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Literature on Semi-Structured Interviews

Here’s the entire UX literature on Semi-Structured Interviews by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Semi-Structured Interviews

Take a deep dive into Semi-Structured Interviews with our course User Research – Methods and Best Practices .

How do you plan to design a product or service that your users will love , if you don't know what they want in the first place? As a user experience designer, you shouldn't leave it to chance to design something outstanding; you should make the effort to understand your users and build on that knowledge from the outset. User research is the way to do this, and it can therefore be thought of as the largest part of user experience design .

In fact, user research is often the first step of a UX design process—after all, you cannot begin to design a product or service without first understanding what your users want! As you gain the skills required, and learn about the best practices in user research, you’ll get first-hand knowledge of your users and be able to design the optimal product—one that’s truly relevant for your users and, subsequently, outperforms your competitors’ .

This course will give you insights into the most essential qualitative research methods around and will teach you how to put them into practice in your design work. You’ll also have the opportunity to embark on three practical projects where you can apply what you’ve learned to carry out user research in the real world . You’ll learn details about how to plan user research projects and fit them into your own work processes in a way that maximizes the impact your research can have on your designs. On top of that, you’ll gain practice with different methods that will help you analyze the results of your research and communicate your findings to your clients and stakeholders—workshops, user journeys and personas, just to name a few!

By the end of the course, you’ll have not only a Course Certificate but also three case studies to add to your portfolio. And remember, a portfolio with engaging case studies is invaluable if you are looking to break into a career in UX design or user research!

We believe you should learn from the best, so we’ve gathered a team of experts to help teach this course alongside our own course instructors. That means you’ll meet a new instructor in each of the lessons on research methods who is an expert in their field—we hope you enjoy what they have in store for you!

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Designing a semi-structured interview guide for qualitative interviews

But what exactly do semi structured interviews mean? What exactly counts as in-depth? How structured are semi-structured interviews?

Daniel Turner

Interviews are a frequently used research method in qualitative studies. You will see dozens of papers that state something like “We conducted n in-depth semi-structured interviews with key informants”. But what exactly does this mean? What exactly counts as in-depth? How structured are semi-structured interviews?

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The term “in-depth” is defined fairly vaguely in the literature: it generally means a one-to-one interview on one general topic, which is covered in detail. Usually these qualitative interviews last about an hour, although sometimes much longer. It sounds like two people having a discussion, but there are differences in the power dynamics, and end goal: for the classic sociologist Burgess (2002) these are “conversations with a purpose”.

Qualitative interviews generally differ from quantitative survey based questions in that they are looking for a more detailed and nuanced response. They also acknowledge there is no ‘one-size fits all’, especially when asking someone to recall a personal narrative about their experiences. Instead of a fixed “research protocol” that asks the same question to each respondent, most interviewees adopt a more flexible approach. However there is still a need “...to ensure that the same general areas of information are collected from each interviewee; this provides more focus than the conversational approach, but still allows a degree of freedom and adaptability in getting information from the interviewee” – MacNamara (2009) .

Turner (2010) (who coincidentally shares the same name as me) describes three different types of qualitative interview; Informal Conversation, General Interview Guide, and Standardised Open-Ended. These can be seen as a scale from least to most structured, and we are going to focus on the ‘interview guide’ approach, which takes a middle ground.

An interview guide is like a cheat-sheet for the interviewer – it contains a list of questions and topic areas that should be covered in the interview. However, these are not to be read verbatim and in order, in fact they are more like an aide-mémoire. “Usually the interviewer will have a prepared set of questions but these are only used as a guide, and departures from the guidelines are not seen as a problem but are often encouraged” – Silverman (2013) . That way, the interviewer can add extra questions about an unexpected but relevant area that emerges, and sections that don’t apply to the participant can be negated.

So what do these look like, and how does one go about writing a suitable semi-structured interview guide? Unfortunately, it is rare in journal articles for researchers to share the interview guide, and it’s difficult to find good examples on the internet. Basically they look like a list of short questions and follow-on prompts, grouped by topic. There will generally be about a dozen. I’ve written my fair share of interview guides for qualitative research projects over the years, either on my own or with the collaboration of colleagues, so I’m happy to share some tips.

  Questions should answer your research questions  Your research project should have one or several main research questions, and these should be used to guide the topics covered in the interviews, and hopefully answer the research questions. However, you can’t just ask your respondents “Can the experience of male My Little Pony fans be described through the lens of Derridean deconstruction?”. You will need to break down your research into questions that have meaning for the participant and that they can engage with. The questions should be fairly informal and jargon free (unless that person is an expert in that field of jargon), open ended - so they can’t be easily answered with a yes or no, and non-leading so that respondents aren’t pushed down a certain interpretation.

Link to your proposed analytical approach  The questions on your guide should also be constructed in such a way that they will work well for your proposed method of analysis – which again you should already have decided. If you are doing narrative analysis, questions should be encouraging respondents to tell their story and history. In Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis you may want to ask more detail about people’s interpretations of their experiences. Think how you will want to analyse, compare and write up your research, and make sure that the questioning style fits your own approach.

Specific ‘Why’ and prompt questions  It is very rare in semi-structured interviews that you will ask one question, get a response, and then move on to the next topic. Firstly you will need to provide some structure for the participant, so they are not expected (or encouraged) to recite their whole life story. But on the other level, you will usually want to probe more about specific issues or conditions. That is where the flexible approach comes in. Someone might reveal something that you are interested in, and is relevant to the research project. So ask more! It’s often useful in the guide to list a series of prompt words that remind you of more areas of detail that might be covered. For example, the question “When did you first visit the doctor?” might be annotated with optional prompts such as “Why did you go then?”, “Were you afraid?” or “Did anyone go with you?”. Prompt words might reduce this to ‘Why THEN / afraid / with someone’.

Be flexible with order  Generally, an interview guide will be grouped into several topics, each with a few questions. One of the most difficult skills is how to segue from one topic or question to the next, while still seeming like a normal conversation. The best way to manage this is to make sure that you are always listening to the interviewee, and thinking at the same time about how what they are saying links to other discussion topics. If someone starts talking about how they felt isolated visiting the doctor, and one of your topics is about their experience with their doctor, you can ask ‘Did you doctor make you feel less isolated?’. You might then be asking about topic 4, when you are only on topic 1, but you now have a logical link to ask the more general written question ‘Did you feel the doctor supported you?’. The ability to flow from topic to topic as the conversation evolves (while still covering everything on the interview guide) is tricky, and requires you to:

Know your guide backwards - literally  I almost never went into an interview without a printed copy of the interview guide in front of me, but it was kind of like Dumbo’s magic feather : it made me feel safe, but I didn’t really need it. You should know everything on your interview guide off by heart, and in any sequence. Since things will crop up in unpredictable ways, you should be comfortable asking questions in different orders to help the conversational flow. Still, it’s always good to have the interview guide in front of you; it lets you tick off questions as they are asked (so you can see what hasn’t been covered), is space to write notes, and also can be less intimidating for the interviewee, as you can look at your notes occasionally rather than staring them in the eye all the time.

  Try for natural conversation   Legard, Keegan and Ward (2003) note that “Although a good in-depth interview will appear naturalistic, it will bear little resemblance to an everyday conversation”. You will usually find that the most honest and rich responses come from relaxed, non-combative discussions. Make the first question easy, to ease the participant into the interview, and get them used to the question-answer format. But don’t let it feel like a tennis match, where you are always asking the questions. If they ask something of you, reply! Don’t sit in silence: nod, say ‘Yes’, or ‘Of course’ every now and then, to show you are listening and empathising like a normal human being. Yet do be careful about sharing your own potentially leading opinions, and making the discussion about yourself.

Discuss with your research team / supervisors  You should take the time to get feedback and suggestions from peers, be they other people on your research project, or your PhD supervisors. This means preparing the interview guide well in advance of your first interview, leaving time for discussion and revisions. Seasoned interviewers will have tips about wording and structuring questions, and even the most experienced researcher can benefit from a second opinion. Getting it right at this stage is very important, it’s no good discovering after you’ve done all your interviews that you didn’t ask about something important.

Adapting the guide  While these are semi-structured interviews, in general you will usually want to cover the same general areas every time you do an interview, no least so that there is some point of comparison. It’s also common to do a first few interviews and realise that you are not asking about a critical area, or that some new potential insight is emerging (especially if you are taking a grounded theory approach). In qualitative research, this need not be a disaster (if this flexibility is methodologically appropriate), and it is possible to revise your interview guide. However, if you do end up making significant revisions, make sure you keep both versions, and a note of which respondents were interviewed with each version of the guide.

Test the timing  Inevitably, you will not have exactly the same amount of time for each interview, and respondents will differ in how fast they talk and how often they go off-topic! Make sure you have enough questions to get the detail you need, but also have ‘lower priority’ questions you can drop if things are taking too long. Test the timing of your interview guide with a few participants, or even friends before you settle on it, and revise as necessary. Try and get your interview guide down to one side of paper at the most: it is a prompt, not an encyclopaedia!

 Hopefully these points will help demystify qualitative interview guides, and help you craft a useful tool to shape your semi-structured interviews. I’d also caution that semi-structured interviewing is a very difficult process, and benefits majorly from practice. I have been with many new researchers who tend to fall back on the interview guide too much, and read it verbatim. This generally leads to closed-off responses, and missed opportunities to further explore interesting revelations. Treat your interview guide as a guide, not a gospel, and be flexible. It’s extra hard, because you have to juggle asking questions, listening, choosing the next question, keeping the research topic in your head and making sure everything is covered – but when you do it right, you’ll get rich research data that you will actually be excited to go home and analyse.

Don’t forget to check out some of the references above, as well as the myriad of excellent articles and textbooks on qualitative interviews. There’s also Quirkos itself , software to help you make the research process engaging and visual, with a free trial to download of this innovative tool. We also have a rapidly growing series of blog post articles on qualitative interviews. These now include 10 tips for qualitative interviewing , transcribing qualitative interviews and focus groups , and how to make sure you get good recordings . Our blog is updated with articles like this every week, and you can hear about it first by following our Twitter feed @quirkossoftware .

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Home » Blog » Semi-structured interviews: Everything you need to know

Semi-structured interviews: Everything you need to know

• Ryan Inglethorpe
• August 28, 2024

Semi-structured interviews have become an essential tool across various fields, from recruitment to research, due to their unique blend of structure and flexibility. Unlike rigidly structured interviews that follow a strict set of questions, or unstructured interviews that offer little to no guidance, semi-structured interviews strike a balance. They provide a framework of predetermined open-ended questions while allowing the interviewer the freedom to explore responses in greater depth. 

This method enables interviewers to cover key topics consistently across interviews while also adapting to the flow of conversation, making room for unexpected insights and deeper understanding. The semi-structured format helps foster a more natural dialogue, encouraging interviewees to share more freely and providing richer, more nuanced data. 

Whether you’re conducting job interviews, academic research, or user experience studies, semi-structured interviews offer a versatile approach that can be tailored to suit a wide range of contexts. 

What is a semi-structured interview?

A semi-structured interview is a type of interview technique that combines both open-ended and closed questions, allowing for a balance between consistency across interviews and flexibility to explore certain areas in more depth.

The key characteristics of a semi-structured interview are:

Predetermined questions:

The interviewer has a set list of open-ended questions to ask all candidates. This ensures certain topics and areas are covered consistently.

Follow-up questions:

However, the interviewer also has the flexibility to ask follow-up questions based on the interviewee’s responses to explore interesting points further.

Question order flexibility:

While there is a question guide, the interviewer can change the order of questions depending on how the conversation flows.

Room for open discussion:

Semi-structured interviews allow for open-ended back-and-forth dialogue between the interviewer and interviewee, rather than just straightforward question/answer format.

The benefits of using a semi-structured approach include:

• Consistency in core areas explored with each candidate
• Flexibility to dig deeper into relevant areas for that particular candidate
• More natural conversational flow
• Opportunities to uncover details an interviewer may have missed with fully structured questions

Semi-structured interviews strike a balance by having a degree of predetermined structure and consistency while still allowing for spontaneity and the interview to be tailored to each individual.

This technique is commonly used for job interviews, research interviews, and other situations where the interviewer wants some level of standardised questioning combined with the freedom to further probe based on the responses given.

What are the benefits of semi-structured interviews?

There are several key benefits to conducting semi-structured interviews:

Allows for probing and follow-up questions

One of the biggest advantages of semi-structured interviews is the ability for the interviewer to ask follow-up questions and probe deeper on interesting points raised by the interviewee. This flexibility allows the interviewer to gather richer, more detailed information than what highly structured interviews permit.

Builds rapport

The more conversational nature of semi-structured interviews can help build rapport between the interviewer and interviewee. This often puts the interviewee more at ease compared to rigid, inflexible interviews.

Uncovers motivations and attitudes

The open-ended portions of semi-structured interviews enable interviewers to better understand the motivations, opinions, and attitudes behind an interviewee’s responses through further questioning.

Provides comparable data While allowing for flexibility, the predetermined questions in semi-structured interviews provide a baseline level of data that is comparable across multiple interviews for that same target role or research topic.

Manages interview time effectively By having a foundational interview structure, semi-structured interviews help the interviewer manage time effectively while still allowing for open-ended exploration.

The versatility of combining structure and freedom in semi-structured interviews makes this approach valuable for many types of hiring, research, journalistic, and other interview contexts where maximising information-gathering is important.

How does a semi-structured interview differ from other types of interview?

A semi-structured interview differs from a normal/unstructured interview and a fully structured interview in a few key ways:

Compared to an Unstructured/Normal Interview:

• Semi-structured has predetermined questions to cover core topics, while unstructured has no set questions
• The semi-structured approach provides more consistency across interviews by asking the same baseline questions
• However, it still allows for follow-ups and open-ended responses like an unstructured interview

Compared to a Fully Structured Interview:

• Fully structured interviews rigidly follow a standardised set of closed-ended questions
• Semi-structured has open-ended questions that enable more dialogue and probing
• The interviewer can reorder, skip, or provide transition questions in a semi-structured format
• Responses in fully structured interviews are very restricted, while semi-structured allows for elaboration

So in essence, a semi-structured interview falls in the middle of the continuum between the two other formats:

Unstructured ———> Semi-Structured ———> Fully Structured

It combines the consistency and focus of a structured approach with the depth and flexibility of an unstructured approach.

The key differentiators of semi-structured interviews are:

• Having a guide of predetermined open-ended questions
• Allowing space for unplanned follow-up questions
• More give-and-take dialogue between interviewer and interviewee
• More ability to explore interesting topics relevantly as they arise

This provides the “semi” structured nature – having an overall framework while maintaining conversational flexibility.

When should a semi-structured interview be used?

Semi-structured interviews should be used when you want to combine some level of consistency across interviews while also allowing flexibility to explore topics in more depth. Some ideal use cases for semi-structured interviews include:

Job Interviews

For hiring, semi-structured interviews allow you to cover core job requirements through set questions, but also dig deeper into a candidate’s specific experiences, motivations, and qualifications through unplanned follow-ups. This provides richer data for evaluation.

User Research

When conducting user research, semi-structured interviews enable you to understand users’ needs, pain points, and behaviours through planned questions, while leaving room to spontaneously probe interesting insights that arise.

Subject Matter

Expert Interviews If interviewing subject matter experts, you’ll want a set of questions to cover key areas, but the ability to dynamically discuss emergent topics for deeper knowledge gathering.

Case Studies

Case study interviews benefit from a semi-structured approach, where you cover foundational background through structured questions, but leave flexibility to explore unique details and perspectives from different stakeholders.

Academic/Marketing Research

Much academic, consumer, and marketing research relies on semi-structured interviews to balance consistency in data collected with opportunities to uncover unanticipated findings.

Generally, semi-structured interviews work well anytime you need to understand not just straightforward facts, but the reasoning, attitudes, and contexts surrounding those facts. The open-ended nature facilitates a deeper understanding.

Semi-structured interviews in recruitment

In recruitment semi-structured interviews can be effectively used for a variety of roles, particularly those that require in-depth evaluation of a candidate’s skills, experiences, and fit beyond just verifying basic qualifications. Here are some examples of roles where semi-structured interviews are well-suited:

Management and Leadership Roles

When hiring for managerial or executive positions, semi-structured interviews allow you to assess leadership competencies, management style, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit through open-ended questioning. The flexibility enables probing the candidate’s approach to real-world scenarios.

Client-Facing Roles

For roles that involve significant client interaction like sales, account management, or consulting roles, semi-structured interviews help evaluate client service skills, communication abilities, and understanding of client needs through open dialogue.

Creative Roles

Semi-structured interviews are great for assessing creative professionals or innovation roles where you want to understand the candidate’s creative process, idea generation abilities, and innovative thinking beyond just reviewing portfolios.

Technical Roles

While technical skills may be vetted through other means, semi-structured interviews allow you to dive deeper into a candidate’s technical problem-solving approach, ability to communicate complex concepts, and collaboration style.

Senior Individual Contributor Roles

For senior individual contributor roles with high expertise requirements, the open-ended nature enables thoroughly assessing depth of knowledge and specialised experience through exploratory questions.

Cultural Fit Evaluation

Any role where assessing organisational culture fit is critical can benefit from the two-way dialogue and follow-up questioning that semi-structured interviews facilitate.

In general, semi-structured interviews are most valuable for roles that require evaluating more complex competencies, behaviours, thought processes and fit beyond just straightforward skills and experience. The flexible format provides richer data to make well-rounded hiring decisions.

The bottom line

In conclusion, semi-structured interviews offer a powerful method for gathering comprehensive and nuanced information, making them indispensable in various settings, from hiring to research. Their unique combination of predetermined questions and conversational flexibility allows interviewers to maintain consistency across multiple interviews while also delving deeper into areas of particular interest. This approach not only ensures that key topics are covered but also opens the door to discovering unexpected insights that might otherwise go unnoticed in more rigidly structured formats.

The ability to adapt questions based on an interviewee’s responses fosters a more engaging and dynamic dialogue, building rapport and encouraging more candid and detailed answers. This makes semi-structured interviews especially valuable when exploring complex issues, understanding motivations, or evaluating candidates for roles that require more than just a checklist of qualifications. By balancing structure with spontaneity, semi-structured interviews provide a richer, more holistic view of the subject matter, enabling more informed decision-making.

Whether you’re a recruiter seeking the right fit for a role or a researcher aiming to uncover deeper truths, the semi-structured interview offers a versatile and effective tool for extracting meaningful insights, making it a preferred choice in many professional and academic fields.

If you regularly run interviews with candidates then why not check out our How to Interview someone guide.

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6 Semi-structured interviewing

• Published: June 2005
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This chapter presents a guide to conducting effective semi-structured interviews. It discusses the nature of semi-structured interviews and why they should be used, as well as preparation, the logistics of conducting the interview, and reflexivity.

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Anuja Cabraal (Phd)

Developing questions for a semi-structured interview

This post came about after a conversation with a colleague and friend who was asking for some ideas on how to develop questions for a semi-structured interview. I provided some ideas and later that day wrote some more things down I thought were worth considering. This three-part series is what came out of that conversation.

There are many different types of interviews, and your approach will depend on your main research question and methodology. Types of interviews can range from structured, semi-structured, narrative and group (though there are others). Not to mention telephone, online and face-to-face. Different interviews will produce different outcomes , and for this reason, it is really important to have a clearly defined research question . The one main research question will determine your method, and any other questions should be sub-questions. It is worthwhile considering the pros and cons of different methods before settling on one, this is a good example for interviews .

In this post, I share some ways that help me think about developing questions for semi-structured interviews. I like to think of the interview schedule like a map for the interview. I see it as a guide to help me ensure I have asked everything I need to in order to help address my main research question.

The table method

When I’m developing questions for a semi-structured interview, I sometimes start with a table. It helps me check that I have all the interview questions needed in order to address the topic.

Main research question here.

You can see it has the main research question at the top like a heading, and each sub-topic/question in a columns. You can include other columns to suit your research. Add whatever helps you formulate the interview questions.

Write down all the questions you can think of and put them in the appropriate column. Don’t worry too much about the wording or order of them at this stage. Some people might prefer to write a list of questions first and then populate the table. This works just as well.

After filling in the questions in this table, you might notice:

• Gaps. You might only have one question for a particular sub-topic, so many want to add another.
• Too many questions: Check for any overlaps or doubling up of questions and decide which ones will work best for the interview and research.

A word on the types of questions

There are so many different types of questions, so I won’t go into full details here. I find the list that Bryman provides very thorough and I highly suggest you take a look (available online). I also wanted to provide four broad categories:

Technical – These are where you ask someone to define things, for example their role, a definition, what a key term means to them.

Reflective questions: Where you want someone to reflect on a topic of idea.

Personal: General personal questions : These are surface level questions such as day to day life, thoughts and opinion on things, and includes general introductory questions.

Deep personal question: Deeper questions ask a person to open up about their feelings or thoughts on something, such as a challenge they may be facing or may have faced in their life. You are essentially asking them to be reflexive. These are best left towards the end of an interview once you have established and build a level of trust and rapport.

Open and closed questions: I’ve been told that closed questions aren’t appropriate for a semi-structured interview, however I think they can be useful. I’ve used closed questions (sparingly) in interviews and have found they have been effective. Do be cautious about using these if the question is sensitive or is there is a stigma attached to it as it may be too confronting. Sometimes this will depend on the interviewee, sometimes on the topic.

You likely won’t use all the different types of questions in every situation. The type of question you ask may need tweaking depending on the interviewee.

The structure of the questions

After you have drafted a list of questions, order them. Try and leave personal and reflective ones towards the middle-end, after there has been more rapport established between the interviewer and interviewee.

Also consider the flow of the interview when trying to identify the order of questions. You want something that flows like a conversation. If you find that one question jumps dramatically from one topic to another, consider re-ordering the questions to try and make them flow better, or insert another one that might be useful for bridging from one topic to another.

Do the check

Once you have your list of questions, look at them and consider:

• Using appropriate language: Ideally, you want to avoid language that is too technical or academic. Keep the language accessible and easy to understand. You don’t want interviewees having to interpret the question or made to feel incompetent. You also don’t want to be seen as talking down to your participants, so getting the tone right is important.
• Phrasing. Check that the types of questions you are asking will elicit the information that you need. You might need a combination of different types of questions in order to fully cover the topic, and this may vary between participants.
• Biases. Our biases can creep into our research in many different ways, one is through our phrasing of a question. Avoid leading questions where assumptions and biases are in the question itself. I see this so often in surveys. An example: Why don’t you like travelling on public transport ? A better question might be How do you feel about travelling on public transport ? There may be times it is appropriate to ask something in a leading way, and this is determined by your research question.

A practice run

I suggest doing a trial mock-interviews with friends or colleagues to see how the interview flows (even if they know nothing about the topic). It helps you get a feel for:

• the flow of the interview
• identifying any gaps in questioning
• Determine if any questions are not working

I remember doing my first mock interview with a friend who was completely clueless about the topic. Even though his responses were not relevant, it showed me that one question did not flow at all. It stood out like a unicorn’s horn. I ended up adding a “bridging” question to help it flow into the conversation.

Not set in stone

The development of the interview schedule is an ongoing process. Keep in mind that an interview is primarily a conversation. Every interview will be different. It will be rare for you to ask the same questions, worded in the same way, and in the same order. That’s why it’s called a guide. It is there to guide you. This is another useful resource if you are looking at how to develop your questions and do the interviews.

In all my years of research, I have never had two interviews the same. In fact, I don’t even always refer to the interview schedule. Though I do look over it at the end to make sure I have covered all the topics I that needed discussion.

Interviews take preparation beyond a good interview guide. As a researcher, we play an active role in the interviewer/interviewee process of knowledge creation. I talk about this more in the second blog post in this series, where reflexivity becomes particularly important.

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Published by Dr. Anuja Cabraal

Writer. Qualitative researcher. View all posts by Dr. Anuja Cabraal

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Semi-Structured Interviews: A Complete Guide for 2024

A semi-structured interview is a research technique that combines both structured and unstructured interview methods. This approach involves using a set of open-ended questions with the flexibility to explore ideas and experiences beyond the original scope of the interview. Interviews are semi-structured when the researcher has a predetermined set of open-ended questions to ask, but also has the freedom to explore new lines of inquiry as they emerge during the interview.

Importance of Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews are a valuable method for collecting rich and detailed qualitative data. This technique enables researchers to gain in-depth insights into participants’ experiences, opinions, and emotions. Semi-structured interviews are especially useful when exploring sensitive topics where participants may not feel comfortable discussing their experiences in a more structured setting.

In addition, semi-structured interviews provide researchers with the flexibility to explore and further develop themes and topics that are identified during the interview process. This flexibility allows the creation of a more comprehensive understanding of the topic being investigated.

Brief Comparison with Other Data Collection Methods

Compared to other data collection methods, such as structured interviews and surveys, semi-structured interviews allow for more in-depth exploration of participants’ experiences and emotions. Structured interviews and surveys, while useful for gathering quantitative data, can be limited in their ability to capture the complexity of individuals’ experiences and perspectives.

Semi-structured interviews are also distinct from focus groups, which involve a group of participants discussing a particular topic. While focus groups provide a different perspective on the topic, they may not enable the level of individual exploration that semi-structured interviews allow.

Semi-structured interviews offer a unique and flexible approach to data collection that allows for rich and detailed insights into participants’ experiences, emotions, and opinions. As a result, this method has become increasingly popular in qualitative research.

Planning and Preparing for Semi-Structured Interviews

Before conducting a semi-structured interview, one must first plan and prepare for the process. There are six key steps to consider, which are:

A. Identifying Research Questions

The first step in preparing for a semi-structured interview is to identify the research questions that need to be answered. It is important to have a clear understanding of what information is needed and what areas should be explored during the interview. By defining the research questions, the interviewer can guide the conversation and ensure that they cover all relevant topics.

B. Defining Target Populations and Sampling Methods

Next, it is important to define the target population and sampling methods. The target population is the group of people who will participate in the interview, and the sampling method is the way in which they will be recruited. Defining these parameters will ensure that the right people are interviewed and the data gathered is representative of the population as a whole.

C. Recruiting Participants

Once the target population and sampling methods have been defined, the next step is to recruit participants. This can be done through various means, such as advertisements, referrals, or social media. It is important to ensure that the participants are willing and able to participate, and that they meet the criteria for the target population.

D. Selecting an Interview Structure

There are various interview structures that can be used for a semi-structured interview, such as open-ended or close-ended questions. The structure chosen should align with the research questions and be suitable for the target population. By selecting the right interview structure, the interviewer can gather clear and relevant responses.

E. Preparing Interview Questions

Once the interview structure is established, the next step is to prepare the interview questions. These questions should be relevant to the research questions, and should elicit clear and detailed responses from the participants. Careful preparation of the interview questions will ensure that the conversation stays on track and that all relevant information is obtained.

F. Pilot Testing

Before conducting the actual interviews, it is a good idea to conduct a pilot test. This can be done with a small group of participants to test the interview structure and questions. The feedback gained from the pilot test can help refine the interview process and improve the quality of the data collected.

By following these steps, an interviewer can plan and prepare for a semi-structured interview and ensure that they gather high-quality data to answer their research questions.

Conducting Semi-Structured Interviews

When conducting semi-structured interviews, there are several important factors to consider for a successful outcome. These include establishing rapport with participants, selecting the appropriate recording and note-taking methods, being aware of interviewer characteristics and behavior, using effective probes and follow-up questions, and addressing ethical considerations.

A. Establishing Rapport with Participants

Establishing rapport with participants is essential to ensure that they feel comfortable and willing to share their thoughts and experiences. This can be achieved by introducing oneself, explaining the purpose of the interview, and creating a friendly and welcoming environment. It is important to listen attentively and show empathy towards the participant’s responses, making sure to avoid interrupting or judging their opinions.

B. Recording and Note-taking Methods

Choosing the right method for recording and note-taking is crucial to ensure that all information is accurately captured. This can either be done through audio or video recording, or through manual note-taking. When choosing to manually take notes, it is important to use a consistent system that is easy to read and understand, such as shorthand or bullet points.

C. Interviewer Characteristics and Behavior

The behavior and characteristics of the interviewer can greatly influence the outcome of the interview. It is important to maintain a non-biased and non-judgmental attitude throughout the interview, while also being respectful and courteous to the participant. This can help to build trust and encourage the participant to share more openly.

D. Using Probes and Follow-up Questions

Probes and follow-up questions can be used to gather more in-depth information and ensure that all areas of interest have been covered. Probing questions can be open-ended, allowing the participant to elaborate on a specific topic, while follow-up questions can be used to clarify or rephrase previous responses.

E. Addressing Ethical Considerations

When conducting semi-structured interviews, it is important to be aware of ethical considerations. This includes obtaining informed consent from participants, ensuring confidentiality and anonymity, respecting cultural and religious beliefs, and avoiding any kinds of harm or exploitation. It is also important to adhere to ethical guidelines set forth by professional associations, such as the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or the American Psychological Association (APA).

Data Analysis and Interpretation

A. overview of qualitative data analysis.

Qualitative data analysis is the process of examining non-numerical data, such as text, images, or audio recordings, in order to identify patterns, themes, and insights. This type of analysis is often used in social science research and can provide rich, detailed information about individuals’ experiences, attitudes, and perspectives.

B. Transcribing the Audio Recordings

In order to analyze audio recordings, researchers must first transcribe them into written form. This process involves listening carefully to the recordings and transcribing what is being said, often with the help of transcription software. It is important to ensure accuracy and completeness in the transcription process to ensure that the data being analyzed is reliable.

C. Coding and Categorizing Data

After the audio recordings have been transcribed, the next step is to code and categorize the data. Coding involves assigning labels or tags to different parts of the data based on recurring themes, concepts, or patterns. Categorizing involves grouping related codes into broader categories or themes. This process allows researchers to systematically organize and analyze the data in a way that facilitates interpretation and understanding.

D. Analyzing Data Using a Framework

One approach to analyzing qualitative data is to use a framework or model that guides the process. These frameworks may be pre-existing or created specifically for the research project. They can provide a structure for organizing and interpreting the data, as well as help researchers identify patterns and relationships that might not be immediately apparent.

E. Validity and Reliability

Ensuring the validity and reliability of qualitative data is crucial to drawing accurate and meaningful conclusions. Validity refers to the extent to which the data reflects the true experience or phenomenon being studied, while reliability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of the data across time and different researchers. Strategies for ensuring validity and reliability may include using multiple sources of data, engaging in peer review, and maintaining detailed documentation of the research process. By carefully attending to these issues, researchers can increase confidence in the results of their analyses and contribute to the ongoing advancement of knowledge in their field.

Reporting the Findings

After conducting semi-structured interviews, you’ll be left with a wealth of qualitative data that needs to be organized and presented in a meaningful way. Here are some key strategies for effectively reporting your findings:

A. Organizing and Presenting Qualitative Data

One way to organize your data is to group it into themes or categories based on recurring topics or ideas that emerge from your interviews. This helps to create a coherent narrative that readers can follow, and can also help to highlight patterns or variations in your data.

Another important consideration is how to present your data. While you might be tempted to include every detail from your interviews, it’s important to be selective and focused in your reporting. Use charts, tables, and graphs to help communicate key findings and trends, and consider using visual aids like photographs or diagrams to help illustrate important points.

B. Explaining the Results in Context

When reporting your findings, it’s important to provide context for your results. This means discussing the broader implications of your findings and how they relate to existing research or theories in your field. It’s also important to acknowledge any limitations or gaps in your findings and to be transparent about any potential biases or sources of error.

C. Using Quotes and Excerpts to Illustrate Findings

One effective way to illustrate your findings is to use quotes and excerpts from your interviews. This helps to bring your data to life and adds a layer of richness and depth to your reporting. Be sure to provide adequate context for the quotes you use and avoid cherry-picking quotes that may be misleading or not representative of the larger data set.

D. Offering Implications and Recommendations

Finally, it’s important to offer implications and recommendations based on your findings. This means discussing the practical implications of your research and suggesting specific actions or strategies that could be taken based on your results. This helps to demonstrate the value and relevance of your research and can help ensure that your findings have a lasting impact on your field.

Reporting the findings from your semi-structured interviews can be a challenging but rewarding process. By following these key strategies, you can effectively organize and present your data, provide context for your results, use quotes and excerpts to illustrate your findings, and offer implications and recommendations that can help drive meaningful change in your field.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews are a type of interview that combines the flexibility of unstructured interviews with the structure of structured interviews. This method of interviewing can offer many advantages, but it also has its drawbacks.

A. Advantages of Semi-Structured Interviews

Flexibility: One of the biggest advantages of semi-structured interviews is their flexibility. The interviewer can adjust the questions based on the responses of the interviewee, which can help to get more in-depth and nuanced answers. This flexibility also allows the interviewer to ask follow-up questions, which can lead to a richer understanding of the interviewee’s experiences and perspectives.

Depth: Semi-structured interviews can provide more in-depth responses than structured interviews because they allow for more open-ended questions. Participants can provide detailed explanations and offer insights into their experiences and perspectives that would be missed by a more rigidly structured interview.

Rapport building: Semi-structured interviews are less formal and more conversational than structured interviews. This conversational style can help to build rapport between the interviewer and interviewee, leading to a better exchange of information and more honest answers.

Participant engagement: Semi-structured interviews can be more engaging for participants than structured interviews because they can have more of a say in the direction of the interview. This can lead to more thoughtful answers and a better overall experience for the participant.

B. Disadvantages of Semi-Structured Interviews

Time-consuming: Semi-structured interviews can be more time-consuming than structured interviews because they require more preparation and analysis. The interviewer needs to carefully plan the interview questions and analyze the responses to gain insights from the data collected.

Reliability: Because semi-structured interviews are less structured than structured interviews, there is the potential for interviewer bias and for the interviewer to miss important information. This can impact the reliability of the data collected.

Data Analysis: The flexible questioning style in semi-structured interviews makes data analysis time-consuming as transcription and coding can be difficult to complete for such interviews. Researchers must be aware that besides the quantitative and qualitative approaches, phenomenology, and thematic analysis could be included.

Complexity: Semi-structured interviews can be complex and require experienced interviewers who know how to manage the interview appropriately. Interviewers must be aware of power dynamics, avoid interrupting participants while speaking, and be aware of the possible responses.

Semi-structured interviews offer many benefits, including flexibility, depth, rapport building, and increased participant engagement. However, they may be time-consuming, raise issues regarding reliability, require extensive data analysis, and should be conducted by experienced professionals. Researchers should carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages before deciding to use semi-structured interviews in their research methodologies.

Key Considerations with Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews are becoming more and more popular in today’s data-driven world. The reason is that they offer immense value because they allow for more in-depth insights into a respondent’s thoughts, behaviors, and experiences. However, as with any research methodology, there are some key considerations that require careful thought and attention to ensure optimal results.

Here are some of the most critical aspects to keep in mind when conducting semi-structured interviews:

A. Data Quality Issues

One of the most important things to consider when conducting semi-structured interviews is to ensure data quality. Here are some tips to help you:

• Train your interviewers: Ensure your interviewers receive training on how to conduct interviews professionally and without any bias.
• Pre-test your interview guide: Ensure your interview guide is pre-tested with a small sample of respondents. Look for feedback on the questions, the flow, and overall experience.
• Capture data accurately: Be sure to properly capture data during the interview, which may include employing audio and video recording of the interview, taking notes or other methods suitable for respondents.

B. Selecting Your Analytic Strategy

There are various ways to analyze data after conducting semi-structured interviews, including qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. Here are some tips for selecting an analytic strategy that suits your project’s needs:

• Define your research questions clearly: Be clear about your research questions and the goals you want to achieve.
• Consider the nature of your data: If your data is qualitatively rich, consider using a qualitative analytic approach. For quantitative data, the use of statistics may be applied.
• Choose the right software: Consider your chosen software, which can assist in simplifying the process of analysis.

C. Effectively Communicating Results

The right communication strategy is essential for effective dissemination of research results to wider audiences. Here are some tips:

• Understand your audience: Be aware of the audience and tailor the message based on their interests and knowledge.
• Report results accurately: Ensure you provide the essential and accurate details of the results, including any confounding factors.
• Use clear visuals: Visuals such as graphs and diagrams should be used to present the results in a clear and concise manner.

D. Best Practices

Here are some best practices for semi-structured interviews:

• Prioritize respondents: Prioritize the well-being of your respondents in all phases of the interview process.
• Start the interview giving clear instructions: Offer clear instructions on how the interview process may proceed. This can also reduce respondent confusion and comply with ethics requirements.
• Practice active listening: Actively listen to your respondents by providing a safe space, non-distractive environment throughout the interview process.
• Take good notes: Ensure accurate note-taking practices throughout the interview process. These notes can be used for analysis and report creation.

Sample Semi-Structured Interview Questions

Semi-structured interviews are a popular research method that allows for flexibility while still ensuring that desired information is obtained. In this section, we provide sample semi-structured interview questions for various research topics.

A. Example Questions for Various Research Topics

• What motivated you to pursue a degree in [field of study]?
• How do you feel your education has prepared you for your chosen career?
• Do you believe that your personal background has influenced your educational experience? If so, how?
• Can you describe your experience with [health condition]?
• How has [health condition] impacted your daily life?
• Can you talk about any treatments or medications you have tried for [health condition]? How effective were they?
• How do you use technology in your daily life?
• Are there any particular technological advancements that you think have greatly impacted the world?
• Can you talk about any concerns you have with the increasing reliance on technology in society?

B. Guide on How to Develop Appropriate Questions

While semi-structured interviews offer flexibility, it is important to develop appropriate questions that align with research objectives. Here are some steps to follow:

Step 1: Define research objectives

It is important to clearly define the research objectives before developing questions. This will ensure that the questions are relevant and focused.

Step 2: Create a master list of questions

Create a master list of questions that cover all relevant topics. This will serve as a starting point for refining the questions later on.

Step 3: Refine the questions

Refine the questions by ensuring that they are clear, relevant, and open-ended. It is also important to avoid leading or biased questions.

Step 4: Pilot test the questions

Pilot test the questions with a small group of participants to ensure that they are effective and appropriate. Feedback from the pilot test can be used to refine the questions further.

Step 5: Finalize the questions

Finalize the questions based on feedback from the pilot test and ensure that they are aligned with the research objectives.

Semi-structured interviews can provide valuable insights for research. By following the steps outlined in this guide, researchers can develop appropriate questions and obtain meaningful data.

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How to do great semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews are a staple of international development programs. Unfortunately they are often done in a rush without proper planning and analysis. The result can be a pile of interview notes that don’t contain the information you need, or simply repeat the same points over and over without adding anything new. To avoid this scenario follow these steps for doing great semi-structured interviews.

This advice is for:

• Interviews of program stakeholders, such as participants, staff, community leaders, government officials, etc.
• Interviews used to collect information on people’s ideas, opinions, or experiences.
• Interviews done by program staff as part of an internal needs assessment or program evaluation.

This advice is NOT for:

• Academic research studies conducted by universities, PhD students, etc.
• Interviews done by external consultants or research firms as part of a complex needs assessment or program evaluation.

Use semi-structured interviews when appropriate

Semi-structured interviews sit halfway between a structured survey and an unstructured conversation.

Semi-structured interviews are particularly useful for collecting information on people’s ideas, opinions, or experiences. They are often used during needs assessment, program design or evaluation. Semi-structured interviews should not be used to collect numerical information, such as the number of households with a bed net, or the number of farmers using fertiliser. In that case a quantitative survey would be better.

Consider ethical issues

Although it might seem like you’re just sitting down to have a chat with some stakeholders, a semi-structured interview is actually a research tool and so you need to consider the ethical implications. You should always ask for informed consent and explain the purpose of the interview and how the information will be used. In some cases the consent could be done verbally, and in other cases you may need to have written consent.

You also need to consider who will be doing the interview (including if there is a translator), and whether they are suitable for the topic being discussed. In some cultures it may not be appropriate for men or women to discuss particular topics. It also wouldn’t be appropriate to have field staff interview participants about the effectiveness of the activities they run, as the participants may feel pressure to give positive answers.

Prepare an interview guide

By definition, a semi-structured interview needs to have some structure, although that structure should be flexible. This flexible structure is normally provided by an interview guide that lists the key questions for the interview. The interviewer is normally free to add questions or change the order if necessary. When preparing an interview guide:

Write the interview questions in the local language first

If you’re a native English speaker, it can be tempting to write the interview questions in English first and then translate them into the local language (either in advance or during the interview). As with survey questions this can lead to a whole range of misunderstandings and confusion that could make your interview results useless. Where possible write the questions in the local language first and then translate them into English or another language.

Include space for demographic information

It’s helpful to include some space at the start of the interview guide to record key demographic information about the interviewee. This could include their sex, age, position, location, and their name (unless the interview is confidential). This information will be helpful during the analysis and report writing later on.

Use open ended questions

The purpose of an interview is to understand people’s ideas, opinions and experiences. These are best captured using questions that don’t have a fixed set of answers, such as “What are your views on X?” or “How do you feel about Y?”. If you find yourself writing multiple choice questions then reconsider whether you should actually be doing a survey .

Provide a section for the interviewer’s observations and opinions

One of the most common problems with semi-structured interviews done by program staff is that the interviewer mixes in their personal opinions when they are taking notes. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell what the real opinion of the interviewee was compared to the interviewer. One of the best ways to prevent this is to provide a separate space at the end of the form where the interviewer can put their own subjective opinions (e.g. “the chief was present so I don’t think she gave accurate answers”, “I think the reason she said the activity wasn’t useful is because lunch wasn’t provided”).

Test the guide and train the interviewers

Follow the same steps for pre-testing and piloting a survey questionnaire to make sure your interview guide works in practice. Pre-testing can also be used as an opportunity for training the interviewers. It’s usually better to train them using real interviews, rather than just running through the questions together at the office.

Interview as many people as necessary to find out what you need to know

One of the most common questions asked about interviews is how big the sample size should be. There is no correct answer to this question because it depends on what you need to know.

One method that I often use is to choose a range of people with different backgrounds and positions (e.g. some poor, some rich, some old, some young, some men, some women, some community members, some community leaders, etc.). Then I keep interviewing people until I’m no longer getting any new information. When all the answers are the same as answers I’ve heard before I know it’s time to stop.

If you are using a translator, sit in a triangle

Conducting interviews through a translator can be difficult and time consuming, particularly when the translator is a member of staff and not a trained interpreter.

If you must use a translator then make sure you rehearse the key questions with them beforehand, as well as any follow-up questions you are likely to ask. They should have a copy of the interview guide written in the local language. When conducting the interview sit in a triangle shape so that all three of you can see each other easily.

Listen to the answers and ask follow-up questions

When you’re conducting an interview one of the most important skills is to listen to the interviewee’s answers closely. You can then use the answers to ask follow-up questions in order to get more useful information.

This can be one of the most difficult skills for field staff to learn, particularly if they are used to doing fully structured surveys where no creativity is required. It can be useful to include some suggested follow-up questions in the interview guide. The most common follow-up questions should become obvious during the pre-testing.

Record key quotes word-for-word

In an ideal world every interviewer would be equipped with a voice recorder to record the whole interview. The whole interview would then be transcribed in the original language before being analysed (possibly using computer software).

In reality, most programs don’t have enough funds to buy voice recorders and there isn’t enough time to transcribe whole interviews. Often the interviewer just takes hand written notes on the interview guide form. However, one of the dangers of this is that the original “voice” of the interviewee will be lost.

So even if the interviewer is handwriting notes during the interview, it’s still very important to try and write the key quotes word-for-word  in the language they were said in .

Get multiple opinions on the translation

One of the reasons why it’s so important to record the key quotes in the language they were said is that there are often several different ways to translate them. Rather than having the interviewer do a quick translation on the spot, it’s better to bring the quotes back to the office where two or more people can debate the best way to translate it while preserving the original meaning.

Use the results to write contrasting stories or identify common themes

In academic research, interviews are usually analysed using complicated sounding techniques like “coding” or “content analysis”. If you know how to do this that’s great (there’s no need for you to be reading this guide). If you don’t know how to do this then you’ve got a lot in common with a lot of people working in international development.

There are two basic ways to analyse and report interview data – you can use it to write stories or to identify common themes.

Writing stories is particularly useful when you’re doing an evaluation. Use the interviews to identify people who have different ideas about how successful the program was. For example, in a micro-enterprise program find one person whose business was very successful, one who had a moderately successful business, and one whose business failed. Then use the interviews to tell their individual stories, including direct quotes from them.

The alternative method is to have a group of people look at all the interviews to identify the common themes. A common theme is something that is said repeatedly by different interviewees. For example, in a training program many people might have said that the training sessions are too long. This would be a theme. Once you’ve identified all the themes you can describe them in your report.

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• Semi-Structured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples

Semi-Structured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples

Published on 4 May 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on 30 August 2022.

A semi-structured interview is a data collection method that relies on asking questions within a predetermined thematic framework. However, the questions are not set in order or in phrasing.

In research, semi-structured interviews are often qualitative in nature. They are generally used as an exploratory tool in marketing, social science, survey methodology, and other research fields.

They are also common in field research with many interviewers, giving everyone the same theoretical framework, but allowing them to investigate different facets of the research question .

• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order.
• Unstructured interviews : None of the questions are predetermined.
• Focus group interviews : The questions are presented to a group instead of one individual.

Table of contents

What is a semi-structured interview, when to use a semi-structured interview, advantages of semi-structured interviews, disadvantages of semi-structured interviews, semi-structured interview questions, how to conduct a semi-structured interview, how to analyse a semi-structured interview, presenting your results (with example), frequently asked questions about semi-structured interviews.

Semi-structured interviews are a blend of structured and unstructured types of interviews.

• Unlike in an unstructured interview, the interviewer has an idea of what questions they will ask.
• Unlike in a structured interview, the phrasing and order of the questions is not set.

Semi-structured interviews are often open-ended, allowing for flexibility. Asking set questions in a set order allows for easy comparison between respondents, but it can be limiting. Having less structure can help you see patterns, while still allowing for comparisons between respondents.

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Semi-structured interviews are best used when:

• You have prior interview experience. Spontaneous questions are deceptively challenging, and it’s easy to accidentally ask a leading question or make a participant uneasy.
• Your research question is exploratory in nature. Participant answers can guide future research questions and help you develop a more robust knowledge base for future research.

Just like in structured interviews, it is critical that you remain organised and develop a system for keeping track of participant responses. However, since the questions are less set than in a structured interview, the data collection and analysis become a bit more complex.

Differences between different types of interviews

Make sure to choose the type of interview that suits your research best. This table shows the most important differences between the four types.

Semi-structured interviews come with many advantages.

Best of both worlds

No distractions, detail and richness.

However, semi-structured interviews also have their downsides.

Low validity

High risk of bias, difficult to develop good semi-structured interview questions.

Since they are often open-ended in style, it can be challenging to write semi-structured interview questions that get you the information you’re looking for without biasing your responses. Here are a few tips:

• Define what areas or topics you will be focusing on prior to the interview. This will help you write a framework of questions that zero in on the information you seek.
• Write yourself a guide to refer to during the interview, so you stay focused. It can help to start with the simpler questions first, moving into the more complex ones after you have established a comfortable rapport.
• Be as clear and concise as possible, avoiding jargon and compound sentences.
• How often per week do you go to the gym? a) 1 time; b) 2 times; c) 3 times; d) 4 or more times
• If yes: What feelings does going to the gym bring out in you?
• If no: What do you prefer to do instead?
• If yes: How did this membership affect your job performance? Did you stay longer in the role than you would have if there were no membership?

Once you’ve determined that a semi-structured interview is the right fit for your research topic , you can proceed with the following steps.

Step 1: Set your goals and objectives

You can use guiding questions as you conceptualise your research question, such as:

• What are you trying to learn or achieve from a semi-structured interview?
• Why are you choosing a semi-structured interview as opposed to a different type of interview, or another research method?

If you want to proceed with a semi-structured interview, you can start designing your questions.

Step 2: Design your questions

Try to stay simple and concise, and phrase your questions clearly. If your topic is sensitive or could cause an emotional response, be mindful of your word choices.

One of the most challenging parts of a semi-structured interview is knowing when to ask follow-up or spontaneous related questions. For this reason, having a guide to refer back to is critical. Hypothesising what other questions could arise from your participants’ answers may also be helpful.

Step 3: Assemble your participants

There are a few sampling methods you can use to recruit your interview participants, such as:

• Voluntary response sampling : For example, sending an email to a campus mailing list and sourcing participants from responses
• Stratified sampling of a particular characteristic trait of interest to your research, such as age, race, ethnicity, or gender identity

Step 4: Decide on your medium

It’s important to determine ahead of time how you will be conducting your interview. You should decide whether you’ll be conducting it live or with a pen-and-paper format. If conducted in real time, you also need to decide whether in person, over the phone, or via videoconferencing is the best option for you.

Note that each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages:

• Pen-and-paper may be easier for you to organise and analyse, but you will receive more prepared answers, which may affect the reliability of your data.
• In-person interviews can lead to nervousness or interviewer effects, where the respondent feels pressured to respond in a manner they believe will please you or incentivise you to like them.

Step 5: Conduct your interviews

As you conduct your interviews, keep environmental conditions as constant as you can to avoid research bias . Pay attention to your body language (e.g., nodding, raising eyebrows), and moderate your tone of voice.

Relatedly, one of the biggest challenges with semi-structured interviews is ensuring that your questions remain unbiased. This can be especially challenging with any spontaneous questions or unscripted follow-ups that you ask your participants.

After you’re finished conducting your interviews, it’s time to analyse your results. First, assign each of your participants a number or pseudonym for organisational purposes.

The next step in your analysis is to transcribe the audio or video recordings. You can then conduct a content or thematic analysis to determine your categories, looking for patterns of responses that stand out to you and test your hypotheses .

Transcribing interviews

Before you get started with transcription, decide whether to conduct verbatim transcription or intelligent verbatim transcription.

• If pauses, laughter, or filler words like ‘umm’ or ‘like’ affect your analysis and research conclusions, conduct verbatim transcription and include them.
• If not, you can conduct intelligent verbatim transcription, which excludes fillers, fixes any grammatical issues, and is usually easier to analyse.

Transcribing presents a great opportunity for you to cleanse your data . Here, you can identify and address any inconsistencies or questions that come up as you listen.

Your supervisor might ask you to add the transcriptions to the appendix of your paper.

Coding semi-structured interviews

Next, it’s time to conduct your thematic or content analysis . This often involves ‘coding’ words, patterns, or recurring responses, separating them into labels or categories for more robust analysis.

Due to the open-ended nature of many semi-structured interviews, you will most likely be conducting thematic analysis, rather than content analysis.

• You closely examine your data to identify common topics, ideas, or patterns. This can help you draw preliminary conclusions about your participants’ views, knowledge or experiences.
• After you have been through your responses a few times, you can collect the data into groups identified by their ‘code’. These codes give you a condensed overview of the main points and patterns identified by your data.
• Next, it’s time to organise these codes into themes. Themes are generally broader than codes, and you’ll often combine a few codes under one theme. After identifying your themes, make sure that these themes appropriately represent patterns in responses.

Analysing semi-structured interviews

Once you’re confident in your themes, you can take either an inductive or a deductive approach.

• An inductive approach is more open-ended, allowing your data to determine your themes.
• A deductive approach is the opposite. It involves investigating whether your data confirm preconceived themes or ideas.

After your data analysis, the next step is to report your findings in a research paper .

• Your methodology section describes how you collected the data (in this case, describing your semi-structured interview process) and explains how you justify or conceptualise your analysis.
• Your discussion and results sections usually address each of your coded categories.
• You can then conclude with the main takeaways and avenues for further research.

Example of interview methodology for a research paper

Let’s say you are interested in vegan students on your campus. You have noticed that the number of vegan students seems to have increased since your first year, and you are curious what caused this shift.

You identify a few potential options based on literature:

• Perceptions about personal health or the perceived ‘healthiness’ of a vegan diet
• Concerns about animal welfare and the meat industry
• Increased climate awareness, especially in regards to animal products
• Availability of more vegan options, making the lifestyle change easier

Anecdotally, you hypothesise that students are more aware of the impact of animal products on the ongoing climate crisis, and this has influenced many to go vegan. However, you cannot rule out the possibility of the other options, such as the new vegan bar in the dining hall.

Since your topic is exploratory in nature and you have a lot of experience conducting interviews in your work-study role as a research assistant, you decide to conduct semi-structured interviews.

You have a friend who is a member of a campus club for vegans and vegetarians, so you send a message to the club to ask for volunteers. You also spend some time at the campus dining hall, approaching students at the vegan bar asking if they’d like to participate.

Here are some questions you could ask:

• Do you find vegan options on campus to be: excellent; good; fair; average; poor?
• How long have you been a vegan?
• Follow-up questions can probe the strength of this decision (i.e., was it overwhelmingly one reason, or more of a mix?).

Depending on your participants’ answers to these questions, ask follow-ups as needed for clarification, further information, or elaboration.

• Do you think consuming animal products contributes to climate change? → The phrasing implies that you, the interviewer, do think so. This could bias your respondents, incentivising them to answer affirmatively as well.
• What do you think is the biggest effect of animal product consumption? → This phrasing ensures the participant is giving their own opinion, and may even yield some surprising responses that enrich your analysis.

After conducting your interviews and transcribing your data, you can then conduct thematic analysis, coding responses into different categories. Since you began your research with several theories about campus veganism that you found equally compelling, you would use the inductive approach.

Once you’ve identified themes and patterns from your data, you can draw inferences and conclusions. Your results section usually addresses each theme or pattern you found, describing each in turn, as well as how often you came across them in your analysis. Feel free to include lots of (properly anonymised) examples from the data as evidence, too.

A semi-structured interview is a blend of structured and unstructured types of interviews. Semi-structured interviews are best used when:

• You have prior interview experience. Spontaneous questions are deceptively challenging, and it’s easy to accidentally ask a leading question or make a participant uncomfortable.

The four most common types of interviews are:

• Semi-structured interviews : A few questions are predetermined, but other questions aren’t planned.

The interviewer effect is a type of bias that emerges when a characteristic of an interviewer (race, age, gender identity, etc.) influences the responses given by the interviewee.

There is a risk of an interviewer effect in all types of interviews , but it can be mitigated by writing really high-quality interview questions.

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5 best tools for semi-structured interview analysis.

Home » 5 Best Tools for Semi-Structured Interview Analysis

Interview analysis tools play a crucial role in efficiently processing the wealth of information gathered from semi-structured interviews. These tools simplify data organization, enhance collaboration, and provide deeper insights, making them indispensable for researchers and professionals alike. With the evolving demands of qualitative research, having robust tools allows users to analyze multiple interview transcripts faster and more accurately than traditional methods.

In this section, we will explore the five best interview analysis tools currently available. Each of these tools offers unique features tailored to enhance the analysis of qualitative data, minimize bias, and improve overall research quality. By understanding these tools, you can make informed decisions that will streamline your analysis process and ultimately lead to more reliable insights.

Understanding Semi-Structured Interview Analysis

Semi-structured interview analysis is an essential method for gaining in-depth insights from participants. This approach blends structured questions with the flexibility of open-ended responses, allowing for more nuanced data collection. Interview analysis tools are vital for efficiently processing and synthesizing the rich qualitative data gathered during these interviews. By utilizing these tools, researchers can streamline their analysis, identify themes, and draw actionable conclusions from participant responses.

When engaging with semi-structured interviews, consider key aspects such as data organization, coding methods, and thematic analysis. Effective tools enhance the coding process, helping to categorize responses and uncover patterns in participant feedback. Furthermore, intuitive visualizations can assist researchers in presenting their findings, making it easier to communicate insights to stakeholders. Thus, integrating robust interview analysis tools not only elevates the quality of the research but also contributes to more informed decision-making.

What is Semi-Structured Interview Analysis?

Semi-structured interview analysis is a flexible approach that balances predefined questions with open-ended dialogue. This method allows researchers to explore topics in depth while also adapting to the participant's responses. By asking specific questions but allowing for elaboration, researchers can uncover nuanced insights that are often missed in strictly structured interviews.

This form of analysis requires careful consideration of the data collected. Researchers often utilize interview analysis tools to organize and synthesize information from multiple interviews. These tools can help in identifying recurring themes, patterns, and unique insights, allowing researchers to make sense of complex qualitative data. Ultimately, semi-structured interview analysis enriches understanding and fosters meaningful connections between researchers and participants, leading to actionable insights that drive informed decisions.

Importance of Using the Right Tools

Using the right tools for semi-structured interview analysis is crucial for obtaining accurate insights. Interview analysis tools enhance the organization and interpretation of qualitative data, allowing researchers to uncover patterns that may not be immediately visible. Selecting an appropriate tool can streamline the analysis process, saving time and reducing the potential for bias.

The effectiveness of your research depends significantly on the technology you choose. Modern tools often incorporate features like automated tagging and sentiment analysis, which can help to efficiently sort large amounts of data. When researchers utilize the best tools available, they can transform raw interview data into actionable insights that drive informed decision-making. Ultimately, the right interview analysis tools not only bolster the quality of findings but also enhance the overall research experience.

Top 5 Interview Analysis Tools

When it comes to semi-structured interview analysis, using the right tools can dramatically enhance your workflow. The top five interview analysis tools simplify the process, allowing for efficient data extraction and meaningful insights. These tools are designed to tackle common challenges such as time-consuming manual analysis, bias in coding, and fragmented information sharing. Identifying what suits your specific analysis needs can transform your research outcomes.

NVivo : This robust software excels in managing qualitative data. It offers features for coding, analyzing text, and visualizing relationships within data.

ATLAS.ti : Ideal for teamwork, this tool allows multiple users to collaborate on coding and annotating interviews, promoting a holistic analysis approach.

Dedoose : A user-friendly, web-based platform that combines text data with quantitative analysis, making it ideal for varied research methodologies.

MaxQDA : This tool stands out for its versatility and ability to handle mixed methods research, facilitating a comprehensive analysis of interviews.

Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDA) : Various QDA software options provide essential functions for coding and analyzing interviews, tailored to budget and project scope.

Each of these tools offers unique features that cater to different aspects of interview analysis, ensuring that researchers have the resources they need to draw actionable insights effectively.

NVivo: The Powerhouse for Qualitative Analysis

NVivo is an essential tool for anyone involved in qualitative analysis. It empowers researchers to dissect complex data from interviews, focus groups, and other qualitative sources seamlessly. This software offers sophisticated coding options, making it easier to identify themes and patterns, which are critical for effective interview analysis.

The platform supports various data types, including text, audio, and video, allowing for a comprehensive analysis experience. Researchers can automate mundane tasks, such as transcription, which saves valuable time and reduces the risk of bias. Additionally, NVivo's visualization tools help present findings in a clear and impactful manner. These features make it a preferred choice among interview analysis tools, streamlining the research process from data collection to final reporting. The interplay of its user-friendly interface and advanced analytic capabilities truly establishes NVivo as a powerhouse for qualitative analysis.

Key Features of NVivo

When considering interview analysis tools, one standout option provides several key features enhancing data analysis efficiency. Firstly, it allows users to easily query individual transcripts. This functionality enables researchers to quickly access responses from multiple participants, making it easier to identify common themes and insights. Additionally, a comprehensive summary section highlights patterns and overall trends across various conversations, fostering deeper understanding.

Moreover, the tool offers dynamic visual representations of data, which help in discerning themes and sentiments. Users can customize templates to align insights with specific research goals or questions. This organized approach not only streamlines the analysis process but also ensures that researchers can extract meaningful information from their semi-structured interviews effectively. With these features, this software becomes an invaluable asset for those conducting thorough analysis in qualitative research settings.

Pros and Cons in Interview Analysis

Analyzing interviews can be immensely beneficial, but there are both advantages and challenges to consider when using interview analysis tools. One significant advantage is efficiency; these tools often automate processes such as transcription and coding, which saves substantial time. They can provide consistent results by minimizing human bias in data analysis. Furthermore, many tools allow for easy collaboration, enabling teams to share insights more effectively and enhance the overall research quality.

However, there are drawbacks as well. Some tools may lack user-friendliness, making it hard for researchers to navigate the features. Additionally, reliance on technology can lead to inaccuracies if the software misinterprets data or if poor-quality audio affects transcription. Finally, the cost of advanced interview analysis tools might be prohibitive for smaller organizations, limiting access to sophisticated capabilities. Balancing these pros and cons is vital to making informed decisions about interview analysis tools.

Atlas.ti: Combining Flexibility with Depth

Atlas.ti stands out as a powerful tool for semi-structured interview analysis by marrying flexibility with depth. Its intuitive interface allows users to organize and analyze qualitative data with ease. With options for creating detailed datasets, researchers can efficiently summarize findings and identify trends in responses. This functionality proves essential when dealing with complex data sets, as it enables users to derive meaningful insights without compromising the richness of the original data.

Moreover, advanced features, such as multi-project queries and visual mapping capabilities, enhance the analytical process. For instance, users can visualize journey maps based on interview data, aiding in the identification of key touchpoints and areas for improvement. Templates tailored for different sectors streamline the analysis process and ensure that users can focus on crafting impactful narratives from their findings. This blend of flexibility and depth makes it a top choice among interview analysis tools, empowering researchers to transform qualitative insights into actionable strategies.

Noteworthy Features of Atlas.ti

Atlas.ti stands out as a significant tool in the realm of interview analysis tools, offering features that streamline qualitative data analysis. Its ability to create visual representations of key ideas simplifies the process of identifying insights from lengthy datasets. Users can effortlessly tag and label data, transforming raw interviews into structured information that is easy to comprehend. This structured data can then be compiled into reports, highlighting essential findings from multiple discussions.

Another noteworthy feature is the direct option to generate PowerPoint presentations from within the platform. This functionality allows researchers to present their insights without the need for additional formatting tools. Additionally, Atlas.ti enables users to query the entire dataset to extract summaries, pinpoint trends, or even develop buyer personas. This level of insight empowers researchers to make informed decisions based on qualitative data, enhancing the overall interview analysis process.

Why Atlas.ti Stands Out in Interview Analysis

When it comes to interview analysis tools, a standout feature is the intuitive interface that promotes ease of use. This user-friendly design enables researchers to quickly familiarize themselves with the software, streamlining their workflow. The advanced coding capabilities allow users to categorize and analyze large volumes of interview data effectively, eliminating the pitfalls of manual analysis. Additionally, collaboration features enhance team productivity, ensuring everyone has access to the same insights without confusion.

Another distinguishing aspect is the focus on automating analysis processes. Automation minimizes human error, significantly reducing bias and inconsistencies in outcomes. By providing robust visualization tools, the software helps transform complex data into clear, actionable insights. This is crucial for professionals aiming to derive meaningful information from their interviews promptly. With these capabilities, researchers can make informed decisions, ultimately enhancing their overall productivity and research quality.

MAXQDA: Comprehensive and User-Friendly

MAXQDA stands out as an intuitive and robust tool for semi-structured interview analysis, making it essential in the toolkit of qualitative researchers. This software offers a comprehensive suite of features that streamline the analysis process, ensuring that valuable insights are accurately extracted from interview data. Users can effortlessly organize and code data using a user-friendly interface that promotes efficient workflow.

One of the key advantages of this tool is its versatility in managing various data types, including text, audio, and video. Researchers can easily import their interview recordings and transcripts, facilitating a seamless analysis experience. Additionally, robust visualizations and reporting tools present findings in a clear and engaging manner, enhancing understanding and communication of insights derived from interviews. By integrating these capabilities, it significantly reduces the complexities associated with interview analysis tools, empowering researchers to focus on their core findings.

Highlighting MAXQDA’s Unique Tools

MAXQDA offers a range of unique tools tailored specifically for analyzing qualitative data from semi-structured interviews. Among these tools, the coding system stands out, allowing users to categorize and label segments of data with ease. This functionality enhances the ability to identify patterns and themes within extensive interview transcripts, making analysis more efficient and organized.

Another key feature is the visual tools, which enable users to create dynamic representations of their findings. From word clouds to concept maps, these visuals help illustrate relationships between key themes, providing a clearer understanding of the data. Additionally, MAXQDA’s integration of AI-driven features aids in automating transcription and analysis processes, saving valuable time and reducing human bias. These capabilities make MAXQDA an essential component for anyone utilizing interview analysis tools, ensuring that insights from qualitative research are both accessible and actionable.

Benefits for Semi-Structured Interview Analysis

Semi-structured interview analysis offers numerous advantages that enhance research outcomes. One key benefit is the flexibility it provides researchers. Participants can share their thoughts and experiences more freely, leading to richer data. This allows for deeper insights while maintaining a structured format, balancing between open-ended responses and specific questions.

Another significant advantage lies in the efficiency of using interview analysis tools. These tools assist in organizing and interpreting data, which can be complex and overwhelming. They streamline the coding process, making it easier to identify patterns and themes within the responses. Consequently, this not only saves time but also increases the accuracy of findings. By employing effective interview analysis tools, researchers can generate meaningful insights, foster better decision-making, and ultimately enhance the overall integrity of their research.

Dedoose: A Web-Based Solution

Dedoose offers an intuitive web-based platform designed to streamline the process of interview analysis. This tool stands out for its user-friendly interface, allowing researchers of all skill levels to conduct thorough analyses without needing extensive training or prior experience. Users can easily upload video and audio files, facilitating direct transcription and analysis, which saves time and enhances productivity.

Another notable feature is its multi-user capability, enabling collaborative work. Teams can discuss insights in real-time and contribute diverse perspectives, enriching the analysis. Additionally, the platform enables detailed coding of qualitative data, which aids in identifying patterns and trends essential for interpreting interview responses. With Dedoose, researchers can confidently transform interviews into actionable insights, making it a valuable addition to any toolkit focused on interview analysis and qualitative research.

Features Tailored for Interview Analysis

When selecting interview analysis tools, several features cater specifically to semi-structured interviews. These tools typically allow users to transcribe recordings quickly, ensuring that no detail is lost during the data collection process. This speed not only saves valuable time but also enhances the overall efficiency of the analysis.

Moreover, intuitive coding systems are essential for tagging themes and patterns within the data effortlessly. The best interview analysis tools offer collaborative features, enabling team members to share insights and findings seamlessly while reducing the risk of inconsistent interpretations. Additionally, advanced search functionalities help users quickly locate specific insights, allowing for a more thorough assessment of complex data. Such features maximize the effectiveness of interview analysis, turning raw data into actionable insights. Overall, these tailored capabilities provide a robust framework for extracting meaningful information from semi-structured interviews.

Advantages and Limitations

Interview analysis tools present several advantages and limitations that can significantly impact research outcomes. On the positive side, these tools enhance data organization, streamline analysis processes, and often enable rich qualitative insights. They provide features such as coding, visualization, and reporting, which can simplify the interpretation of complex interview data. Additionally, some tools allow for collaborative capabilities, making it easier for teams to work together effectively.

However, limitations to consider include the potential for bias in data interpretation and the reliance on tools that may not meet all project needs. Some tools may also have steep learning curves or require significant time investments to master. Furthermore, costs associated with advanced features can be a barrier for some researchers. Balancing these advantages and limitations is critical when selecting the most suitable interview analysis tools for your specific project goals.

Quirkos: Visualization and Simplicity

When it comes to analyzing semi-structured interviews, the importance of visualization cannot be overstated. A well-designed tool can transform complex data into clear, comprehensible insights. This approach emphasizes simplicity, allowing users to navigate through vast amounts of qualitative data effortlessly. Visual representations help researchers identify patterns and themes quickly without getting bogged down in technical details.

Additionally, the user-friendly interface of such tools further enhances the analysis process. Researchers of varying expertise can feel empowered to delve into their data, regardless of their background. By streamlining the experience, these platforms enable more people to engage in meaningful analysis, ensuring that insights are not just reserved for seasoned professionals. Thus, the combination of effective visualization and intuitive design truly elevates the experience of conducting interview analysis.

Visual Tools for Interview Data

Visual tools play a crucial role in the analysis of interview data, enhancing how researchers interpret qualitative insights. Among the leading Interview Analysis Tools, various visual aids help present data in an easily digestible format, facilitating the understanding of complex information. For instance, a matrix tool allows researchers to organize and compare insights from multiple interviews in one glance, streamlining the analysis process while maintaining clarity.

In addition to matrices, dashboards provide a more dynamic visual experience, enabling researchers to interact with the data. They offer visual representations of key themes and trends, allowing users to explore relationships among responses. Finally, chat services offer an intuitive way to extract specific insights from the dataset, making it easier to navigate through interview transcripts. Overall, these visual tools enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of semi-structured interview analysis, helping researchers draw actionable conclusions from their data.

Ease of Use and Accessibility

When considering interview analysis tools, ease of use and accessibility play crucial roles in their effectiveness. Users often seek solutions that simplify complex tasks, allowing them to focus on extracting valuable insights. Tools that are intuitive and user-friendly empower even novice researchers to conduct thorough analyses without extensive training.

Accessibility is equally important. A good interview analysis tool should be compatible across various devices and operating systems. By ensuring that the software is web-based or has mobile versions, users can analyze interviews anywhere at any time. Furthermore, features like guided workflows and searchable transcripts enhance the overall experience, making it easier to discover patterns and trends in the data. In this way, accessibility not only broadens the audience but also deepens the quality of insights derived from the analysis process.

Conclusion on Interview Analysis Tools

In summary, selecting the right interview analysis tools is crucial for effective semi-structured interviews. These tools not only streamline the analysis process but also enhance the overall understanding of qualitative data. By focusing on user experience, the best tools can simplify complex tasks, allowing researchers of all skill levels to extract valuable insights.

Furthermore, utilizing these tools can promote the identification of patterns and themes within interview transcripts. This enables researchers to derive actionable findings from their qualitative research. Whether you're a seasoned expert or a beginner, the right interview analysis tools can significantly impact the depth and quality of your research outcomes.

Making the Right Choice for Your Needs

Navigating the selection of interview analysis tools can feel overwhelming, especially with the myriad of options available. The right choice ultimately depends on your specific needs, such as the scale of your research project and the depth of analysis required. Having a clear understanding of your objectives will help in filtering through the available tools more effectively.

When evaluating interview analysis tools, consider factors such as usability, features, integration capabilities, and cost. Tools that offer robust coding and tagging features can significantly enhance your analysis process, allowing for deeper insights. Additionally, consideration for collaboration functionality will determine how well your team can work together on the analysis. Researching these key attributes will empower you to make informed decisions that align with your project goals.

Aligning Tool Features with Research Objectives

When selecting interview analysis tools, it’s essential to align their features with your specific research objectives. This alignment ensures that the tool you choose is capable of adequately addressing your analytical needs. Key features to consider include data organization, ease of coding, and the ability to synthesize findings across multiple interviews. Tools should support the identification of patterns, themes, and insights effectively.

For instance, a research matrix can be invaluable for organizing interviews and asking critical questions across various transcripts. Additionally, a user-friendly interface can enhance productivity and facilitate collaboration within research teams. Consider automation features that track and analyze key insights without manual intervention. By matching these tool features with your research goals, you can enhance the depth and quality of your analysis, ensuring your findings are robust and actionable.

Final Thoughts on Effective Interview Analysis

Effective interview analysis is key to unlocking valuable insights that can inform decision-making. To choose the right Interview Analysis Tools, consider the specific needs of your research context. Different tools have unique features, whether it's automated transcription, sentiment analysis, or visual data representation, all of which can enhance your analytical process.

It's essential to approach analysis with a clear strategy that combines qualitative understanding with quantitative rigor. By comprehensively evaluating data, researchers can reveal patterns and themes that might otherwise go unnoticed. Utilizing the right tools not only streamlines the process but also enables a deeper engagement with the material, allowing for richer interpretations and recommendations. Ultimately, the goal of effective interview analysis is to transform data into actionable insights, driving improvements and innovations tailored to stakeholder needs.

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JSmol Viewer

A patient-centered conceptual model of aya cancer survivorship care informed by a qualitative interview study.

Simple Summary

1. introduction, 2.1. recruitment, 2.2. interview approach, 2.3. analysis, 3.1. overall themes, 3.2. care coordination and healthcare system navigation support.

“So there really wasn’t much time. Or was there? I didn’t know to ask that question. Okay, I know this is growing—is there enough time for me to get a consultation? I don’t know if maybe I could have waited a few days. I just don’t know, because I didn’t know that question to ask... But I just went ahead and signed away because I felt like I was—I hate to say the word bullied, but I felt like I was in a corner. I was like oh my god—this cancer’s bigger than me, just get it out, kill it! Do what you need to do.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I, I mostly blamed myself for my inexperience in hospitals, I guess. But yeah, I felt like people weren’t necessarily completely clear, well, telling me exactly what I had to do. What I should do. Like when I should ask for help or when I didn’t need to, that sort of thing.”— Participant 2, female, renal cell carcinoma, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I felt like I had to be the care coordinator. I had to make sure everybody knew what the other was doing. Proactively ask for appointments—like okay, I’m going to have to get radiation next. And they’re like oh, you can wait for that until the week before, and I was like, but what if I don’t like [the provider]? You’re going to put me in a box. So I had to just be proactive to get the kind of care that I wanted to get. And I felt like my care coordinator, which is exhausting.”— Participant 4, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I was first getting treatment somewhere and I didn’t feel completely taken care of there. As a nurse practitioner, I felt like I was asking—I was supposed to be a patient then, I wasn’t supposed to be a health care provider. So I felt like I was directing my care and I was reminding them of things. It didn’t feel like the right fit for me with my oncologist and the care team, so I ended up after getting a second opinion switching to another hospital.”— Participant 3, female, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“Gosh, that’s really why I became an advocate—I just couldn’t believe the lack of treating me as a holistic person. I understand that I guess to be an oncologist you’re going to meet patients who ultimately die from it, and I get that they’re trying to make sure that you don’t die, and that is of course great, you kind of need that. But what about a nurse navigator or even like the nurse? There was no follow up... there needs to be a middle person. Whether it be that nurse or that social worker, and it should be mandatory that every AYA... have an initial conversation [with them] and then determine if you want to work with them...The follow ups just go through the cracks.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I felt like my oncologist was very good at giving me medications to deal with nausea and other side effects when I needed them...But I had to research online what are things that I could use and then go and ask for it, as opposed to someone presenting me with “these are all the resources” or “these are things you should consider, let us know what you need”. I felt like the latter would have been much more helpful. I went to [other specialty cancer centers, and] both of those hospitals did provide that. Like “here’s your coordinator, here’s a whole pamphlet, here’s all the resources we have. Here’s how you use each one”. So I thought that was really cool.”— Participant 4, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

3.3. Mental Health Support

“Definitely anxiety, depression for sure. I think those would be the biggest two that I’ve had to deal with. It’s an everyday struggle … Anxious about my cancer getting worse or also having cancer in my family or friends, since I already know what it feels like, having cancer. I wouldn’t want any of my loved ones to go through the same thing.”— Participant 6, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“Cancer is trauma, and even though a lot may not equate it with that term, because they just don’t know, a lot of us have PTSD. And that’s not talked about enough… every experience in the AYA community matters. So that might be why someone would not [talk to a researcher about their cancer experience], because they might feel like you could talk to someone better. It’s really about insecurity, but also too how they’ve been treated throughout their treatment. It can be hard to discuss and be traumatic. I can now verbally talk about it without bursting into tears, but not everyone can.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“Obviously having cancer kind of like fucks you up mentally. But I’ve been going to therapy, I actually take an antianxiety med now.”— Participant 8, female, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 15–19 years old at diagnosis .

“Like I thought, I thought I was alone for like five years … Post treatment I actually had a really bad depressive episode, because I was just in such despair because I thought I was alone and no one else was like me. And I did hours of searching and finally found a couple of organizations that led me to other things. But I would have liked to have those resources [earlier], I wouldn’t have felt so alone.”— Participant 8, female, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 15–19 years old at diagnosis .

“I actually learned about the support groups from Instagram … just as a young Black woman, [it was important] to see other women of color that were young and that looked like me, because I was not seeing that at my cancer center. So that was a huge support for me. Also, just by sharing my story, it allowed me to pay it forward to other young adults and also inspired me to get involved in advocacy work.”— Participant 9, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

3.4. Peer Support and Making “Cancer Friends”

“It’s bad enough I’m an AYA, it’s bad enough I’m Black, it’s bad enough I’m a woman, it’s bad enough that I am an only child. I feel like all of these things were hitting me—and I have cancer, and now I literally have no one? It’s been hard.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“So, I think at the time the quintessential experience of being the youngest person at the cancer center in the waiting room, you know, not seeing anybody else my age unless they were in a caregiver capacity... And just feeling like I was the only person my age that had cancer and was getting treatment. And so the experience was very different when you are under 40. I didn’t know other people that had gone through that at the time.”— Participant 10, male, testicular cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“As I was nearing the end of chemotherapy, I was feeling like I couldn’t really talk to my friends the same, and I didn’t really have people to relate to, and I felt like an astronaut. My brain was foggy, I really wanted to talk to someone about [my side effects and stuff] without worrying people. I remember Stupid Cancer was the big [AYA organization] at the time, and I saw that they had in-person Meetups. I decided to go … and then I instantly was like oh, maybe this [is] a window into a community I didn’t even know existed. I didn’t picture people in their 20s and 30s with cancer hanging out before this. That was the beginning of making cancer friends, [we have fun but] also if someone does need to vent about their situation, treatment, insurance, or relationships going away because of cancer, you’re the perfect [person] to talk to about it.”— Participant 11, male, testicular cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I went through a lot of side effects. I literally had the motherlode of side effects and what was very hurtful was when my oncologist would be like yeah, you know, a lot of patients get that. Well, it’s my first time seeing my tongue turn black, so you might want to have some sort of—I don’t know, like compassion for how freaked out I would be. Even my throat would swell and I had difficulty swallowing. ‘Oh, I’ve seen it before, I’ve seen worse.’ Well, I’ve never seen worse.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I wish that that there was an AYA program at the hospital to tell me about these resources. To tell me like, hey, there’s a Gilda’s Club, it’s 10 to 15 min from here. There’s a meeting once a month. You can go and meet people your own age. It’s safe. People are really cool. Check it out. And now you can join these virtually. Just having somebody to say to me that is totally normal to feel that way. There are other people your age that get treatment here and you can meet them. That would have been really awesome.”— Participant 10, male, testicular cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I think just introducing for patients, that adolescent young adult oncology exists, and there is support out there for AYA’s. I didn’t really dive into the AYA support community until after treatment and got connected to a lot of resources and a lot of friends that way. But I think if I had known that resources like that existed while I was going through treatment, it would have been helpful just to know that I wasn’t alone and all these amazing organizations exist.”— Participant 12, female, osteosarcoma, 15–19 years old at diagnosis .

3.5. Empathic Communication about Fertility Preservation

“When I got diagnosed in the hospital … they had brought in a blood specialist and he described leukemia to me … After he left one of the interns immediately asked me, like so do you have any kids? And I was like no. And he was like, have you thought about freezing your eggs? And I’m like, dude, this dude just told me about cancer, like I haven’t, I can’t talk about kids right now like. You know?”— Participant 13, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“The timing was rushed because it was overwhelming. I feel like if you sit down with anybody, man, woman, whatever, and tell them you might not be able to have kids, that’s pretty heavy and something you want to sit with. And … it’s not like it was free to go get the sperm banking done and have it stored. But I was like well, if I don’t do this, that might be it, I might never have kids. Even if I don’t want them at the moment, taking the option off just seemed scary. So yeah, I would have liked to have had more time.”— Participant 11, male, testicular cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“Everything for me happened within like three days, so there was no, no ability to like, I don’t even know what it’s called. But to … freeze my eggs, I didn’t have that option because of the type of cancer I had everything had to be done so quickly. The only thing I was told in regards to fertility is you may not be able to have kids. There’s a high likelihood with the chemotherapy you are receiving that you may not be able to have children after this. There was no offering of like any type of resources. I only found that out afterwards, [about] all like the different type of programs for patients.”— Participant 15, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“We talked about [fertility preservation] in [my support] group before and I guess, well, I mean for guys it’s easy, so they’re super on top of it as far as when we spoke about it. But a lot of [women] who were in similar positions to me where it was all just really sad. From my experience [the doctors] were like, okay, you’re here now, here’s your doctor, here’s your treatment. Oh, by the way there’s this [fertility preservation option], we kind of want to get started right now, so could you just not [have kids] … It wasn’t a huge deal, but I was a little sad.”— Participant 14, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“There should have been a follow up call [after my diagnosis]. Because that was a really intense moment. My first time as the patient … Why wasn’t there a follow up? Like hey, I know you just heard a lot of information, let’s talk about this. I feel like I should have at least been required to get a consultation with an infertility specialist, even though it wouldn’t have been covered under my insurance. I feel that conversation should at least have been had so they could make sure I was really making the best decision for myself at that time. Sorry, I get really passionate and very angered about it.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I lost my fertility. No one prepared me for that. I didn’t receive initial counseling going into that surgery or coming out of it. I didn’t expect to experience that kind of grief, because I was single all this time, and childless, and now I am chronically single and barren forever. None of my doctors cared to see how that would affect me.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I don’t really have trouble communicating with [doctors]. I’m a lawyer and I did a lot of research, so I generally got the comments that ‘oh, you’re so knowledgeable, you’re an easy patient.’ [But] I don’t think they necessarily answered all my questions, or gave me all the resources that were available, or were upfront about side effects, which I found frustrating…[the doctors failed] to mention fertility resources [so] I found my own stuff … I certainly wouldn’t say I got most of my information from my oncologist, but I found it in other places.”— Participant 4, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“My oncologist is very respectful of my wishes in terms of wanting to have another baby … but then [she] also wasn’t afraid to tell me, you know, we can only do one round of harvesting your eggs, because it’s not safe to do more. She did a really good job acknowledging my dream and weighing that accordingly, [so] I’m not risking life … but I’m still able to try to, you know, preserve my fertility before having this definitive surgery.”— Participant 5, female, ovarian cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“Before I started chemo, my social worker came to talk to me in the hospital room and she just wanted me to know like hey, your doctors want you to do chemo, but you don’t have to do it right now, you can work on the fertility thing, if it’s important to you. So she made me feel comfortable that it was okay to delay the treatment.”— Participant 7, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

3.6. Financial Burden and Need for Support

“We needed help, we had help from family and friends, but again, the financial burden … is just a nightmare. You got the financial burden, you got the paperwork. You’re supposed to be focusing on your health.”— Participant 5, female, ovarian cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I worked in fine dining and didn’t have any insurance … And then the diagnosis alone racked up I think tens of thousands of [dollars in] debt and I was just through biopsies and scans and you know. I was going to, which is laughable, but it was called free clinic. It took a long time before I was diagnosed; go get bloodwork, come back in two weeks, schedule another appointment for two weeks later. And debt was mounting.”— Participant 16, male, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“I probably know more about the American health services than I ever wanted to know … it’s just not the way I would have liked to have learned it.”— Participant 8, female, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 15–19 years old at diagnosis .

“With my age I am able to be on my dad’s insurance and it is a really good insurance plan. So it hasn’t been like insanely expensive or anything … But as I approach my 26th birthday, the cutoff [of staying on my parents’ insurance], I have lots of concerns with finding good health care on my own.”— Participant 14, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

3.7. Quality of Life

“When I was first diagnosed I was studying for a board license for civil engineering. I was still thinking I’m going to be in chemo for eight hours, I’ll have a lot of time to study at the hospital. It wasn’t like that at all. That’s when I was in denial, and I think after that, that’s when depression hit me. I was like you know what? It’s over, I’m just going to keep my job now. There’s no way I can study for the exam … Sometimes in my back of my mind I’m still thinking I want to be a licensed engineer and all I have to do is pass that exam. I start dreaming that when I pass the exam, I’m going to get my promotion and travel more, which I used to do before diagnosis … I guess career-wise I still think about getting my license, even if I don’t keep working in the engineering field, I want to feel accomplished. I want to be able to say even through or despite cancer, I was still able to accomplish that.”— Participant 6, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“So because I got sick, at least with my internship hours, I could have been done last December. But I was going through treatment. And my friend and I were collecting hours and going to school at the same time. She already finished herself, got certified, she’s my boss right now. She’s my supervisor. We were like at the same level, she’s already above me. So and she doesn’t treat me any lower, but I’m still a little upset sometimes because I could have been there by now if I hadn’t gotten sick.”— Participant 13, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“I’ve been a dog groomer on and off for about 10 years. And I when I was finally able to get back into work [right after my surgery], I felt like they didn’t understand what I was going through. Like I was very anxious, and there’s a lot of sounds in a grooming salon. And it was really putting me on edge. And I started to wear earplugs to deal with that. And then I started getting like looks from my coworkers and like I just started to feel less and less welcome there. And I just gave up on it and I ended up quitting that job. I just didn’t feel very good there anymore.”— Participant 2, female, renal cell carcinoma, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I did officially go back up to my regular hours, but there are some days that I take time off for appointments. I try to schedule for example my scans in one day, for example, so I only have to take one day off whenever I can…It’s not just cancer that we deal with, we still have to deal with what other people go through as well, for example taking time out for dental and eye doctor appointments. I still have to take time off for that.”— Participant 6, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I had never been to the hospital before. And so I had to go through getting my diagnosis. Going through all these different procedures. And every one alone. They transferred me because they didn’t have the resources where I live to treat me. They transferred me to Houston, so my life got uprooted. My job put on hold. I had to move about five hours away so I could get treatment.”— Participant 13, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

3.8. Information about and Support Mitigating Side Effects and Late Effects

“The important elements for young adult cancer care compared to the typical cancer patient that you think of, like 50, 60, 70, they’re worried more about the here and now, and they don’t necessarily have to worry about side effects 20, 30 years down the road, because life expectancy, they won’t be there. I was diagnosed at 25. God willing, I’ll be alive for 50 more years beyond that. I don’t want to be dealing with side effects for years on end, so if there’s an option that’s a little bit more conservative treatment, which will possibly result in less side effects but maybe instead of saying it’s 100% certain, it’s 80% certain. That’s a 20% difference, so I think addressing that in terms that are easily understood by young adults, and also not in a talk down to manner, is super important.”— Participant 17, male, testicular cancer, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“Oh, and then the thing I always forget are the other secondary effects of treatment. I had to have both shoulders and both hips replaced, and I had no idea that was going to be in my future whatsoever, at the time of treatment.”— Participant 18, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“I have osteoporosis and I’m not even 25 yet, so that’s kind of concerning for the future.”— Participant 14, female, leukemia, 20–29 years old at diagnosis .

“The one thing I do deal with is, because of all the surgery I’ve had, I have chronic nerve pain, nerve damage, so that’s not fun to deal with. I wish I would have known that it was a possibility, because I was not told that it was a possibility that this could happen.”— Participant 19, female, sarcoma, 15–19 years old at diagnosis .

“I’ve got major issues with the majority of my organs. I have liver damage. I have heart failure. I was in a wheelchair for a while. I was on bedrest for a very long time right after everything. I am disabled. I am on disability. And I do not have the energy I once did. Napping and every couple days just being totally exhausted is kind of part of my life.”— Participant 20, female, leukemia, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“I have permanent damage—I don’t feel my feet, my toes from the upper balls to my toes. Sometimes the numbness goes up my legs… and I’ve fallen, actually almost fractured my ankle in January because I didn’t feel my foot. It was so sudden and severe, and … no one seemed to take it as seriously as I did, which is frustrating.”— Participant 1, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

3.9. Attention to the Unique Needs of Young Adults

“[My center had] an AYA program. Granted, they have so much volume because they have a special unit, so I think volume begets resources. But they have providers who are knowledgeable and not just oncologists, but lots of different providers who are knowledgeable about issues that AYA’s face, especially fertility. Sometimes we respond differently to drugs. If every center could have somebody who has a special research focus, to keep up to date on AYA’s. Or a pamphlet, a website, that even would have been helpful. I feel like there’s many ways to skin the cat, but it’s just providing age-appropriate information.”— Participant 4, female, breast cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

“But I definitely wanted more [young adult] support specifically. And not just in general cancer support, I went through this huge ordeal; it’s completely life changing. And I just, to me the more support I’m getting I feel more in control and I have more power.”— Participant 5, female, ovarian cancer, 30–39 years old at diagnosis .

4. Discussion

4.1. care coordination and healthcare system navigation, 4.2. mental health support, 4.3. aya peer support, 4.4. empathic communication about fertility preservation, 4.5. financial burden, 4.6. quality of life, 4.7. education and support regarding side effects and late effects, 4.8. attention to the unique needs of young adults, 4.9. limitations, 4.10. implications for cancer survivors, 5. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Figueroa Gray, M.S.; Shapiro, L.; Dorsey, C.N.; Randall, S.; Casperson, M.; Chawla, N.; Zebrack, B.; Fujii, M.M.; Hahn, E.E.; Keegan, T.H.M.; et al. A Patient-Centered Conceptual Model of AYA Cancer Survivorship Care Informed by a Qualitative Interview Study. Cancers 2024 , 16 , 3073. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16173073

Figueroa Gray MS, Shapiro L, Dorsey CN, Randall S, Casperson M, Chawla N, Zebrack B, Fujii MM, Hahn EE, Keegan THM, et al. A Patient-Centered Conceptual Model of AYA Cancer Survivorship Care Informed by a Qualitative Interview Study. Cancers . 2024; 16(17):3073. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16173073

Figueroa Gray, Marlaine S., Lily Shapiro, Caitlin N. Dorsey, Sarah Randall, Mallory Casperson, Neetu Chawla, Brad Zebrack, Monica M. Fujii, Erin E. Hahn, Theresa H. M. Keegan, and et al. 2024. "A Patient-Centered Conceptual Model of AYA Cancer Survivorship Care Informed by a Qualitative Interview Study" Cancers 16, no. 17: 3073. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16173073

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