7.1: Interview

An interview: is a structured conversation between multiple parties one that ask questions and others that gives responses. It is very important for the interviewer to prepare for the interview, plan the interview by Identifying people to interview, establishing the objectives for the interview, conduct Interview, Develop interview questions, document and evaluate the responses.

Identify people to interview: Identifying people to interview is the first step when planning for an interview because in order to get accurate information you must select the right people to interview. Your knowledge of a company formal structure is necessary when choosing the people to interview.

Establish Objectives for the interview: you should start by discussing general areas and ideas then get into specific topics. setting up specifics objectives for the interview will help you creates questions to ask and how to phrase the questions.

Develop Interview Questions: developing a list of questions will help keep the interviewer on track and avoid unnecessary deviation. In some cases, the answer of a specific question on the list may lead to an important topic that need to be discuss. Therefore the topic will need to be included in the list for future interview.

The interview should consist of different kind of questions:

• Closed-ended questions – Respondents' answers are limited to a fixed set of responses.
  • Yes/no questions – The respondent answers with a "yes" or a "no".
  • Multiple choice – The respondent has several options from which to choose.
  • Scaled questions – Responses are graded on a continuum (e.g.: rate the appearance of the product on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most preferred appearance). Examples of types of scales include the Likert scale, semantic differential scale, and rank-order scale. (See scale for further information)
  • Matrix questions – Identical response categories are assigned to multiple questions. The questions are placed one under the other, forming a matrix with response categories along the top and a list of questions down the side. This is an efficient use of page space and the respondents' time.
• Open-ended questions – No options or predefined categories are suggested. The respondent supplies their own answer without being constrained by a fixed set of possible responses. Examples include:
  • Completely unstructured – For example, "What is your opinion on questionnaires?"
  • Word association – Words are presented and the respondent mentions the first word that comes to mind.
  • Sentence completion – Respondents complete an incomplete sentence. For example, "The most important consideration in my decision to buy a new house is..."

Prepare For the interview: It is extremely important to prepare for the interview because it is a very important meeting not just a casual conversation. It is a good practice for the interviewer to set an interview day and to sent an email to the interviewee or to set a reminder. The interview questions that was created should be sent the interviewee several days before the meeting. Keep in mind an interview is the interruption of someone else routine therefore an interview should be less than an hour.

Conduct the Interview: conducting the interview is the main step of the planning. When conducting the interview, make sure you introduce yourself, describe the project, and explain the objectives of the interview and why it is important. Make sure you can see the interviewee either on camera or face to face so you can observe his or her body language. make the person been interview feel comfortable and at ease. Give him or her enough time to respond and listen carefully. After each response mark a very short break of three to five second then move on to the next question. Before finishing the interview summarize the session and seek the confirmation of the interviewee, by doing so that will give him or her the opportunity to correct you if there is any mistake.

Document the Interview: It is a good practice to take some note while conducting the interview so you can jog your memory after the interview. Keep the note taking to a minimum to avoid distracting the interviewee. Record the information gather immediately after the you finished the interview to remember all the information provided. Therefore, it is not a good idea to conduct back to back interviews. They use of devices as a recorder during the interview should be discuss and approve by the interviewee and make sure the content is deleted right after you finish to record the interview. Whether the interview is recorder or not, you should listen carefully to the interviewee in order to ask good follow up question. After the conversation send a memo to the interviewee express your appreciation, in the memo you should include the time, date, location, reason for the interview, and all the main points discuss during the meeting so that the interviewee can make correction or give more details if necessary.

Evaluate the Responses: while recording the interview it is very important to evaluate the interviewee responses to identify any biases. For instance, an interviewee who has a strong opinion about the current or future system might give incomplete answers or refrain the information. Also, an interviewee might provide answers to be helpful even though they do not have enough experience to give accurate information.