In-depth Interviews
What is an in-depth interview?
In-depth interviews offer the opportunity to capture descriptive data about how people think and behave, and to understand more complex processes. They work well for researching more sensitive / personal topics with residents, and for business respondents.
For most topics, in-depth interviews can work equally well when conducted in-person or via video call using an online using a platform, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom. There may be occasions when conducting in-home or in-business interviews has additional benefits.
How do you collect research data?
The interview is carried out by a trained moderator, who aims to build a rapport with the participant. Individual interviews are most common, but paired depths can be useful in some situations. Individual interviews tend to be between 20 and 60 minutes but can be longer.
The interview follows a discussion guide, prepared in advance to ensure insights that help answer the research question(s) are obtained. Depending on the style of interview / topic to be researched, the interview can be more or less structured. Typically, in-depth interviews are loosely structured, looking to understand respondents’ views through open ended questioning. The discussion guide often incorporates ‘projective’ and ‘enabling’ techniques, which are designed to help people surface and discuss things that lie beyond their immediate conscious awareness yet still influence their behaviour and opinions.
What is the output?
Each interview is audio-recorded or video-recorded. Alongside the moderator, a research analyst may also attend to observe and make notes about verbal and non-verbal behaviour.
We analyse the content of each interview, looking for key themes and learnings and write this up into a summary report alongside illustrative quotes from participants. It is also possible to receive a written summary of each interview.
What are the benefits?
The technique enables researchers to build a rapport with individuals to understand more personal topics, or complex processes and behaviours.
Private: Effectively tackle topics that are more personal, sensitive or complex. Compared to a group methodology, social desirability bias is reduced, a stronger rapport can be built with individual participants, and people usually feel comfortable opening up in more depth or revealing more sensitive information e.g. about their health or finances.
Business-to-business: Individual and paired in-depth interviews are often more appropriate for obtaining insights from business respondents.
In-depth insights: An opportunity for moderators to probe and gain a more in-depth understanding of behaviour and attitudes. Complex processes or journeys can be discussed in detail.
Observation: Behaviour and non-verbal cues can provide additional insights.
