Many of our projects use one-on-one interviews (IDIs)

One on one interviews have long been a staple of most qualitative researchers’ portfolios, but they are often relegated to a minor role, used only for pre-survey work or B2B projects. In my view they have been vastly under-rated by the research profession.

The advantages are:

You can adapt the interview to each person’s knowledge and use the language they use
You have time to delve deeply into each person’s beliefs and behaviour
There are no effects from group dynamics

These advantages make them one of the most powerful research tools we have. We use them in almost all our work on insurance and superannuation. That is because there is a high risk in focus groups on money and finance that the group will be swayed by some one who is (or thinks they are) an expert on that topic. The focus group method was not created for situations like these; focus groups work best when people can contribute equally.

Having said that, one on one interviews take considerable skill to conduct well. If you are not careful, the interview can turn into an interrogation when it should be a conversation.

The secret to great interviews / IDIs

We conduct a great many one on one interviews. This is what we have learned about how to interview well:

The more the interview is like a conversation the more open to talk participants will be. This is the key to going deeper, and exploring unexpressed emotions.
Start with something easy. Start with an easy topic that every participant can have a point of view on, without feeling intimidated. Hint: most people like talking about themselves.
Make it clear what the conversation is about. Good conversations are about something, they are not just a series of questions. For example, for a recent project I said that the interview was ‘about what matters to you in your life right now’. Again, make sure that the topic is them.
Aim to understand their world. The world is changing around all of us all of the time. Use the conversation to find out how they are making their world work for them.
Allow the conversation to have its twists and turns. I want to know where my participants will take me. If I dictate what is talked about and when, I might as well do a survey. Yes, there will be the occasional detour, but skilled conversational interviewers know how to get back on track – for example ‘let’s get back to what you said earlier ….’
Listen and show that you are listening by asking questions about – or commenting on – what the other person said. We call these ‘looping conversations’ because you keep looping back to things that have already been said. There is no – repeat no – more powerful way to encourage people to share what they really feel and think than to show that you are listening. I don’t mean just nodding because frankly that get’s a bit tedious over time. I mean doing things like playing back what the person has said and asking ‘have I got that right?’

There is no more powerful way to encourage people to share what they really feel and think than to show that you are listening.

The interviews we conduct

We conduct face to face interviews, text-based interviews and phone interviews. Some are in person, some on zoom, some in home and some in venue.

Based on insights from social psychology and linguistics, we have developed a technique we call ‘looping conversations’ that encourage our respondents to engage and interact with us because we talk about what matters to them. This is a powerful form of qualitative research conducted by highly skilled moderators who know how to encourage people to open up and talk freely. It is not the stilted question and answer interviews that some agencies pretend will give them insight.

“Every meaningful conversation is made up of countless small choices. There are fleeting moments when the right deep question, or a vulnerable admission, or a kind word can completely change a dialogue. A silent laugh, a barely audible sigh, a friendly expression during a tense moment …” (Charles Duhigg)