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CONDUCTING KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS

1996, Number 2 CONDUCTING KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWSTIPSP erformance Monitoring and EvaluationUSAID Center for Development Information and EvaluationWhat Are Key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS ?They are qualitative, in-depth INTERVIEWS of 15 to 35 people selectedfor their first-hand knowledge about a topic of interst. The inter-views are loosely structured, relying on a list of issues to be dis-cussed. Key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS resemble a conversation amongacquaintances, allowing a free flow of ideas and information. Inter-viewers frame questions spontaneously, probe for information andtakes notes, which are elaborated on Are Key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS Appropriate?This method is useful in all phases of development activities identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Performance Monitoring and Evaluation USAID Center for Development Information and Evaluation What Are Key Informant Interviews? They are qualitative, in-depth interviews of 15 to 35 people selected for their first-hand knowledge about a topic of interst. The inter-views are loosely structured, relying on a list of issues to be dis-cussed.

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Transcription of CONDUCTING KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS

1 1996, Number 2 CONDUCTING KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWSTIPSP erformance Monitoring and EvaluationUSAID Center for Development Information and EvaluationWhat Are Key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS ?They are qualitative, in-depth INTERVIEWS of 15 to 35 people selectedfor their first-hand knowledge about a topic of interst. The inter-views are loosely structured, relying on a list of issues to be dis-cussed. Key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS resemble a conversation amongacquaintances, allowing a free flow of ideas and information. Inter-viewers frame questions spontaneously, probe for information andtakes notes, which are elaborated on Are Key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS Appropriate?This method is useful in all phases of development activities identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

2 For ex-ample, it can provide information on the setting for a planned activ-ity that might influence project design. Or, it could reveal whyintended beneficiaries aren t using services offered by a , it is useful in the following qualitative, descriptive information is sufficient for there is a need to understand motivation, behavior, andperspectives of our customers and partners. In-depth interviewsof program planners and managers, service providers, hostgovernment officials, and beneficiaries concerning their attitudesand behaviors about a USAID activity can help explain itssuccesses and a main purpose is to generate recommendations. Keyinformants can help formulate recommendations that can im-prove a program s quantitative data collected through other methods need tobe interpreted.

3 Key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS can provide the howand why of what happened. If, for example, a sample surveyshowed farmers were failing to make loan repayments, keyinformant INTERVIEWS could uncover the reengineeringemphasizes listeningto and consultingwith customers, part-ners and other stake-holders as we under-take appraisal tech-niques offer system-atic ways of gettingsuch informationquickly and at lowcost. This Tips ad-vises how to conductone such method key INFORMANT preliminary information is needed todesign a comprehensive quantitative INFORMANT INTERVIEWS can help frame theissues before the survey is and LimitationsAdvantages of key INFORMANT INTERVIEWS include: they provide information directly fromknowledgeable people they provide flexibility to explore new ideasand issues not anticipated during planning they are inexpensive and simple to conductSome disadvantages.

4 They are not appropriate if quantitative data areneeded they may be biased if informants are notcarefully selected they are susceptible to interviewer biases it may be difficult to prove validity offindingsOnce the decision has been made to conduct keyinformant INTERVIEWS , following the step-by-stepadvice outlined below will help ensure high-quality in CONDUCTING the InterviewsStep 1. Formulate study relate to specific concerns of the questions generally should be limited to fiveor 2. Prepare a short interview INFORMANT INTERVIEWS do not use rigid ques-tionnaires, which inhibit free discussion. However,interviewers must have an idea of what questionsto ask. The guide should list major topics andissues to be covered under each study the purpose is to explore a few issues indepth, guides are usually limited to 12 guides may be necessary for interview -ing different groups of 3.

5 Select key number should not normally exceed 35. It ispreferable to start with fewer (say, 25), since oftenmore people end up being interviewed than isinitially informants should be selected for their spe-cialized knowledge and unique perspectives on atopic. Planners should take care to select infor-mants with various points of consists of two tasks: First, identify thegroups and organizations from which key infor-mants should be drawn for example, host gov-ernment agencies, project implementing agencies,contractors, beneficiaries. It is best to include allmajor stakeholders so that divergent interests andperceptions can be , select a few people from each categoryafter consulting with people familiar with thegroups under consideration.

6 In addition, eachinformant may be asked to suggest other peoplewho may be 4. Conduct rapport. Begin with an explanation ofthe purpose of the interview , the intended uses ofthe information and assurances of informants will want assurances that theinterview has been approved by relevant when interviewing technical experts,questioners should avoid questions. Start with factual requiring opinions and judgmentsshould follow. In general, begin with the presentand move to questions about the past or questions carefully to elicit detailed infor-mation. Avoid questions that can be answered by asimple yes or no. For example, questions such as Please tell me about the vaccination campaign? are better than Do you know about the vaccina-tion campaign?

7 Use probing techniques. Encourage informants todetail the basis for their conclusions and recom-mendations. For example, an INFORMANT s com-ment, such as The water program has reallychanged things around here, can be probed formore details, such as What changes have younoticed? Who seems to have benefitted most? Can you give me some specific examples? 3 Maintain a neutral attitude. Interviewers should besympathetic listeners and avoid giving the impres-sion of having strong views on the subject underdiscussion. Neutrality is essential because someinformants, trying to be polite, will say what theythink the interviewer wants to translation difficulties. Sometimes it isnecessary to use a translator, which can change thedynamics and add difficulties.

8 For example,differences in status between the translator andinformant may inhibit the conversation. Ofteninformation is lost during translation. Difficultiescan be minimized by using translators who are notknown to the informants, briefing translators onthe purposes of the study to reduce misunderstand-ings, and having translators repeat the INFORMANT scomments 5. Take adequate should take notes and develop themin detail immediately after each interview toensure accuracy. Use a set of common subheadingsfor interview texts, selected with an eye to themajor issues being explored. Common subhead-ings ease data 6. Analyze interview summary sheets. At the end of eachinterview, prepare a 1-2 page interview summarysheet reducing information into manageablethemes, issues, and recommendations.

9 Eachsummary should provide information about thekey INFORMANT s position, reason for inclusion inthe list of informants, main points made, implica-tions of these observations, and any insights orideas the interviewer had during the codes. Coding involves a systematicrecording of data. While numeric codes are notappropriate, descriptive codes can help organizeresponses. These codes may cover key themes,concepts, questions, or ideas, such assustainability, impact on income, and participationof women. A usual practice is to note the codes orcategories on the left-hand margins of the inter-view text. Then a summary lists the page numberswhere each item (code) appears. For example,women s participation might be given the code wom par, and the summary sheet might indicateit is discussed on pages 7, 13, 21, 46, and 67 of theinterview and subcategories for coding (based onkey study questions, hypotheses, or conceptualframeworks) can be developed before interviewsbegin, or after the INTERVIEWS are saves time, but the categories may notbe appropriate.

10 Postcoding helps ensure empiri-cally relevant categories, but is time consuming. Acompromise is to begin developing coding catego-ries after 8 to 10 INTERVIEWS , as it becomes appar-ent which categories are and retrieval. The next step is to develop asimple storage and retrieval system. Access to acomputer program that sorts text is very parts of interview text can then be orga-nized according to the codes. The same effect canbe accomplished without computers by preparingfolders for each category, cutting relevant com-ments from the interview and pasting them ontoindex cards according to the coding scheme, thenfiling them in the appropriate folder. Each indexcard should have an identification mark so thecomment can be attributed to its of data.


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