Topic 3:
In-Depth Interview
Prof. Roberto Dopeso Fernández
4/5/16 1
Questions
• Why In-Depth Interviews are a direct
qualitative technique?
• What are the characteristics of In-Depth
interviews?
• What are the Advantages and Disadvantages
of this type of Technique?
• How should we questioning during an In-
Depth Interview?
• Understand some of the main techniques to
conduct In-Depth Interview
Example
In-Depth Interview
• A single participant is questioned in a
– Unstructured
– Direct
– Personal approach
• By a experienced interviewer
• To uncover underlying motivations, beliefs,
attitudes and feelings
• Or extract special knowledge by an expert
in a determined topic.
In-Depth Interview
• The intention is to have a social interaction
with intimacy
• Understand the meaning of experiences and
life world’s
• The Depth term can be understood in for
ways:
1. Every day events
2. Context
3. Multi-faceted
4. Interviewer reflection
The Interviewer
1. Do his or her utmost to develop and empathy
with the participant
2. Make sure the participant is relaxed and
comfortable
3. Be personable to encourage and motivate
participants
4. Note issues that interest the participant and
develop questions around these issues
5. No be happy with “yes” or “no” answers
6. Note where participants have not explained
clearly enough issues that need probing
Why it is different from the
Focus Group?
• Generally the persons that participate in
interviews have a lot of knowledge or
relevant experience, so we have some
characteristics that can not be created in a
Focus Group environment
– Hectic schedules
– Heterogeneity
– Live context
– Interviewers reflections
Example
Advantages
• Uncover a greater depth of insights than
focus groups
• Attribute the responses directly to one
person makes the analysis easier
• Free exchange of information
• No group pressure. Ideal for sensitive
issues
• Easier to arrange and more flexible
Disadvantages
• Should be interpreted more as challenges
than disadvantages
– The lack of structure gives to much weight to the
interviewer influence
– The cost in time, money and the difficulty to
obtain specific persons can lead to very few
results to conduct analysis
– Difficult to interpret
• Not representative
• Hidden intentions
• Specific questions (Non comparable)
In-Depth Interview Types
• The steps to the elaboration are identical
to the ones of the Focus Group
• The Topic Guide is the main tool
• Some specific techniques can help the
process
– The laddering technique
– The repertory grid technique
– The Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique
– Friendship pair
The laddering technique
• A line of questioning goes from product
characteristics to user characteristics
• It helps to apply some structure over the un-
structured nature of interviews
• The idea is knowing consumer behavior and
understand the meaning or purpose of certain
feature of our products
• When conducting laddering technique the
interviewer should focus on two purposes:
1. Motivation
2. Cognitive Structure: Use of the MEC (Means-Ends-Chain)
Atributes Consequences Values
Example
The repertory grid technique
• Developed by George Kelly in 1955
• Explore the meaning people give to the
World around them
• There are four stages
1. Element Selection
2. Construct Elicitation
3. Element Comparisons
4. Data Analysis
• Understand the feature that make products different
Example
Zaltman metaphor elicitation
technique
• Created by Jerry Zaltam of the HBS
• The idea is create a Mental Map of the
consumer perceptions toward a product
• Use images and metaphors to understand
how people perceive brands
• Creates elicitation of both rational and
emotional thinking
• Allows a visualization of the “Mind of the
Market”
Example
Friendship Pair
• You interview two people
• The idea is to gain Rapport when to persons
know each other in order to participate
• It is general used for children interviews
because it is difficult to overcome problems
related with
– Shyness
– Communication
– Background
Applications of In-Depth
Interviews
• With professional persons
• Children
• Elite individuals
• Detailed probing of participants
• Discussion of confidential, sensitive or
embarrassment topics
• Situations where strong moral norms exist and the
group pressure can be important
• Detailed understanding of habitual tacit behavior
or complicated situations
• The consumption experience is sensitory