Interview Protocol Refinement: Fine-Tuning Qualitative Research Interview Questions for Multi-Racial Populations in Malaysia

By M. Yeong, Rosnah Ismail, Noor Hassim Ismail, Mohd Isa Hamzah. The Qualitative Report, 2018

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A reliable interview protocol is the key to obtain good quality interview data. However, developing a valid interview protocol is not a simple task, especially for beginner-level researchers. Extensive understanding of the research topic is no guarantee to quality interview findings because many other factors may affect the interview process. In our study among injured workers in Malaysia, researchers face additional challenge of interviewing multi-ethnic and multi-cultural study population. Most of them are also from lower socioeconomic status and education level. The objective of this study is to refine the pre-constructed interview protocol to address these challenges for valid data collection. The protocol must be easily understood and cover all research objectives to gain insights of the worker’s return to work experience. This article demonstrated the use of the 4-step Interview Protocol Refinement (IPR) Framework on the interview questionnaire. The steps were (1) ensuring alignment between interview questions and research questions, (2) constructing an inquiry-based conversation, (3) receiving feedback on interview protocols and (4) pilot testing of the interview questions. The IPR framework is an effective tool for improving the interview protocol reliability and validity. The refinement processes corrected some shortcoming in the pre-refined questionnaires and the pilot testing ensured that the refined questions were understood by the respondent and able to obtain the intended answers based on the research objectives. Research quality can be further enhanced by applying additional strategies during the stages of research tools validation and data analysis.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, General Health Professions, Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/afa70c97891da317bf6db2a4b4f855b531209b80