RES 724 Week 4 Interviewing Example

Asking So Successors Can Tell It Their Way: An Interview Guide and Practice Interview

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

RES/724: Qualitative Methods and Design

Week 4 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The learner, the firms, the successors, the practice interview and the planned study are composites written for a model paper.

Week 3 planned to recruit eight to ten successors leading Iowa family manufacturers, each interviewed twice. This paper develops the interview guide and reflects on a practice interview the composite Des Moines banker conducted with a successor who does not meet the criteria, a daughter leading her father's packaging company in Missouri.

How Interviews Work in IPA

IPA interviews aim for rich, detailed first-person accounts. The interviewer follows the participant's lead, inviting stories about specific experiences rather than general opinions, and probes for meaning: what an event was like and what it meant. Brinkmann and Kvale (2015) describe the research interview as a conversation with structure and purpose, in which knowledge is produced between interviewer and interviewee, and they stress that data quality rests on how well the interviewer asks, listens and follows up.

Building the Guide

Kallio et al. (2016) reviewed studies describing how semi-structured interview guides were developed and proposed five phases: identifying the prerequisites for using semi-structured interviews, using previous knowledge, formulating a preliminary guide, pilot testing it and presenting the complete guide. The banker followed those phases. The prerequisites are met: successors' experiences are complex and personal, suited to conversation. Previous knowledge came from the literature review in Week 2 and her own conversations with successors.

The Preliminary Guide

Opening: "Can you tell me about how you came to lead the company?" This invites a story and lets the successor choose the starting point.

Authority, for SQ1: "Tell me about a decision in your first year that you made yourself. What happened?" "How does your father or mother take part in the business now?" "Can you describe a time when you and your parent saw something differently?"

Relationships, for SQ2: "Tell me about the people who were here before you took over." "Can you describe a moment with one of the longtime employees that stayed with you?"

Legacy, for SQ3: "What does the company mean to your family?" "When you think about the company's future, what comes to mind?"

Closing: "Is there anything about leading the company that we haven't talked about that matters to you?"

Probes: "Can you tell me more about that?" "What was that like for you?" "What did you think at the time?" "How do you see it now?"

The Practice Interview

The practice interview lasted 70 minutes on video. With permission, it was recorded and the first 30 minutes transcribed.

The opening worked. The successor talked for nine minutes about growing up around the plant, coming back after a career in banking and the day her father told employees she would be president. Several later topics emerged unprompted.

A mistake came early in the authority section. The banker asked: "Was it hard when your dad disagreed with your decisions?" The successor answered, "Not really, he's been pretty good about it," and the topic closed. The question assumed disagreement and difficulty and invited a yes or no.

One leading question closed a topic in ten seconds that an open question reopened for ten minutes.

Later, the banker tried the open version: "Can you tell me about a time you and your dad saw a decision differently?" The successor described a 15-minute account of replacing a long-time supplier, her father's visit to the supplier's owner to apologize and her own mixed feelings of anger and guilt. The open question produced the kind of account IPA needs.

A second mistake involved silence. After the successor said, "Sometimes I wonder whether they'd follow me if he weren't around," she paused. The banker filled the pause with another question. Listening to the recording, the banker realized that the pause was probably the start of something important.

Revisions

McGrath et al. (2019) offer practical tips for research interviews, including preparing an interview guide with open questions, building rapport, listening more than speaking, allowing silences and following up on the participant's words. The banker made four revisions based on those tips and the practice:

Removed every question that suggests an answer, such as "Was it hard..." and "Do you feel pressure...".

Added a note to wait at least five seconds after pauses before speaking.

Added probes that echo the participant's own words, such as "You said 'whether they'd follow me.' Can you say more about that?"

Moved the legacy questions later, since the practice showed that successors raise family meaning themselves once they feel comfortable.

Building Rapport

In the practice interview, rapport came quickly because the successor and the banker shared a background in finance, but that closeness also led the successor to use banking language and to present her company's numbers. For real interviews, the banker will introduce herself as a doctoral researcher, mention her banking career only if asked and begin with a few minutes of informal conversation about the successor's town or industry. She will also explain at the start that any answer is welcome and that ordinary details of daily work are exactly what the study needs.

Setting and Recording

Interviews will take place where successors choose, but not in their plant offices, where employees or the founder may overhear. Options include a conference room at the family business center, a library study room or video calls. Interviews will be recorded with two devices and transcribed verbatim, including pauses and laughter, which carry meaning in IPA.

Transcription

The banker will transcribe the first two interviews herself to stay close to the data and will use a professional service, bound by a confidentiality agreement, for the rest, checking each transcript against its recording. Names, towns and firm details will be replaced with placeholders during transcription.

The Second Interview

The second interview, a month later, will begin by inviting reflection on the first: "Since we talked, has anything about our conversation stayed with you?" The banker will then return to moments from the first transcript that seemed important but unfinished.

Sensitive Moments

Successors may discuss conflict with parents, siblings who were passed over or fears about the firm's future. If a successor becomes upset, the banker will pause, offer to stop or move on and remind them that they control what is shared. A list of family business advisers and counseling resources will be available. She will not offer business advice during interviews, which would shift her role from researcher to banker.

The Interviewer's Influence

Practice made the banker aware that her professional habits, quickly summarizing and moving to solutions, work against IPA interviewing. She will review recordings of early interviews to catch these habits and will note them in her reflexive journal.

Conclusion

A guide built through published phases, tested in a practice interview and revised to remove leading questions and allow silence will help successors tell their experiences in their own way. Plans for setting, recording, a second interview and sensitive moments complete the approach. Week 5 adds observation and documents.

References

Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (3rd ed.). Sage.

Kallio, H., Pietilä, A.-M., Johnson, M., & Kangasniemi, M. (2016). Systematic methodological review: Developing a framework for a qualitative semi-structured interview guide. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(12), 2954-2965. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13031

McGrath, C., Palmgren, P. J., & Liljedahl, M. (2019). Twelve tips for conducting qualitative research interviews. Medical Teacher, 41(9), 1002-1006. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1497149