In the first part of this lecture, we will talk about how you prepare for an interview, which phases an interview has and which skills that are important as an interviewer. After this, there will be an informal discussion where Anne Gerd and I share our own thoughts and experiences on conducting interviews. But first, let's look at how you prepare for the interview. This involves a lot of testing. You should test your interviews on a colleague or a friend so that you know your questions by heart. Also ask for feedback on your interviewer skills and also test your recording equipment. Then you have to decide where you would perform your interview. For this, you should also consider confidentiality of the conversation, and make sure that this is in location without distractions or interruptions. More importantly, that it's a place where people feel comfortable. Also try to imagine some unexpected reactions from the person you're interviewing and think about how you might handle this. The interviewee could begin to cry. They could become angry or frustrated. How would you react to this? Finally, reflect upon the relationship, is there a power relationship? Do you know a lot more than the person you're interviewing? How could you address this? So that the interviewee feels comfortable about sharing their thoughts and experiences with you. Let's move on to the different phases of an interview. An interview has three phases. At the Start, introduce yourself, and the context of the interview. In this phase, it is very important to build rapport with your interviewee by creating a comfortable atmosphere. You need to repeat how the interview will be conducted and what is expected from the participant. The next and primary part of the interview is where you ask your questions from the interview guide. When you're through with your questions, you close the interview by thanking the interviewee. Immediately after the interview, you may want to take some notes. This could be important observations, or your immediate reflections on the interview. You can use these notes in the analysis of the interview data. We have arrived at our last question, what are important interviewer skill? Well, listen actively. Talk less and listen more. Use prompts and take pauses, and encourage the interviewee to share their experiences with you. Be interested, be encouraging and use prompts such as nodding and saying things like, "Oh, this is interesting." Or ask more specific follow-up questions, "So could you tell me a little bit more about the headache you're experienced?" Try and avoid judgment. Also be aware of your own body language, both your own and on the person you're interviewing so that you can adjust yourself after their body language. Is it easy to keep eye contact? Also if the interviewee deviates from the topic, you might use some phrases to bring them back on track, such as saying, "Well, thank you for sharing those experiences with me. Can we now moved on to the next questions they have about?" In the process of interviewing, be aware of you are also the co-creator of data. You are the instrument that generate the data. You can also influence data by the way you ask questions, and to the extent that you are involved in discussions you're getting into. Katja, how do we make a good first impression? Yeah, that's very important Anne Gerd. Think about what is appropriate behavior in your context. For instance, how do you introduce yourself. Appropriate behavior and clothing and appearance is deeply rooted in the culture that you live in, in the country where you do your interview and the specific group that you interview. Katja can you give us some examples of the do's and don'ts. I remember as a German student in the UK, I once showed up with my bright neon green trousers in the hospital. I thought these were very fashionable but in the UK hospital contexts, they expected a pharmacist to wear a skirt or dark trousers. They expected something very different. My appearance, I think how I came along, people didn't take me very seriously then. Well, my examples of the do's and don'ts is when I went to people's homes in London and where I come from, Norway, it's very rude to keep your outer shoes on indoors whereas in England, it's kind of the opposite. You should really keep your shoes on, if you're visiting someone at home. I really had to struggle with myself to take on that new habit. But my advice is when in Rome do as the Romans. What are other aspects that are important to consider when you start off an interview? One of the most important things to consider is ask open questions, give the participant time to respond, reassure the participant that there are no right or wrong answers, show interest in their personal views on medicine use. Your appearance and behaviors should develop trust and connection with the interviewee. Remember being an interviewer, you have a lot of power and this may create a symmetry between you and the interviewee and the barrier, this might be a barrier to conducting an open interview. Anna Gerd, what is in your experience the best place to conduct an interview? Definitely. In my experiences, in someone's home. Everybody is the king of their castle. They feel secure. If they want to share something with you, they can show it to you. It's important that you can complete the interview without being disturbed, like where family members, it could be kids phone call. You should also plan where you place things when you do the interview. Where do you put your interview guide, your notebooks, and your recorder. It's also important to be able to look people comfortable in the eye without being too close. On the one hand, when you interview people about their perspectives on medicine use, being in their home is an advantage where they feel comfortable and they can also show you things, they can show you medicine boxes or patient information leaflets or other things that's related to their medication. On the other hand, there might be safety issues. So a public place or an office is also an option for an interview. Anna Gerd, do you allow for someone else to be present during an interview? A very good question. If the wife or the husband is present during the interview, it can swing both ways. Sometimes the spouse contributes with valuable information like, "But you always take two of those and not one" or "Sometimes when you go for lunch you don't take your diuretics before we go out". That's very useful information. Other times it's more interactive, or even they might even have questions on their own. Then before we start, if the spouse is present I said, if you have any questions, we'll take them after the interview, after I switch off the recorder. Thanks. Anna Gerd, have you ever felt emotional or unease during an interview? Yes, I have. Many patients I've talked to are struggling, they've been sick, they've been ill, they have pain. Maybe they're depressed, maybe they're out of work, maybe they're not able to go to work. For those I have always expressed a lot of empathy. The stories they've have of which they've told me 10 and 20 years back they are stuck with me. They made a really good impression. But even though I felt emotional, I have also felt that lending an ear to people and giving them the time to tell you about the struggles in life and related to medication use has also helped them. There has also been time I feel a little bit scared. It is important that you tell people where you go and in cases where you feel a bit insecure, take someone along with you to the interview. Katja, how do you establish and keep a friendly atmosphere and a trust atmosphere during the interview? Like we said, this is a very important part of the interview. For instance, you may want to pre-phase questions with, "May I ask you" or "Is it okay if we talk about". Reassure people when talking about sensitive issues. You could do that by saying "Some people have problems with", and then follow your questions. Listening carefully to what the interviewee says. Allow for silence and assure the interviewee with neutral noises such as mmh and nodding. How do you stick to the interview guide? This is an important interviewer skill. To do this, it is best to be prepared and practice some phrases which you can use to return to the topic of your interview. Practice prompts in advance. Use expressions like "Thank you for sharing your experiences. I can understand that this has been troublesome, but do you mind if we return to one of my questions?" Anna Gerd, how do you end an interview? What is the best closure? What's the best closure? End the interview on a positive note. No matter what has happened during the interview, it's really important that you show both verbally and through body language, that you show genuine appreciation for the time, for the information they've given you, for the hospitality. You cannot really go over the top here. Also remember, just immediately after the interview, write down your impression. For example, did anything make a special impression on you? Any surprises? Really reflect on your interview. To sum up, prepare well for the interview and test out your questions on volunteers and colleagues. Practice how you present the purpose of the interview. Know the questions in the interview by heart. Also keep track on time, respect the people have set off a certain time for you and also move along with your questions. As for most things in life, your skills as an interviewer can only improve through practice and practice and practice. Good luck.
