PYB350 Chap.4 Qualitative Interviews and Thematic Analysis
Qualitative Interviews and Thematic Analysis
The unit's two qualitative weeks prepare you for the thematic analysis inside the written assignment.
This chapter covers interviews as the most common source of qualitative data: structured, semi-structured and unstructured formats, when interviews suit a research question, ethical requirements, building and piloting a protocol, the four kinds of primary question, three families of probes, the order of an interview, reflective journals and verbatim transcription.
It then shows how to turn a set of comments into one to three key themes with sub-themes and supporting quotes, the structure the marking criteria reward.
The worked example codes six invented student comments into one key theme with three sub-themes and shows how a quote is set apart in the report, following the same steps the assignment's thematic analysis asks for.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews
- 02
When interviews suit a research question and when they do not
- 03
Building and piloting an interview protocol
- 04
Primary questions, follow-up questions and probes
- 05
Interview sequence, rapport, reflection and transcription
- 06
Key themes, sub-themes and quotes in a results section
- 07
Coding comments and reporting each sub-theme with its own quote
Worked example · free
Turning six comments into a theme with sub-themes
- 1Code each comment: looking lazy, public exposure, anonymity, friends first, not knowing the services.
- 2Group the codes into sub-themes: fear of judgement (three comments), peers as a buffer (two), late discovery of support (two).
- 1Name the key theme as a claim about the data: help-seeking feels risky.
- 1Report each sub-theme with a quote set apart from your own text, plus one sentence on what the quote shows.
Key terms
- Semi-structured interview
- An interview guided by a topic guide of planned questions and probes, leaving room to follow up on what the participant says.
- Elaboration probe
- A prompt asking for more detail or an example, such as asking the participant to tell you more about that.
- Interview protocol
- The planned sequence of an interview, from introductions and ethics to the content questions and the debrief.
- Key theme
- A pattern of meaning across the data, stated as a claim and supported by sub-themes and quotes.
- Verbatim transcription
- A transcript that reproduces the interview word for word, keeping punctuation and structure close to the original.
- Reflective journal
- A record kept after each interview of how the researcher felt, what stood out and what to change next time.
Qualitative Interviews and Thematic Analysis FAQ
What is the main strength of a qualitative interview?
Access to rich and nuanced data. The lecture's own revision question makes the point: interviews are not chosen because they are cheap, quick or generalisable, but because they capture lived experience, subtlety and sensitive topics that a questionnaire cannot reach. If the research aim is to generalise to a population, another method is usually better.
How many primary questions should an interview protocol have?
Ten or fewer. Each should be guided by the key topics and the research question, written simply and clearly, open-ended rather than closed, and never leading. Depth then comes from follow-up questions and probes tailored to what the participant says, which is why the protocol is piloted with a peer before it is finalised.
How many themes should the assignment's thematic analysis report?
The assignment brief asks for one to three key themes, possibly with sub-themes beneath them, each supported by example quotes that are clearly distinguished from your own text. The marking criteria put the strongest answers where key themes are clearly underpinned by identified sub-themes and well evidenced with quotes, so quality matters more than the number.
What makes an interview question leading?
A leading question suggests the answer it expects, for example asking how stressful a first placement was, which presumes stress. The lecture asks for primary questions that are simple, clear, open-ended and free of leading wording, so participants describe their own experience. Piloting the protocol with a peer is the practical way to catch leading phrasing before the real interviews.
Exam move
Practise on any short set of comments: code each one, group the codes into two or three sub-themes, write one theme as a claim, and pick a quote for every sub-theme before you write a word of interpretation. Rehearse the four kinds of primary question and the three families of probes until you can label any example on sight, which is how the revision questions test them.
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