The Interview

Opdenakker (2006) reports that the purpose of the interview is to collect

descriptions of the life-world of the interviewee, with respect to an understanding of the meaning of the elucidated phenomena. In addition, Cohen et al. (2007) report that one of the conceptions of the interview is that it has the capacity of a potential means of pure information transfer and gathering. However, Cohen et al. (2007) claim that an interview is not completely either subjective or objective, but is inter-subjective, and both the interviewer and interviewee affect the data gathered. Thus the data obtained from an interview cannot be regarded as objectively as perhaps data from a large scale survey. Thus, Cohen et al. (2007) set out the inherent features of interpersonal

transactions, regarded as potential obstacles to sound research, which would need to be removed, controlled, or at least harnessed in some way. In fact, Corbetta (2003:285) defines an interview as a conversation that has the following characteristics: It is

elicited and guided by the interviewer; a substantial number of subjects are

interviewed; and it has a cognitive objective (Corbetta, 2003:285). It is increasingly

common to find agreement among researchers on the definition of an interview.

Nevertheless, the researcher has chosen the definition developed by Corbetta because it is most relevant to his study. Moreover, in the researcher's view, Corbetta‟s definition emphasises one particularly important point, which is that the interview is not an ordinary dialogue; it is a conversation which leads the interviewer to establish the

subject and ensures that the interview is conducted according to the cognitive aims set.

One does not use an interview in qualitative research to find out how frequently people wash their hair, watch a television programme, or buy a particular product

(Rubin and Rubin, 2005:2), but when the researcher wants to know what people think or feel about an idea, then an interview is the right approach. From these point view above, the current study chose the interview as a tool to find out opinions about the current science textbook in Saudi Arabia as well as what should be included in the proposed enrichment programme.

There are many reasons for using interviews in social science research. Researchers interview people to find out from them those things they cannot directly observe

(Patton, 2002). Patton (2002:341) observes that:

1. researchers cannot observe everything -feelings, thoughts and intentions cannot be observed;

2. researchers cannot observe situations that preclude the presence of an observer;

3. interviews are also used to evaluate an instructional programme, acquire in- depth information or explore individual differences in experiences and outcomes;

4. the purpose of an interview is to allow us to enter into the other person's perspective.

This study will use interviews to: collect views about the existing situation of the science textbook of 6th grade in Saudi Arabia and ensure that the data collected could help to inform the design of the enrichment programme suitable for the gifted children in ٍSaudi Arabia. The researcher is of the view that before choosing an interview as a tool in his or her research, there are two questions that should be considered:

• To what extent is the interview appropriate according to the objectives that were identified earlier?

• Will all the answers be obtained from the interview?

To answer this type of question, a researcher should design the interview based on the research questions, and should think of which type of data is needed. In this

research study, the interview has been designed based on themes based upon

questionnaire that will answer the research question. The themes have been chosen in light of the findings from the literature review and the questionnaire.

It is very well known that building a trusting partnership between the interviewer and the interviewee is a very important issue. Before going any further, it is necessary to know if it will be possible to secure the interviewee's permission to record the interview on tape (Oppenheim, 2005) which the researcher in this study did by using a digital recorder. Patton (2002) mentions that the period after an interview is very

important for making sure that the interviewer has obtained all the information from the tape recorder by taking field notes. If for some reason, the tape not is clear or does not work, the interviewer should immediately make extensive notes of everything that can be remembered. If he/she finds things that do not quite make sense, he/she should check back with the interviewee as soon as possible for an explanation. In addition, the researcher in this study has undertaken several tasks that could help him to ensure the success of the interviews, such as:

1- The introduction to the interview: the interviewer considered the introduction as a guide to the interview;

2- Posing questions: the researcher endeavoured to pose questions clearly and in an understandable way because the quality of an interview will be defined by the skills of the interviewer;

3- Evaluating answers: the interviewer was very careful concerning the answers. It is possible that there were no answer at all, either because the informant did not understand the question or because the question was so sensitive;

4- Possible remedy: sometimes the interviewee might not understand what has been said, so he or she can ask the interviewer to repeat the question; for example:

I do not fully understand what you mean. Could you elaborate a little? (Cohen et al., 2007:361)

Thus, keeping control over the interview without imposing oneself is an ability each researcher has to learn and it one that the researcher is keenly aware of.