Interviewing Instrumentation

The main aim of conducting interviews was to acquire more detail and explanations regarding the subject and context of the research. Therefore, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with each of the 30 participants. The average time for each interview was one hour with the shortest interview taking 40 minutes and the longest lasting over two hours. Time was extended as much as required, if there was further information to be added, and as long as the interviewee expressed the interest to carry on with the interview. Interviews were semi-structured in the sense that they used a guided approach specifying in advance the main issues to be covered in the interview.

This helped make the data collection process more systematic for each respondent.

However, questions did not necessarily follow the exact format outlined in the prepared schedule, as the sequence and wording varied during the course of the interview. In addition there was some latitude within the interviews to ask further questions that were not initially stated in the guide in response to what the interviewer picked up from the interviewees that seemed to be significant for the intentions of the research. The approach was thus closer to unstructured than structured interviewing, as illustrated in Figure 4.3. This opened the way towards more flexibility in discussions with open-ended answers allowing the interviewee to elaborate on points of interest for the researcher, albeit with some guidance. In doing so, each interviewee was asked to respond on some basic issues that relate to general housing circumstances and QOL in Amman and then address the issues which they were most knowledgeable about.

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An initial set of 15 experts (covering different aspects related to the research subject) was listed based on the personal knowledge of the researcher. Each of the 15 appointed experts was contacted in advance via email or phone requesting their contribution and provided with general feedback about the research. Out of the 15 contacted experts, eight responded positively expressing their willingness to participate. All respondents who accepted were contacted afterwards to arrange the meeting venue, date and time. In order to build confidence with the interviewees, each was provided with a brief oral introduction about the research prior to the start of the interview. The introduction presented the significance of the research, the reason for choosing the respondent, the purpose of the interview and confidentiality confirmation. Note-taking and digital recording techniques were both used whenever possible in order to capture the discussion taking place during the interview and to provide a permanent and complete record that can be referred to later. Each of these informants or interviewees was asked to identify other people that they felt would be useful for the study, and those in turn were contacted and interviewed. According to the information gained from the initial set of interviewees and, building on their recommendations, another set of experts was identified. Other rounds were carried out with more participants, applying the same

Figure 4.3: Types of interviews

Source: Kumar (2011). Modified by researcher

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procedures. Several rounds were conducted to cover any raised issue and get more feedback about certain points of view to reach the level of confidence for the different topics which were presented and discussed.

In order to maintain consistency and order among all interviews, a preliminary schedule was prepared in advance. This drew a general outline for the interview identifying the main points to be addressed. Queries covered respondents’ experiences, factual knowledge gained alongside experience and opinions built upon that experience. The outlined guide for interviews covered some main subject matters or questions that the researcher sought to obtain from each interviewee. These included the following:

- What is your own assessment regarding QOL in Amman?

- What are the main concerns regarding housing quality in Amman?

- To what extent do people’s opinions match with the actual housing conditions in Amman?

- To what extent does housing affect QOL and how?

- What are the main issues that should be considered in order to achieve better housing quality and consequently better life quality in Jordan?

Monitoring procedures were undertaken during the interviews to ensure there was proper management of time and related issues. These included, in reference to Denscombe (2003): identifying the main points stated by the interviewees expressing their priorities, identifying the key terms that emerged, and looking for underlying logic of what was being presented by the informant to ensure there is a rational link between the ideas expressed by the interviewee and the subject of the research. These also included looking for inconsistencies in the ideas and points of view expressed by the informant, picking up clues as to whether the interviewees’ answers involved an element of trying to please the interviewer, getting a feel for the context in which the discussion was taking place and keeping a proper level of eye contact during the interview to get the benefit of non-verbal expressions and communication clues. Hence, the pursuit of the way through which data were obtained depended to a certain extent on the response of the interviewee and the immediate judgment of the researcher regarding

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the necessity or appropriateness of probing for more information. A high degree of alertness was required in order to run the interview in a positive and productive manner.

This required the interviewer be sensitive to interviewees’ responses. Such sensitivity comprised rephrasing and recoding questions, generating new questions or even dropping some probing questions. This all helped in getting the best of the information obtained during the interviewing process.

In spite of the degree of sensitivity applied during interviews, the researcher retained a state of active listening and control over the direction of the interview. In addition, different techniques were used to elicit data on certain issues. Such techniques included requesting examples and clarifications, posing alternatives and checking on contradictions. These techniques were used whenever needed in order to make the best use of interviews and gain as much useful information as possible.