So you are curious about in-depth interviews (IDIs) and wondering what makes a great research interviewer? Drive Research to the rescue!
IDIs are a type of qualitative market research used to explore new topics or ideas. For example, a company may decide to conduct IDIs if they were in the planning stages for developing a new product. We like to think of qualitative research as a tool to explore, while quantitative research is used to measure.
An awesome research interviewer has a greater talent than just the ability to have a good conversation. Our market research pros take pride in attention to detail and use our tried and true process in every market research project we work on.
Learn more about what to look for in a research interviewer below.
Moral of the story is we're all gold miners at heart.
It All Starts With an IDI Guide
A great research interviewer knows a great IDI begins with developing the IDI guide. For those who may be unfamiliar, an IDI guide is a document which directs the questions and format for the research interviews.
Oftentimes, these guides will provide introduction text to begin the interview and walk the interviewee through the process. This is followed by the questions being asked in the interview and the closing text which thanks the interviewee for their time.
A great IDI guide will develop questions in a way that easily flows through conversation. This means adding conversational text to questions with the goal to make the interview flow like a natural conversation rather than a simple phone survey.
Learn more about the 5 components of a market research interview.
Understanding the Process
Market researchers love process. The process for an IDI involves more than just conducting the IDI itself. Interview recruiting, scheduling, confirmations, and reporting are other parts of the IDI process that all need to come together to put together an A+ qualitative study.
You need to have the right interviewee and the right interviewer.
Another important aspect of a great research interviewer is to ensure the interview participant feels the process is easy. For example, once recruited, a confirmation email should be sent to confirm all of the details for the participant. If the IDI involves calling a conference line or logging into a screen share platform, all of these details should be easily laid out for the participant. The day of the interview, a second confirmation sent via email, phone, or text can also be made if needed.
When all goes well, the IDI report falls into place and summarizes the key findings from the research.
Looking for more tips to build a better research interview? Learn more.
"Gold Miner" Mentality
Great research interviewers put their gold mining hat on before the interview beings. A key difference between a phone survey and IDI is the ability for the researcher to ask follow up questions to respondents through out the conversation.
Researchers are constantly hunting for that piece of information the end-client is hoping to learn, but to get it the right question needs to be asked.
If you approach your IDIs with this mentality you're likely to uncover several golden nuggets of information to use in your report. Never take this hat off from minute 1 through minute 20 of the interview.
Contact Our Team
Drive Research is a leading market research company in Syracuse, NY. Our team fuels strategies for organizations across the country using data and insight from market research.
Want to learn more about our team? Or, do you have a question for us? Don't hesitate to reach out. We're here to help.
Contact us at via email at [email protected] or call us at 315-303-2040.