Four checks for interview validity: avoid leading questions, ask them consistently, align them with your research questions, and plan your coding before you start. Skip these and your data becomes unusable.
You collect hours of interview data and still have nothing usable. We have seen this happen again and again. A doctoral student spends months interviewing participants only to discover that the data doesn't answer their research questions. That's not because they weren't smart or hardworking. It's because the interviews were missing the one thing that makes qualitative data valid. So here are some questions to ask yourself. Number one Are my questions leading participants towards the answer? I hope they'll say? Number two, Am I asking consistently through interviews so my results hold up? Number three do my questions actually connect back to my research questions? Number four how do I organize, code, and interpret what I get? If you cannot confidently answer all four, you are at risk of wasting your time and your resources. Comment help and I will send you the link to our free Dissertation Help community. You've got this.
