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Key Informant Interviews

Vrinda here please re-write the following section using the language of development workers and keeping them logically related to the other chapters

rather than classifications we need to say how they contribute to the programme cycle management and to organizational development

These interviews focus on deriving information from individuals who have a specialist knowledge or skill in a field or topic which the PLA exercise may be investigating. Such interviewees may, for example, be teachers, community health workers, traditional birth attendants, local artisans, etc. Key informants should be able to answer questions about the knowledge and behaviour of others, and give a good overall view of the way things work in the community.

What are Key Informant Interviews?

Informal, semi-structured or highly structured conversations with people who are involved in the intervention you are evaluating.

Key informants are anyone who can give an informed view on the intervention –primarily members of the community intended to benefit from it but also members of partner organisations, government officials, village heads etc.

Types of interviews

Structured interviews are a pre-set list of questions put to every interviewee in the same way and can help ascertain widely held knowledge, attitudes and beliefs.
Semi-structured interviews guide the conversation towards the objectives of the evaluation while allowing sufficient flexibility for unexpected information, opinions and nuances to emerge.
Informal conversations take place whenever the opportunity arises – they can provide valuable and unexpected information, but don’t allow comparison with other data.

When to use interviews

When qualitative indicators are needed rather than statistically precise information and/or to gain greater insight into statistics and other information on the same topic.
When self-filled surveys are not appropriate (eg because of literacy, time available etc)
When you want to ask clarifying or probing questions, finding out about people’s motivation, attitudes and beliefs or the perceived impacts of an intervention on their lives. Interviews can also provide unexpected information either from natural flow of conversation or from observation of environment, interviewee’s body language etc. Eg, a woman saying domestic violence not a problem while looking anxiously in direction of husband. (But be careful of making uninformed assumptions!).

Challenges associated with interviews as a data collection method:

Views expressed by interviewees are subjective and may not be reflected more widely. Different people may have different viewpoints on a single issue. Cross checking with other data collection methods (triangulation) is therefore important.
Fewer respondents means that we are making an informed assumption that their views are relevant for others too and represent the wider picture.
There may be cultural sensitivities and misunderstandings (NB cultural differences may apply in different age groups, communities, professions etc as well as ‘national’ cultures). Interviewers may hear only what conforms to their pre-existing beliefs.
They can be expensive, labour intensive and time consuming.

Tips on conducting effective interviews:

Prepare:

Decide what information you want to gather from interviews, and think about how this will complement and be complemented by other data being collected for the evaluation. Frame questions accordingly.
Decide who should be interviewed. Select a sample of community members and other stakeholders and informants. Seek diversity (older/younger people, men and women, from richer or poorer households, from different ethnic groups, professions etc). Don’t assume that the “head of the household” or village head can answer for everyone – each person has a different perspective to give.
Decide when and where the interviews will be conducted and by whom (Yourself? Partner organisation? Community members? Volunteers, eg students?). Arrange training if necessary, including trial-runs and role-plays to enable reflection and feedback.

Calculate time and budget needed for training, travel, accommodation, interviews, per diems, equipment, transcribing, writing up notes etc.

Practicalities:

Participants need to feel comfortable and safe – ideally hold interviews in their own home, or a communal space where interviews can be held in private. If privacy is not available, be aware of who is listening and how this may be affecting the interview. Eg, a woman talking about domestic violence in her husband’s hearing.
If interviewing groups rather than individuals, keep them small and ask fewer questions (there will be more answers). Use two note-takers to ensure all points are captured. Ensure everyone in the group has their say and decide whether someone needs to be interviewed separately as well. (eg. young people may not be comfortable talking about sexual issues in front of parents).
If possible, use a professional, neutral, interpreter rather than someone from the partner organisation, as the power balance may influence interviewees’ answers. Ask the interpreter to tell you exactly what the person said – not their interpretation.
Work out time needed, including travel, formalities, interviews, number of people to cover, writing up and following up. How many interviewers? For consistency’s sake as few as possible, but enough to ensure interviewers are not so overloaded that quality suffers.

The Interview (see also the MEL Guidance sheet on ‘Questioning’):

Interviews are usually best when conducted like conversations, use the questions as a guide rather than a strict script (unless conducting a highly structured interview, in which case begin with a friendly conversation before starting the interview).
Remember that the interviewee is a person, an individual, and he or she is giving valuable time to help you achieve your goals. Treat them with courtesy and respect, explain what you are doing and why, be friendly, thank them, check with them that they understand, and that you have understood what they said, offer to share the final report if appropriate.
Choose timings to suit the interviewee, remember the interview may be taking time away from income generation or important domestic work. Be flexible in timing – interviewees may not be able to come when agreed because of other priorities.
Respect individuals and their confidentiality. Consider how you would feel if asked this question (but remember that others may be sensitive about different things). Confidentiality may be more important to some, eg. government officials, people living under sensitive political regimes, people living with HIV. Respect this and be sure interviewees understand and are happy with how you will use the information they give.
Keep it simple, don’t ask multiple questions, use jargon or overly abstract concepts. Use terminology and language appropriate to interviewees.
Be well informed about cultural norms (eg, is it ok to ask direct questions? what gender issues need to be considered? etc.). Check with a local person or member of the appropriate community before finalising questions.
Be a good listener: maintain eye contact with interviewee (if culturally appropriate) even if communicating through an interpreter. Put your own opinions and assumptions aside as far as possible and be 100% open to what you are hearing. Keep your responses short (nodding, saying “yes”). Accept what is said without judgement. Be careful not to show you are shocked or surprised by what you hear, as this may inhibit the interviewee. Summarise what you heard and check you have understood what they meant.

Note taking/recording

Accurate notes enable interpretation of aggregated interviews; be sure to note key words and phrases; and write up notes (even if only roughly) as soon as possible to ensure you remember and capture details and nuances. Do full write up within a day.
Get name, location (check spellings), interviewee’s primary occupation, number of people in household and who they are, link with the intervention being evaluated.
Don’t spend majority of time looking at the note book – maintain eye contact (if culturally appropriate). Politely ask interviewee to repeat important points if necessary or to pause while you finish notes on particular point.
A small, unobtrusive tape recorder will help keep the conversation more natural and capture answers verbatim. Explain why you are using it and get permission for taping the conversation.
Protect your sources; do not reveal identities in your final report of people who have given interviews in confidence.

Further information:

‘Conducting Semi-Structured interviews’: http://intranet.oxfam.org.uk/programme/policy_research/research/downloads/interviews.doc

MEL Guidance Sheet on Questioning

MEL Guidance Sheet on Sampling