Orienting Multiple Interviewers: The Use of an Interview Orientation and Standardized Interview

Abstract

An interviewer orientation protocol and standardized interview can be an effective way of orienting multiple interviews to qualitative research. A standardized interview involves an actor taught to portray a research participant consistently in several interview encounters. In this article, the authors describe the interview protocol, and the development and application of a standardized interview. The benefits of using a standardized interview as a formative method to orient multiple interviewers include assessing the interviewers’ integration of the interview protocol, the nonverbal and verbal presentation of the interview process between interviewers, and the general flow of the interview from interviewer to interviewer. As more qualitative research is conducted using multiple interviewers, the method of an interview protocol and subsequent standardized interview might be helpful when orienting interviewers to the challenges and promises of conducting research using a critical framework.