How Deep is Your Love?

Written by QCR

During our third meeting on February 5, 2015, we focused on depth interviews, an essential topic for our team. We delved into Martin and Schouten’s research on Consumption-Driven Market Emergence, and focused on their research methods on Minimoto Super-cross racing. Their interviews were mostly informal and conversational amongst the different actors of the racing crew. It was extremely insightful for our team to learn how others conducted their interviews.

This meeting was fundamental for our studies as we will be conducting depth interviews at Lollapalooza this summer. We learned several critical techniques which will be necessary to utilize on our journey:

1. It is important to ‘act’ naïve about the subject of interest so the informant has to better explain his or herself about the subject at hand.
2. Do not ask questions that begin with why, as this is more apt to make the participant reply in a more reasonable and more prudent way,  instead of explicating the real reasons for his or her behavior. Also, avoid asking yes/no questions, as they do not leave much room for the participants own personal reflections on the subject of interest. For example, approach a question by saying, “Tell me about…” which allows for a more in-depth answer.
3. Use probes. Short responses, such as, ‘Ah’, ‘Okay’, and ‘I see,’ are all key replies to use while conducting a depth interview because they invoke more of a response from the participant without interrupting their flow of answers.

After learning more about depth interviews, we conducted our own interviews with each other. We opened with, ‘If your life with music was written as a book, how many chapters would there be?’ And, ‘What is your first chapter?’ Having to follow the rules listed above deemed more challenging than expected but, at the end of it, we finally felt that we had successfully conducted an interview which was extremely fun, and rewarding! With more practice and studying, I am confident that I, as well as my teammates, will be skilled and efficient depth interviewers!”

Greyson, February 2015