Analysing interview data of case study in educational research

趙艷敏

摘 要：interviews are an essential source in collecting case study data， because most of case studies are about human affairs. Yin （2003） reported that human affairs should be interpreted through the eyes and body languages of interviewees， and they can provide very important insights into a situation. However， it is also necessary to pay attention to the common biases caused by interview， such as poor recall， inaccurate articulation and time-consuming.

關鍵詞：Analysing；interview ；educational research

中圖分類號：G632 文獻標識碼：B 文章編號：1002-7661（2014）15-019-01

One of the most important sources for data collection is the interview because interviews can reach the parts that the other methods cannot reach. For example， observation can allow researchers to study participants behaviour in some special situations， such as classrooms and lecture theatres （Wellington， 2000）， but interviews can allow a researcher to probe interviewees thoughts， values， prejudices， perceptions， views， feelings and perspectives. Interviews are also essential sources for case study information， and usually appear to be guided conversations. In most of conditions， case study interview is not rigid in the conversation with an interviewee.

There are three different styles of interviewing： structured， semi-structured and unstructured interviews. In a structured situation， the interviewer has most control on both sides. Parsons （1984） suggested that it was like a face-to-face questionnaire. Properly structured interview can provide a high quality of data， for example， in market research. However， both interviewer and interviewee are less flexible because they have to follow the order of a set list of questions， and all the questions or activities are decided by researchers pre-determined agenda.

The opposite side of structured interview is called an unstructured interview or a non- standardised interview. The roles between interviewer and interviewee may vary from one to another. It is very flexible because there is no a list of prepared questions. As Parsons （1984） puts it， data collected from a totally unstructured interview may be very difficult to analyse， and the data is also unpredictable.

The most commonly asked in an interview are ‘why and ‘how questions， and these sort of questions can provide insightful answers and perceived inferences， as a result， those answers are often directly focused on case study topic. However， in some situations， if researchers ask the respondent about their own insights in some special situations， some biases may be caused by further inquiry.endprint

When carrying out several interviews for a case study research， researchers have to decide whether to tape the interview or to take the notes. Sometimes researchers may not have much choice， for example， interviewees do not allow interviewers to use a tape recorder， and they have to take notes during an interview （Bassey， 1999）. Each of these has its advantages and disadvantages. For instance， using a tape recorder can allow researchers to pay more attention on the interview and the interviewees body language and eye contact （Blaxter et al， 2001）. However， tape-recording may make interviewees feel shy and uncomfortable， and their confidence may be hidden. In addition， tapes also take more time to transcribe and analyse. Note-taking， on the other hand， can give a researcher the key points of an interview， and researchers do not need to worry about data sorting and categorising in the process of data collection （Stake， 1994）. However， when putting pen to write something on the paper may lead some participants to think whether they have said something important， if researchers do not take a note， interviewees may think that their comments might be unimportant for researchers. Thus， tape-recording or note-taking， concentrating on the process or concentrating on listening to responses， each of them is a complex process.

Overall， interviews are an essential source in collecting case study data， because most of case studies are about human affairs. Yin （2003） reported that human affairs should be interpreted through the eyes and body languages of interviewees， and they can provide very important insights into a situation. However， it is also necessary to pay attention to the common biases caused by interview， such as poor recall， inaccurate articulation and time-consuming.

參考文獻：

[1] Bassey， M. （1999） Case Study Research in Educational Settings， Buckingham： Open University Press.

[2] Blaxter， L.， Hughes， C. and Tight， M. （2001） How to research （second edition）， Buckingham： Open University Press.

[3] Parsons， D. （1984） Employment and Manpower Surveys： A Practitioners Guide. Aldershot： Gower.

[4] Stake， R. E. （1994） ‘Case studies， in N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln Handbook of Qualitative Research. London， Sage.

[5] Wellington， J. （2000） Educational Research： Contemporary Issues and Practical Approaches， London： Continuum.

[6] Yin， R. （2003） Case study research： Design and methods （3rd ed.）. Thousand Oaks， California： Sage.endprint