Key point: If the question suggests the answer, the data are already constrained.
Use neutral, open interview questions and careful probes to generate rich qualitative data without leading participants.
Begin with experience
Open questions invite participants to describe events, actions and perceptions in their own words. Start with accessible experience questions before moving to interpretation or sensitive topics.
Remove assumptions
A question such as how did poor leadership affect you assumes that leadership was poor and that it caused an effect. A neutral alternative is tell me about your experience of supervision in this organisation.
Use probes carefully
Useful probes include can you tell me more, what happened next, how did you interpret that and can you give an example. Probes should deepen the account without inserting the researcher’s preferred explanation.
Pilot the guide
Test whether participants understand the wording, whether the sequence feels natural and whether the questions generate evidence relevant to the research objectives.
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About the author
Kazeem Afen
Kazeem Afen is an academic research consultant at Speedrise Research. He supports undergraduate, master’s and doctoral researchers with research development, academic editing, quantitative and qualitative analysis, presentations and responsible manuscript revision.