Alternatively, you may use a dictaphone, mobile phone or iPad recorder. He could, however, provide valuable insights into questions of local schooling and family life. There would, for example, be little point asking an African schoolboy about the politics of the region.
Others will be tailored to specific interviewees. Some of these will usually be set questions (what is going well with the project? what could be improved and how?). Click here for a list of types of interview questions. Outdoor interviews can attract attention from other members of the village: is this likely to be a source of distraction or could it engage more interviewees? in the shade if outdoors) and private (interviewees will open up more in such environments) but not too private (e.g behind a locked door) as that can also intimidate some interviewees. Ensure that the venue is accessible, relatively comfortable (e.g.If requested, provide a list of possible questions. Let interviewees know in advance the purpose, format and venue of the interview.You may wish to stress that the interview is anonymous, confidential and only attributable with the consent of interviewees. Remember that particular care is needed when you plan to interview children or vulnerable adults: see ethical guidelines.You are regularly in touch with all these people on an informal basis. Less obvious interviewees include donors and even your own colleagues involved in delivering a project. Obvious interviewees include beneficiaries, stakeholders and participants. Decide who you would like to speak to and let them know this well in advance by letter, email, text or word of mouth.Decide what information you are looking for and whether semi-structured interviews are best suited to these ends? If you are interested in checking your assumptions or looking to identify attitudes, changes of behaviour and motives on the part of project participants and beneficiaries then key informant interviews usually semi-structured in nature (with some prepared questions and some freer discussion) are likely to be useful.See also conducting semi-structured interviews. The advice below draws on the author’s own experience and numerous web sources, not least Europlanet.