Interviewers - Health - Lecture Slides, Slides of Public Health

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Interviewers

•^ Interviewers are critical to thecollection of quality data.•^ Invest study resources in the hiring,training, and supervision ofinterviewers.

-^ Maximize the number of completedinterviews^  Keep refusals and early terminations to a minimum -^ Engage the subject in the interview^  Communicate importance of study  Convey value of subject’s participation  Motivate respondents to participate thoughtfullyand candidly  Help the subject understand their role -^ Administer the questionnaire^  Ask questions in unbiased manner  Record answers correctly  Probe incomplete responses

Interviewer Roles

Interviewer Abilities

(cont.)

-^ Interpret

verbal and nonverbal cues in order to provide reinforcement orclarification• Regulate

verbal and nonverbal behavior to avoid influencing responses

Interviewer Knowledge Knowledge: facts and principles thatinterviewers must learn during training •^ Understand the role of the interviewer•^ Understand why maintaining neutrality isimportant•^ Acquire sufficient information about thestudy to answer respondent questions^ 

NOT study hypotheses

-^ Principle of confidentiality and protectingidentity of respondent

Interviewer Skills

Skills: capabilities to do specific tasks,acquired through training and practice •^ Initiate and maintain a conversation with a stranger•^ Techniques of minimizing refusal rates•^ Respond professionally to unexpected questions andsituations•^ Remain neutral by keeping personal opinions out ofthe interview process•^ Motivate reluctant respondents to participate in theinterview•^ Deliver the questionnaire in a flowing, conversationalmanner•^ Probe incomplete responses in an unbiased mannerfor more useful results

Interviewer Training

-^ Written materials^ ^

Interviewer’s Manual  Background information on study topic

-^ Lectures, presentations, discussions^ ^

Method of administration  Understanding the meaning of items  Coding instructions  Demonstration of technique  Discussion of interviewer concerns

-^ Practice^ ^

Exercises  Role-playing  Code a taped interview  Practice interviews with pretend and real subjects

Interviewer Training

(cont.)

-^ Trainers^ 

Teach how to conduct interview  Serve as role models  Must instill a concern for the importance of:•^ Respect for ethical concerns•^ Data quality•^ Attention to detail

-^ Each part of the training should beconducted by the person most qualifiedin that area

Interviewer Training

(cont.)

•^ Importance of Interviewer Training^ 

Don’t cut corners here  Critical to:•^ Response rate•^ Data quality

•^ Allow time between trainingsessions^ 

Time for reflection  Time to formulate questions

Interviewer Training

(cont.)

-^ Interviewers must be fully trained beforethey can conduct interviewsindependently•^ There is no “learning period” in whichthey are allowed to come up tostandards•^ It is possible to overtrain^ 

Not worth the additional resources  Can be counterproductive - createuncertainty and insecurity rather thanraising level of competence and confidence

Interviewer Training

(cont.)

-^ The investigator must demonstrateconcern with the quality of all aspects ofthe study^ 

Make the interviewers feel they are part ofthe team and invested in the success ofthe study  Don’t expect interviewers to pay attentionto data quality if you don’t

Interviewer Supervision

(cont.)

Supervise interviewer performance for:•^ Response rate^ 

Monitor throughout course of study•^

Most important when interviewer is new• Early detection of decline is important

^ Track rates and patterns of•^

Refusals• Early termination• Missing data

Interviewer Supervision

(cont.)

-^ Quality of interviews^ 

Appropriate introduction of study  Obtaining informed consent  Ability to establish rapport  Asking questions as written  Probing properly  Clearly coded response for each item

Interviewer Supervision

(cont.)

-^ Interviewers may identifyproblems with:^ 

Study procedures  Data collection instruments  Relations with study site

-^ Interviewers often have excellentsuggestions for resolvingproblems

Interviewer Supervision

(cont.)

-^ Conduct random checks with studysubjects to determine:^ ^

Whether interview took place  Duration of interview  Whether all sections of interview, particularly long ordifficult sections, were asked •^ Ask subject if they remember being asked aboutparticular questions, especially those that might beavoided by the interviewer  Impression of interviewer

-^ Inform interviewers that you will beconducting these checks and the reasonfor them