Rutgers University Academic Success Qualitative Interview Study

For this activity, you are tasked with designing a qualitative interview studying one of the following social phenomena (which you can think of as a variable):

Relationship closeness

Narcissism

• Academic success
• Social media
• You must choose one of the social phenomena listed above to study.
• In addition to this phenomenon/variable, you will need to decide on a specific context for studying it. Give some thought to your context and why you chose it:
•  You will be asked to provide a rationale and justification for your choice of context in the assignment. Remember your goal is to study one of these four phenomena/variables so you can be as creative as you want when deciding what a useful context would be in which to study it.
• For instance, if you choose to study “narcissism,” you might choose to study the 40 top-earning CEOs of corporations as your “context.” You will then provide a rationale for why the 40 top-earning CEOs is a good/appropriate context in which to specifically study your phenomenon of interest: narcissism.

Step 1: Introduction

Once you’ve chosen your phenomenon/variable of interest, you should begin your assignment by providing a conceptual definition for the phenomenon/variable you’ve chosen, and articulate at least one research question you have regarding your chosen topic. 

You should also explain the context (see example above) in which you plan to study your chosen variable and explain why this context is an appropriate place to study your phenomenon/variable of interest and an appropriate context to answer your research question. 

You should also outline a justification for why your topic is relevant and interesting for research (remember—this justification should be rooted in course concepts such as novelty, contributions to an ongoing discussion, development of theory, impact, etc. which we discussed in Unit 1).

Step 2: Methods

Discuss your proposed interview design by walking through all six stages of the interview process and how you will approach them (thematizing, designing, etc). Be sure to identify your participants. 

Discuss how you will gather your sample, and whether you need to consider any inclusion criteria (who you will purposely include in your sample) or exclusion criteria (who you will purposely exclude) for your participants (be sure to state why these criteria are important for identifying your sample).

 Be sure to clearly identify a sampling method and outline how you plan to use that method to gather your sample. You should justify your choice of sampling method and discuss at least one benefit and one drawback inherent in your sampling method choice.

You should also outline which qualitative interview design you would choose (structured, semi-structured, unstructured, focus group) and then explain, based on your chosen design, what your interview would look like. 

In an appendix included at the end of your assignment, you should create an interview protocol (a list of interview questions) with 10 questions. 

These questions should follow your chosen interview design and adhere to the principles of a positive interview as discussed in class. 

You should also discuss how you, as an interviewer/ moderator, will create a comfortable interview environment and identify a location that is appropriate (e.g., will you interview them at their home or at work and why).

 Identify at least 3 key principles to a successful interview that you will keep in mind, and 3 things you will avoid doing in your interview. Be sure to ground these principles in your specific study context.

Step 3: Critique

What are the overall weaknesses in your design? 

What are its strengths? Discuss the merits of your study based on concepts from class (such as validity, reliability, generalizability, representativeness, etc.). 

Outline at least two reasons why this design is superior to a quantitative research design (e.g., survey or experimental design) for answering your specific research question.