At this point, you should have an established research topic that you have begun to narrow down to a research question. In the previous section, you learned about different types of interviews, and are hopefully thinking about which varieties would best help answer your question. That means it is time to start planning your interviews. This process involves preparing your questions and developing a strategy for working with your participants. Whether you are using structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviews, it is important to plan for your interviews before you conduct them, so both you and your interviewees find the experience as smooth and as rewarding as possible. With thorough mapping and planning, you’ll be able to use interviews to collect rich, interesting, and informative data.
