DSRT-850: 4.1 INTERVIEW PROTOCOL WITH QUESTIONS MAPPED TO LITERATURE
Assignment Instructions:
For the interview project, you will conduct a semi-structured interview to learn about a peer’s experience in pursuing a doctoral degree. (See your assigned partner under 4.0.)
Qualitative researchers primarily use data collection instruments developed specifically for the research questions and context of a study. Effective instrument development requires a thorough understanding of the study topic. Questions asked during an interview should be informed by the existing literature related to the topic and the study’s theoretical framework. For example, a study exploring the influence of servant leader behaviors should include questions that ask about the application of specific servant leader behaviors as defined in the literature.
This week, you will 1) complete a table mapping your interview questions to existing literature and 2) develop an interview protocol using the mapped questions. You will use the templates below for each component of the assignment. Please read all assignment details and ask questions early in the week if needed.
4.1_Interview_Questions_Mapping_Table_Template.docx
Interview Questions Mapping Table
For this assignment, you will complete a mapping table demonstrating how your interview questions were developed from existing literature. Use the template provided and include all cited references on the References page. You are required to use minimum of five peer-reviewed sources from the list below in your mapping table. You may also use the course text (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) as a source. No other sources are permitted for the assignment.
In developing your primary questions for the interview, consider factors such as motivation, challenges, benefits, family support, faculty support, peer interactions, and future goals. You are not expected to complete a thorough literature review for the interview project. Therefore, sources are provided below that you will use for completing this assignment as well as the report that will be due in Week 7. Please do not use other sources in completing this assignment.
Each of the main questions in your interview protocol should be mapped to a scholarly source from the list. The mapping table must include an explanation and a citation for each main question that reflect a clear connection to the topic and thoughtful analysis of the source in developing question content. Your initial ice-breaker question may be mapped to the course text as in the example provided. The content-specific questions should be mapped to sources related to the topic. The mapping table should include two questions for the Opening phase, six to eight questions for the Primary Discussion phase, and one or two questions for the Closing phase (a total of nine to 12 main questions). These questions will be used to develop a more detailed interview protocol for the second component of this week’s assignment.
Sources:
- All You Need is Self-Determination: Investigation of PhD Students’ Motivation Profiles and Their Impact on the Doctoral Completion Process (De Clercq et al., 2021)
- A Phenomenological Exploration of the Student Experience of Online PhD Studies (Lee, 2020)
- Contributing Factors for Success of Nontraditional Students at Online Doctoral Programs (Kebritchi et al., 2023)
- Factors Contributing to Imposter Phenomenon in Doctoral Students: A US-Based Qualitative Study (Bano & O’Shea, 2023)
- Growing Grit to Produce Doctoral Persistence (Hudson et al., 2020)
- Identifying Significant Personal and Program Factors that Predict Online EdD Students’ Program Integration (Rockinson-Szapkiw et al., 2019)
- PhD Imposter Syndrome: Exploring Antecedents, Consequences, and Implications for Doctoral Well-Being (Sverdlik et al., 2020)
- The Influence of Family on Doctoral Student Success (Breitenbach et al., 2019)
- Toward a Holistic Understanding of Factors That Support or Inhibit Graduate Student Success (Collier & Blanchard, 2023)
4.1_Interview_Protocol_Template.docx
Interview Protocol
After drafting your primary questions, you will use them to develop an interview protocol for a semi-structured interview during which you will seek to understand a peer’s experience pursuing a doctoral degree. You should plan for your interview to last approximately 30 minutes. There is no required minimum or maximum length for the interview protocol; the general expectation is that you will need approximately five double-spaced pages to meet the requirements of the assignment. Please submit your interview protocol as a Microsoft Word file using the template provided.
You should think of your protocol as your guidance for conducting the interview; it tells you what to do and what questions to ask. When conducting an interview for research purposes, you would prepare an interview protocol, field test and refine the protocol, apply for and receive IRB approval, recruit participants, obtain informed consent from participants, and then use the protocol to collect data through interviews. If you were working as part of a research team, you might be given a protocol drafted by the lead researcher that would be used by all members of the team to ensure consistency with data collection methods for the study as a whole.
Remember that an interview is not a questionnaire. A semi-structured interview is an open discussion with questions that guide in a way that ensures responses provide insight into the phenomenon being studied. Interviewers should not ask questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” Your questions should be open-ended and invite conversation and explanation. Your interview protocol should include examples of probing questions. As an interviewer, you must be prepared to probe the participant to provide more information by asking follow-up questions, including those that cannot be planned in advance. The ability to ask effective probing questions requires careful listening throughout



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