The success of peer interviewing depends on the dynamic of the group and how well people communicate with each other.
|Research method||Preparation time||Time to gather data||Time to analyse data||Not suitable for ...||Does data indicate wellbeing?||Who, what, where people experience wellbeing?||Is it an activity in itself?|
|Peer interviews||Undirected interviews: none Directed interview: can prep questions, Fortune tellers: can print template||10-30 mins||Slow – need to listen to all recordings/read notes - Quicker if using prepared questions||People lacking in confidence, or where group dynamic is problematic - Groups who don’t know each other - People with limited verbal communication||Yes, if people talk freely||Yes, with appropriate questions||Yes|
- engaging people in the research process
- school groups where interviewing/setting questions can be integrated into the curriculum
- groups that know each other well and where people are supportive of each other
- children interviewing their parents and/or vice versa
- people who don’t like to talk in front of a group.
What information is collected?
- if you direct the questions people ask each other, you can use them to address your indicators or a specific area of interest
- if you leave these interviews open, you won’t know what information you’ve collected until you have it.
How is information collected?
- people use audio recorders or videos to record each other
- you could go around the group and listen in yourself (however you will miss some information and may influence people’s responses
- you could record people’s feedback when you are together as a group (although you may miss some of the more interesting points if people feel shy about sharing).
Watch out for:
- some groups may not work well in pairs and be easily distracted, encourage them to find a quiet spot
- works best if everyone is interviewing each other at the same time, otherwise participants may feel that they are missing out on another activity
- best done earlier on in a session or mid-week if you run a week long programme, so that participants are not too tired, as you are relying on them to work together without you
- research bias because group – people influence each other
- putting a time limit on interviews can keep people more focussed.