Background/demographic. These have to do with age, education, gender, etc., and are used to situate the participant in relation to other participants or other people.
Questions also may be categorized in terms of whether they are closed, open or scale.
Closed. These ask the participant to choose between two or more alternatives (e.g., When you have a night off work, do you watch TV or read a book?)
Open. These do not restrict the content or way in which a participant might reply (e.g., What do you do when you have a night off work?). Open- ended questions are more commonly used in interviews and have the potential to elicit more information.
Scale. These ask the participant to indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement.
There are certain types of questions to avoid. These include (Robson, 1993, p. 232):
Following are some ways to document interviews:
Tape recording. Tape recording interviews provides you with a full oral record. Drawbacks include equipment that doesn't work (always do a check!), surrounding noise, or a participant's discomfort with taping. (Sometimes you'll plan to tape and then decide not to, because of the participants' discomfort.) Transcribing tapes takes time, although you do not necessarily need to transcribe everything.
Video taping is sometimes used and can provide a record of nonverbal responses. Video taping can be more intrusive.
Taking notes. It is usually not possible to write down everything a participant says, so taking notes is usually considered an option only when tape recording is not possible. Some researchers take notes as well as tape recording. A drawback to taking notes only is that it is hard to write down everything. Try to review your notes after the interview and ask the participant to review them.