Key informant interview

KEY INFORMANT
INTERVIEW
Dr Chinedu Ibeh (MBBS, MPH, MWACP)
Health Policy, System and Management Research Group,
Department of Community Medicine, University of Port
Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
28/06/28

Introduction
 Key informant interviews(KII) are qualitative in-
depth interviews with people who know what is
going on in the community.
 These experts can provide insight on the
nature of problems and proffer solutions.
 The two techniques used to conduct KII:
 Telephone Interviews
 Face-to-Face Interviews

When to conduct key informant
interviews
 To get information about a pressing problem
from a limited number of informed experts.
 To understand the motivation and beliefs of
community residents on a particular issue.
 To get information from people with diverse
backgrounds be able to ask in-depth and
probing questions.
 To discuss sensitive topics and get
respondents’ candid discussion or in-depth
answers of the topic,

Planning the key informant
interviews
 Gather and review existing data
 Determine what information is needed
 Determine target population and brainstorm about
possible key informants
 Choose key informants
 Choose type of interview
 Develop an interview tool
 Determine documentation method
 Select designated interviewer(s)
 Conduct key informant interviews
 Compile and organize key informant interview data

Gather and review existing data
 Collect and review existing research data and
reports before determining what additional
information needs to be collected from key
informants.

Determine what information is
needed
 The first step in preparing for your key
informant interviews is to identify the
information you want to gather.
 Draft your primary questions,
 Next determine what type of data is needed.
 The type of data needed helps you identify the
best people to interview.

Determine target population and
brainstorm possible key informants
 Before selecting key informants it is important
to map out your target population.
 Once you are clear about the target population
you can better brainstorm possible key
informants who are knowledgeable and closely
linked to your population of interest.

Choose key informants
 key informants must have first-hand knowledge
about problems you are trying to investigate.
 Identify and create a list of potential key
informants
 Get a diverse set of representatives with different
backgrounds and from different groups or
sectors.
 This diversity provides a broad range of
perspectives minimises bias. .
 The number of people you interview depends on
your data needs, available time, and resources.
 Typically, 15-25 interviews are the most you need.

Choose type of interview
 Select a technique to obtain information from
each of the key informants either by
 telephone
 or face-to-face.
 The technique you use largely depends on
your key informant's availability and preferred
choice, as well as your available time,
resources and overall logistical feasibility.
 However, these techniques are not mutually
exclusive; both options may be used
effectively.

Telephone Interviews
 Telephone interviews may be the most convenient and
least time-intensive way to interview busy key informants.
 The major shortcoming not having the personalized
interaction
 However with a structured key informant interview tool,
telephone interview may provide all the valuable
information..
 The designated key informant interviewer would contact KI
to schedule a convenient time to conduct the interview.
 Telephone interviews should last no more than 15-25
minutes, as it is difficult to schedule longer periods with
busy people.
 However, once engaged, informants may be willing to

Face-to-Face Interviews
 This is the most frequently used format.
 It is time intensive because it requires additional scheduling and
logistical planning.
 It allows for a free-exchange of ideas, and lends itself to asking
more complex questions and getting more detailed responses.
 The KII would then schedule a time and place convenient for the KI
time for the interview.
 Do not schedule too many interviews in one single day.
 After each interview, the KII should take some time to make
additional notes and organize.
 Duration is typically last 20- 30 minutes.
 Persistence is key, don't give up if you encounter challenges

Develop an interview tool
 The interview tool typically contains an outlined script and a
list of open-ended questions relevant to the topic you would
like to discuss.
 Begin with the most factual and easy-to-answer questions
first, then follow with those questions that ask informant's
opinions and beliefs.
 End with questions that ask for general recommendations.
 Don’t be afraid to ask probing questions during your
interview, as these help to clarify informant’s comments and
get detailed information.

Main components of the interview
tool
Introduction
Key questions
Probing questions
Closing question

Introduction
 Before beginning the interview introduce yourself and
your project.
 As a general rule the introduction you write should do
the following:
 help establish the purpose for the interview;
 explain who is involved in the process (community
partnership members);
 establish credibility for the interview and yourself as the
interviewer;
 explain why their cooperation is important in collecting the
information you need;
 explain what will happen with the collected information and
how the community will benefit.

Key questions and Probing
questions
 Draft five to ten questions important to getting the
information you have set out to collect.
 The key questions should be designed in order to
elicit more revealing information about your
community issue or problem.
 Ask questions that draw upon the informant's
expertise and unique viewpoint.
 Probing questions encourage participants to
reflect more deeply on the meaning of their
comments.
 These questions are also useful at getting people
to think about the cause or root of the problem
you are investigating.

Closing question and Summary
 Provide an opportunity for the key informant to
give any additional information or comments.
 Also ask the key informants for their
recommendations or solutions in addressing the
problem.
 If time permits, summarize the major
comments heard throughout the interview
 and ask informants if you covered all the major
points.
 Finally, thank them for their time.
 After completing the interviews it is a good idea to
send follow-up “thank you” notes to the
interviewees.

Determine documentation
method
 Compile interview information to ensure data
collection efficiency, quality, and consistency
across interviews.
 There are two methods you can use to record
the interview responses
 Note-taking
 Tape recording

Note-taking
 Take notes during the interview as well as directly
after.
 Type up and print the key questions you have drafted
(about 5-10) leaving enough space between each
question to manually write the key informant’s
comments while conducting the interview.
 Plan to take notes during the interview but do not
allow note-taking to disrupt the flow of the
conversation.
 Immediately after each interview , take some time to
review notes and fill in any details.
 do this immediately after the interview when things are still
fresh in their mind.
 Waiting several hours or a day may mean losing a lot of
valuable interview information

Tape recording
 This approach allows you to freely engage in the conversation
without worrying about note-taking.
 You may take brief notes during the interview and use the tape
recording to fill in information gaps or details.
 Get informed consent from the KI to audiotape the interview.
 So discuss the possibility of audio taping before scheduling the
interview.
 Emphasize that:
 the interview will be recorded so that none of their important
insights and discussions are missed;
 the interview will not be recorded if they do not prefer it to be;
and
 the audiotape will not have their name on it and will be kept in a
secure location.

Designated interviewer(s)
 Interviewers should be
 good listeners, have strong communication skills,
be able to take detailed notes,
 be detail oriented, and comfortable meeting and
talking to new people.
 For consistency it is wise to only have one or two
designated interviewers.

Advantages and Disadvantages of
Key Informant Interviews
Advantages and Disadvantages of Key Informant Interviews
Advantages Disadvantages
Detailed and rich data can be
gathered in a relatively easy and
inexpensive way
• Selecting the “right” key informants
may be difficult so they represent
diverse backgrounds and viewpoints
Allows interviewer to establish rapport
with the respondent and clarify
questions
May be challenging to reach and
schedule interviews with busy and/or
hard-to-reach respondents
Provides an opportunity to build or
strengthen relationships with
important community informants and
stakeholders
Difficult to generalize results to the
larger population unless interviewing
many key informants
Can raise awareness, interest, and
enthusiasm around an issue
Can contact informants to clarify
issues as needed

REFERENCE
 UCLA Center For Health Policy Research. Key
Informant Interviews. Available from
http://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/programs/health-
data/trainings/documents/tw_cba23.pdf [Cited
27/06/2018]

Key informant interview

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Key informant interview

Similar to Key informant interview (20)

More from University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital

More from University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (10)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Key informant interview