Interview schedule
An interview schedule is created for carrying out an interview. The interview schedule will be different depending on whether the interview is unstructured, semi-structured or structured.
Every interview schedule has three parts.
Opening
An opening is where the interviewer should create a connection to make the interviewee feel welcome and relaxed, eg
"Thanks for meeting with me today. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say."
It may also include a brief outline of what the purpose of the interview is, the motivation for carrying out the interview and the likely length of the interview, eg
"I’d like to ask you some questions about your experiences of visiting the dentist. This will help me to help others to overcome their dentist phobias. The interview will take no longer than 15 minutes."
Body
The body will consist of the interview questions or topics. The level of detail will depend on the type of interview:
- unstructured interview
- semi-structured interview
- structured interview
Closing
The closing part involves the interviewer thanking the interviewee and explaining what happens next, eg
"Thank you very much for taking part in this interview. It was really useful. I have one more interview to carry out and then I will be analysing the findings. I expect the final report to be completed by December."
