How to come up with good interview questions

For a structured or semi-structured interview, it’s important to draw up a questionnaire in advance. This will help you ask the right questions in the interview. By preparing the interview questions, you avoid ambiguity in the interview. You can also be sure that the questions match your research objective. What makes a good interview question? How do you prevent respondents from answering in a socially desirable way, being too brief, or elaborating too much?

The way you phrase your questions is very important. With some types of questions, for instance, you may steer people towards giving a socially desirable answer. Also, the way you phrase the question helps determine how extensive or focused the respondents  answer is. This makes it important to prepare the questions well and critically review your questionnaire. 

It can help to do a pre-test, in which you present the preliminary questions to one or two people. Then, you can immediately find out whether your questions are appropriate and understandable, and revise them accordingly

When you prepare your questions,it is important to think about the following:

• What research question or sub-questions do I want the interviewees to answer? Does each interview question contribute to that?

• What knowledge and experience do the subjects have? So: what can you ask about and what is not within their area of expertise? 

• Do you address your respondent formally or informally? 

• What do you do with the respondent's answers? Do you record them? Do you take notes? Make sure you inform the subject about this in advance.

In interviews, it is usually common to ask open-ended questions. Multiple-choice or yes/no questions are less common. This is because open-ended questions elicit more detailed answers. This gives you more in-depth insight into the research subject. With open questions, it is important to make them somewhat specific. That way, you prevent the respondent from straying from the subject you aim to explore.

Examples of open-ended interview questions:

• What do you think of the layout of the university building?

• How could the layout of the building be improved?

• To what extent does vegetarian food play a role in your life?

In quantitative research (and structured interviews), closed questions are common. With these types of questions, the interview proceeds faster and you also get specific answers. However, keep in mind that you will not get extensive insight into why the respondent thinks or says something unless you ask further questions. 

Examples of closed interview questions:

• Do you find the university building practically laid out?

• What is your highest completed education?

• How many days a week do you eat vegetarian?

Of course, you also often see a combination of open and closed interview questions. Thus, even in an in-depth interview or focus group, researchers regularly start with some closed questions (such as "What is your age?"). 

In any interview, there is a risk that your respondents will purposefully give socially desirable answers. This means they answer based on what they expect you want to hear, or what is generally accepted to say.

Suppose you ask "How many days a week do you eat vegetarian?". The respondent then expects that it is not desirable to answer "Less than one day a week". Therefore, the respondent may give another answer that is not completely truthful. 

You can partly avoid socially desirable answers by making your questions as specific as possible. 

So don't ask:

How many days a week do you eat vegetarian? 

But rather:

Looking at the past week, how often was there no meat on the menu at dinner? 

Make sure you don't hint at your opinion in the interview questions you ask. Suggestive questions are questions with which you (unconsciously) steer the respondent towards a certain answer. You are putting words in someone's mouth or imperceptibly hinting at your opinion. 

Avoid suggestive questions by being critical of how you word all of your questions. Check whether there are opinions hidden in your interview questions. 

Suggestive questions include:

• What could the university improve about the layout of the building? (You assume there is something to improve.)

• Do you think the offer of meat substitutes in the supermarket is too limited? (You direct towards the respondent indeed thinking that the offer is too limited).

You can phrase those questions more objectively:

• What do you think of the layout of the university building?

• What do you think of the variety of meat substitutes in the supermarket?

To increase the reliability and validity of your research, your interview questions must be clear. It should be obvious at a glance what you want to know from the interviewee. 

These tips will help you formulate your interview questions clearly and understandably:

• Make your questions as concise as possible. Preferably make eachquestion no longer than one sentence. 

• Always ask only one question at a time. So not "When did you decide to buy this software package and for what reason did you do so?" Make that two separate questions.

• Be as specific as possible and avoid vagueness. Do not ask "What do you think of the lecturers within your study?", but instead say "What do you think of the way your lecturers teach?" or "What do you think of the explanations your lecturers give during lectures?"

• Avoid technical jargon or theoretical terms. 

The order of interview questions matters. The interview must have a logical structure. 

It is common to organise interview questions. You can do this in chronological order, or by theme. In addition, you often see interviewers start with questions about a problem and its causes and later ask about possible solutions. Furthermore, it is common to ask more practical questions (about age, level of education, etc.) at the beginning. 

After reading these tips and sample interview questions, have you got a list of your own questions ready? Then you can start using this step-by-step plan to conduct interviews. Also check out our list of useful interview techniques: tips to make your interviews successful. 

Have you conducted the interviews already? Then you might want to start transcribing the interview recordings. Then you can analyse the interviews to come up with your results, conclusion and discussion. Good luck!

P.S. Do you like to have your thesis checked a final time before you submit it? The editors of AthenaCheck will be happy to do it for you. They will check your thesis in detail for language, structure and/or a common thread. This way, you can hand in your thesis without any concerns.