Key Informant Interviews: Selection and Guidelines

Key informant interviews are structured conversations with people who have specialized knowledge about a topic you wish to better understand. By thoughtfully selecting those you interview, you can collect detailed information that still represents a broad range of perspectives about a topic.

Step 1: Selecting “Key Informants” in Your Community

1) With your community partner, revisit the list of resources you developed during the first stepof the needs and resource assessment process (Community Partner Brainstorm).

2) Consider the feasibility and desirability of conducting a key informant interview with each organization.

Each interview will take 1 – 1.5 hours and should ideally be done in-person.
Keep in mind the two main purposes for these interviews:
To gather information about existing resources available to expectant and parenting young people in our community;
Tomake and/or strengthen relationships with the organizations and individuals who provide these resources.

3) With your community partner, identify 4-6 key informants to interview.

Prioritizethe organizations you would like to interview:

Which will likely provide the most information about resources for expectant and parenting young people in your community?
With which organizations do youwant to build and strengthen connections?
Which provide unique perspectives that deepen your understanding of the issues facing expectant and parenting young people in your community?

If you are having difficulty identifying or prioritizing 4-6 key informants you might need to learn more about the organizations mentioned during the brainstorming phase. Think about:

How central are services to expectant & parenting young people to the work of the organization?
Does this organization provide services to your target community?
What do you already know about the organization? Do you need more information?
What is your current relationship with this organization? Would you like to explicitly build or strengthen this relationship?

Step 2: Beforethe Interview

Scheduling

1) Ideally interviews will involve coordinators from both the community college and school district. The first step in scheduling each key informant interview is determiningtimes for both community partners to conduct the interview together. If this is not possible, alternative approaches should be discussed and agreed upon together.

Your partnership isacrucial connection for this project and it is important that the key informants and community know that you are working together on this initiative.

2) Identify who you would like to interview within the organization. This person should be a Program Director of youth services or someone who works closely with the youth using their services.

Key informants should be able to provide you with information about the services their organization provides as well about other resources in the community. If possible, it would be great to have two or more people from the organization to participate in the interview – this is a quick way to get even more information.

3) Contact the potential interviewee(s), explaining who you are, the aim of thePathways To Success project, and the purpose of this interview. Share the Pathways to Success overview document.

4) Schedule a time in which you can meet with the interviewee(s) for 1 - 1.5 hours.

Preparing for the interview

1) Learn as much as you canabout the organization prior to the interview. Review their website or other materials to get a sense of the services they provide to expectant and parenting young people.

2) Familiarize yourself with the interview questions. You want to make sure that you cover all questions, but that you also have a flowing conversation. Think about any additional questions or probes you would like to ask.

3) Determine roles. Which partner will conduct which interview? Who will take notes during each one?

Having one person ask questions and another take notes allows the interviewer to maintain focus on the interviewee and ensure that all questions are being adequately covered. Be prepared with plenty of paper or a laptop to take notes. Audio-record the interview, if possible, but be sure to get the interviewee’s permission to make an audio-recording!

Conductingthe Key Informant Interview

When conducting the interview, use the framework of questions provided as a guide, but be conversational and engaging – try to avoid just reading the guide like a script. Being very familiar with the questions will help.

During the interview, ask probing questions for additional information or clarification as needed. It is important to record key points and information during the interview. Make sure that you have the ability to record notes in a systematic way; audio-record the interview if possible, and if you have the interviewee(s)’ permission.

Steps to conducting the interviews:

1)When beginning the interview, be sure to thank the interviewee(s) for their time

2)Remind the interviewee(s) that the purpose of these interviews is to gather information about the needs of and resources available to expectant and parenting young people in the community and to build connections between resources

3)Try to keep the interview conversational while covering all questions

Some tips for conducting the interviews:

Be mindful of the interviewee(s)’ time – work to cover all questions without running over the allotted time.
Make sure to pause after each question to give the interviewee(s) time to think and respond – be comfortable with temporary silence.
Be respectful of the interviewee(s)’ opinions and thoughts – there are no right or wrong answers.
Show enthusiasm during the interview; encourage the interviewee to be open with responses.
Be engaged during the interview, but try to stay on topic.
Avoid interrupting the interviewee(s) or transitioning to a new question too soon.
If an answer is unclear or you want to know more, probe for further clarification or insight.
When recording responses, try documenting what was said and avoid personal interpretations of the information.

At the end of the interview, ask the interviewee(s) to complete the brief survey of community resources. Be sure to thank the interviewee(s) again for their time and insight. Remind them that this information will be used to inform program development for the Pathways to Success project and describe any known next steps. Provide the interviewee(s) with your contact information should they have any questions or comments after the interview.

Afterthe Key Informant Interview

After each interview, the interviewer and note-taker should debrief, clarifying any comments and highlighting any particularly interesting or important information.

Once all the key informant interviews are complete, the community partners should reconvene to discuss what has been learned from the interviews and determine if additional interviews are needed. Interview notes and community resource surveys can be submitted to the ACT for Youth Center of Excellence for analysis and synthesis, if desired.