What are some good alternatives to simple verbal-response interview questions?

For most focus groups and informal inquiry, it is a good idea to vary the style of questioning as much as possible, in order to engage people whose expressive or cognitive styles prevent their full participation in straight conversation. There are lots of ways to do this - be creative. We used one approach for Question Two in the 1998 Jessamine County focus groups. Here are some other examples of variations on oral questions and answers for you to consider when you design your interview questions:

• Have older students write down their answer on paper first, and then have each person read what s/he has written. As you make the request that they write something, give fair warning that they will be reading their responses aloud. This type of questioning works well for questions with short answers, or for questions that could be answered by a short list. Examples:

  "I would like to ask you to list on paper the political commercials you have seen on TV this week. Then I will ask you to share your list with the group."

  "Imagine that you are a new student at our middle school. On your first day, you walk into the school cafeteria with some new friends and see lots of different groups of students sitting and eating lunch together. What kinds of groups do you see? Please write the name of one group on each index card. You can use as many cards as necessary."

• Have students of all ages draw an answer, which may or may not be shown to the others in the group and which you will collect for future analysis. Two drawings are often used for eliciting information about contrasting opinions. Example:

  "I am going to ask you to draw something now on the paper in front of you. Your artistic skills won't matter at all. I am the only one who will see your art work. Please label your paper 'A' and draw a picture of the kind of classroom where you like to be. [After a pause] Now please turn your paper over, label it 'B' and draw a picture of the kind of classroom where you do not like to be."
  

  Another use of drawing could be to check on the elements of categorizing or stereotyping that will be important for you to understand in order to shape an effective message about a change in policy or approach. Example:

  "Please write the word 'for' on the paper in front of you and draw a picture of the kind of person who supports X (for example, school uniforms). [After a pause] Now write the word 'against' on the other side of the paper, and draw a picture of the kind of person who is against X."

• If you are looking for knowledge about specific words or phrases that please or offend people, you can make up in advance a list of lots of words and phrases associated with your issue. Use vocabulary that is appropriate for students' ages. Give students pens in three colors. Ask them to read the list once and circle all the words/phrases they like in black. Then ask them to look back through the circled items and pick the three (or five, etc.) they like the most, and circle those again in green. Finally, ask them to look through the items they have not marked and use a red pen to put a line through the words/phrases they like the least.

  This type of information can be gathered rather quickly and need not be discussed unless you want to hear from students about why certain words/phrases were categorized in a particular way. As a quick information- gathering device, it is useful primarily to help you confirm or discard ideas you have gathered through discussion. The lists can assist you in making decisions about ways to state problems, issues, and solutions for particular targeted audiences. Example:

  Present middle school or high school students with a sheet containing a list of technical classes. Give them each a red and green pen. Ask them to place a green checkmark by each of the classes that sounds interesting to them, and a red checkmark by each class that is not appealing. They don't have to check everything. Then ask them to draw a green circle around the two (or three, or one) classes that are the most appealing and a red circle around the classes that are least appealing. Then ask them, "What did you circle in green?" [Pause for answers; encourage plenty of talk.] "What makes these classes most appealing to you?" And then, "What did you circle in red?" [Pause for answers.] "What makes these classes unappealing?"

  This exercise will provide a written record from each session and will give you a quick read on any differences that might exist among students, for example, whether some classes appeal to female students while others appeal particularly to male students.

  If you are conducting heterogeneous groups and want information about which groups of participants liked or disliked particular items, and if you do not plan to have your participants discuss their lists, ask students to put their first names on their lists. Later, in analysis, you can look for patterns. For example, you may see that younger participants preferred certain items.

  If you are conducting homogenous groups, you can simply mark the whole batch by its distinguishing characteristic. For example, in analysis you may compare the lists produced by high school students with the lists produced by middle school students and look for noteworthy or revealing similarities and/or differences.

• Have students respond to prepared materials - a written statement of your framework, a brochure, statement, newsletter, etc. Structure your questions about written pieces to make sure you get students to talk about the information that matters to you. Example:

  "Take a minute to read this information, and then I will ask you some questions about it. [Pause] What can you tell me about the clarity and readability of this information? How likely is it that you would read it if you saw it in a newspaper advertisement in your local paper? What kinds of people do you think will be most likely to read this if it comes in the mail?"

• Collect a set of written responses to an open-ended question about your issue. The question could begin with "What would you like to see happen about..." or "What is it about _____________ (the issue) that makes it important to you?" Ask participants to write the gist of their responses on a 5 X 8 card, with a felt marker.

  When all responses have been recorded on cards and collected, put the cards on a wall or table and ask the participants to stand up and organize the cards in order of the greatest priority. Give them a time limit - usually three minutes, no more than five. Listen to their conversation as they decide which items have greater and lesser priority. You can sometimes get useful information about values and systems of meaning from this discussion.

  After the cards are arranged in an order the group can live with, you can ask further questions if you wish. For example, you can ask students to state the reasons for the location of each of several items at the top and bottom of the list. You can also select the items that are most relevant for your research and ask students to explain why a particular item was ranked more important or less important than another item. On occasion, students who have been silent for an entire session will become engaged in this process, will feel some ownership in the priorities, and will be more willing to express their opinions and beliefs than they were before.