How to make every interview a success

Master thesis interviews? Learn how to prepare, conduct, and follow up effectively. Get tips on planning, asking the right questions, and transcription for successful research.

How every interview succeeds

At the latest when writing their master's thesis, students may face the problem of wanting to conduct an interview for their work but having no experience in this area. How do you best prepare for an interview? What needs to be considered during the execution? And what role does post-processing play, e.g., the evaluation of the interview or its transcription with certain transcription rules ?

If you plan to conduct an interview, it is important to start planning early, especially since it depends on your interviewee whether and when you can conduct the interview. In addition, the choice of the right interview partners should be well thought out in advance and aligned with your research interest.

And even after an interview appointment has been made: preparation is key. To really get relevant information, you should ask yourself what the cognitive goal of your interview is, how your conversation partner can contribute to it, and what should be discussed for this purpose, whereby a thematic limitation is useful. Also, create an interview guide as a reference during the interview, with which you can maintain the common thread. To avoid making a faux pas during the interview, extensive research on the topic and on your interviewee in advance is highly advisable.

Furthermore, the circumstances in which the planned interview is to take place should be considered. For example, if technical equipment is needed, you should take care of it early. It is also relevant to know whether the interview will take place in person or by technical means (e.g., via Skype or a phone call). In any case, you should ensure a quiet and distraction-free environment. In addition, it should be clarified before the interview how much time the interviewee has for the interview and how long the interview should be. It should be noted that interviews should generally not be longer than 1-1.5 hours, as concentration otherwise decreases. In addition, it should always be planned to have a little more time than actually needed, just to be safe.

The correct execution of the interview partly depends on where and how the conversation takes place. Nevertheless, there are some tips on how you can conduct the interview in the best possible way:

Constant eye contact and an open body posture

Signal attention and interest