Preparing for data collection: the mock interview as a researcher’s training tool

ABSTRACT

Background

The research interview is a valuable tool for collecting data in qualitative studies. All education researchers, whether novice or experienced, need to prepare carefully when planning to conduct interviews. Thus, how best to assist newer researchers to acquire interviewing skills for the purpose of collecting research data remains an important question. Mock, or ‘practice’, interviews can offer opportunities for such researchers to become more familiar with the methodological processes involved in interviewing, so that they can start to build necessary skills prior to carrying out interviews in the field.

Purpose

Set in the context of nursing education, the research sought to describe the use of an online mock interview protocol as a researcher’s training tool and consider key lessons learnt from this process.

Method

In this qualitative study, seven purposively selected participants from a university in Australia were involved in a mock interview process. A video conferencing platform was utilised as an online environment for the interviews.

Findings

Analysis of the procedure indicated the ways in which carrying out the mock interviews supported the researcher’s preparation for qualitative interviewing and facilitated the development of good practice for conducting interviews in a virtual environment. Processes included undertaking a rigorous training needs analysis, optimising technical preparedness for the mock interviews, and practising how to ask interview questions in a suitable way. The experience involved learning lessons around self-evaluation, mental readiness, retrieving rich data and troubleshooting technical issues.

Conclusion

The research highlights the extent to which successful interviewing depends on the quality of pre-interview preparation on the part of the researcher. Conducting mock interviews prior to online qualitative research could help support less experienced researchers in areas of research including nursing education. Integration of mock interview protocols into curricula for educational research purposes could help provide research students with opportunities to strengthen their skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Interview
• mock interview
• practice interview
• qualitative data
• research interviews
• simulated interviews

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the College of Healthcare Sciences (CHS) at James Cook University for offering appropriate supervision and infrastructure support. The authors express their heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated participants whose involvement and valuable input have greatly enhanced the quality of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Some of the findings from the doctoral study have been published or presented at conferences (see further Harerimana 2022a, 2022b, 2022c, 2023; Harerimana et al. 2021).

Additional information

Funding

This article is part of a doctoral degree programme. The authors disclose that they received the following financial support for the research support in this article: James Cook University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (JCUPRS).