Assets for Independence Act Evaluation:
Design Phase, Concept Paper
February 16, 2000
4. |
In-Depth Interviews With Participants |
||
| Interviews | |||
In-depth interviews are semi-structured or "focused" informal conversations with a trained interviewer (Merton et al. 1990, Rubin & Rubin 1995). In-depth interviews are a principal research tool for social scientists to learn how people respond to complicated and often understudied issues. This method utilizes guided, but open-ended interviews, that reflect on events and ways that respondents understand their world and how and why they do certain things. In these interviews, participants are "conversation partners," not respondents as they are in survey interviews (Rubin & Rubin, 1995).
In-depth interviews utilize a grounded theory approach emphasizing
the role of human actors in shaping and giving meaning to the world
around them, stressing the interrelationships among conditions, meaning,
and action (Strauss & Corbin 1990). Initially outlined by Glaser
and Strauss (1967), grounded theory was extended and further specified
by many other writers such as Lincoln and Guba (1985) and Strauss
and Corbin (1990). In Strauss and Corbin's words "the grounded
theory approach is a qualitative research method that uses a systematic
set of procedures to develop an inductively-derived grounded theory
about a phenomenon" (1990, p. 24). In order to produce new understandings,
grounded theorists interview respondents, listening carefully and
systematically before developing concepts and hypotheses. Although
grounded theorists enter the field with as few "filters"
as possible, this does not suggest that the social researcher begins
with a "tabula rasa." On the contrary, the qualitative social
researcher begins with existing theory and examines results within
and beyond preconceived constructs.
Interviews
Interview topics and open-ended questions will be carefully derived from the study questions. Questions will be constructed in such a way as to provide direction to respondents, but not to restrict responses. Each question will have several open-ended probes that may be used to encourage further discussion of the topic. Despite the explicit design of the instrument, the interview itself will be informal and relaxed. The interview topics will be memorized to facilitate the conversation flow. It is important that respondents feel they are in control: free to talk about topics in the order they prefer, and comfortable bringing up other issues (Sherraden & Barrera 1995). Typically, interviews will be conducted in respondents' homes in one session, totaling two to three hours. Occasionally a second interview may be needed. Interviews will follow a chronological sequence, emphasizing topics that shed light on attitudes toward savings and savings behavior. Some closed-ended questions may be asked at the end of the interview in order to confirm very specific content, such as demographics, and information on family income and expenses. Any pretest interviews will be undertaken in a manner consistent with the approved protocol of the Washington University Human Research Committee, which serves as the university's institutional review board (IRB).
In-depth interviews will be designed to explore the IDA holder's own descriptions, definitions, and understanding of saving, the IDA program, and their experiences (Sherraden, 1995). Included in the interview will be social psychological concepts such as self, socialization, identity, reference group, and attitudes. Moreover, the interview will include macro-sociological concepts such social network and institutional support and access to resources. These complex phenomena are tied to past experiences and beliefs about both the past and the future and this form of interviewing is designed to capture these webs of meaning (Stack & Burton 1993). Interviews will help identify constellations of factors that together define "qualitative differences" in attitudes and behaviors influencing savings among IDA holders.
Interviewers conducting in-depth interviews have refined listening skills, are open to hearing things that challenge assumptions (both practical and theoretical), and are able to help respondents articulate their lived experiences. Interviewers focus on hearing the particular meaning, interpretation, and understanding presented by the participant. This includes developing a shared understanding of words (e.g., family, savings) and phrases so that the interview can be interpreted correctly. For example, is the respondent talking about savings as "putting money aside," or "saving for a rainy day," or "saving for the future"? Most studies begin by assuming that the concept of saving is well understood and that the challenge is to accurately measure its effects. However, little is really known about how the poor save, the meanings of saving to the poor, and the various experiences of saving among the poor. A grounded theory approach using in-depth interviews will begin to answer these questions.
Qualitative interviews are designed to build trust and collaboration between the interviewer and participant, thus encouraging honesty and forthright discussion. At the same time, the interview has enough structure so that the respondent fairly quickly understands the purpose. As a result, in-depth interviews are successful in helping participants discuss sensitive topics, such as financial pressures and family issues that might affect saving. In-depth interviews also allow the interviewer to help participants clarify recollections. Apparent contradictions, for example, can be gently probed, permitting the respondent to clarify a narrative. Clarification is particularly important in the case of low-income savers, whose experiences and perspectives have been little studied (Beverly & Sherraden, 1999).
In-depth interview content
The purpose of the IDA in-depth interviews is to learn about the circumstances that brought participants into an IDA program, their personal experiences with saving, how they view the successes and failures of the program, and the effects of IDAs. The interviews explore details of how participants manage their IDAs in the context of their everyday lives. In-depth interviews are aimed at understanding the following relationships from the respondents' point of view:
- the impact of earlier life experiences (e.g., family, education, neighborhood) on respondents' savings behavior;
- the impact of organizational and institutional support on savings behavior;
- the effects of matching savings on respondents' saving behavior; and
- the economic, psychological, and social effects of savings on respondents.
Below, we sketch out the conceptual issues that will be covered in the interview.
Because it is easier for most people to follow a chronology (Merton et. al., 1990), the interview will start "in the beginning," in childhood and move progressively through independence and young adulthood to the present. The second part of the interview will cover the IDA experience.
Respondents typically jump from one section to another, despite the overall chronological design. The interviewer is responsible for tracking what has been covered and what has not and for eventually steering the respondent back to cover all the topics.
The aim of the first part is to understand the impact of life experiences on savings behavior. Several areas of the participant's background will be covered, including basic demographics, family, education, housing, and neighborhood characteristics as well as history of saving. The focus is on the participant's understanding of financial decision making, consumption, and savings behavior. Specific topics include family history of savings, respondent's savings as a young person, and family attitudes about money and money matters.
Next, the interview will examine young adulthood and growing physical, emotional and financial independence from the family. This typically involves a discussion of education and work, as well as family formation. A wide variety of topics may emerge at this point, but a centerpiece of the discussion is financial transitions. These include exploring how and why the respondent began to make financial decisions to purchase small consumer purchases, larger consumption items, and longer-term investment decisions.
Finally, following the basic chronology, the interview continues with a discussion about the respondent's current family, including demographic background, socio-economic well-being, and financial decision making. This section will cover participant and family spending, budgeting, unplanned expenses, financial strain, and surplus.
The second part of the interview focuses on the respondent's experience in the IDA program. Again, following a chronological sequence, the interview begins with how the respondent learned about IDAs and the decision process that led to enrolling in the program. Following this, the interview explores savings patterns, sources of saving, and planned (or actual) uses of IDA savings. Another part explores the content of the IDA program, including economic literacy, personnel, administration, access to staff, access to accounts, links with other programs, and so forth. The focus is how the program facilitates or hinders saving in an IDA. Respondents also will evaluate how well the program operates overall, including perceptions about how the program is structured, the feasibility of goals, and the value of the program.
Finally, the participant is asked to reflect on the positive and
negative effects of IDAs on their lives and the lives of their families
and communities. Effects explored are economic personal (emotional
and cognitive), familial, intergenerational, social, and civic. This
evaluation includes discussion of how IDAs relate to participants'
views of their short-term and long-term goals.
