Managing Difficult Participants in Qualitative Interviews
This paper examines four strategies for addressing the challenges posed by difficult participants in qualitative research interviews. Drawing on Chenail (2011) and Elmir et al. (2011), it discusses the pilot study approach, the interviewing the investigator approach, computer-mediated communication (CMC), and environmental management as practical tools for improving interview quality. Each strategy is applied to specific participant scenarios—scheduling difficulties, one-word responses, and tangential answers—demonstrating how researchers can tailor their methods to overcome common obstacles and obtain richer, more focused data from interviewees.
- Introduction to Interview Challenges: Overview of four strategies for difficult participants
- Computer-Mediated Communication for Hard-to-Schedule Participants: CMC as solution for scheduling barriers
- The Pilot Study Approach: Testing questions before full interviews
- Environmental Factors in the Interview Setting: Comfort and environment shape participant responses
- The Interviewing the Investigator Approach: Researcher adopts participant role for perspective
- Conclusion: All four strategies reduce wasted interview time
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What makes this paper effective
- Grounds each strategy in specific participant scenarios (Participants A, B, and C), making abstract methodological advice concrete and applied.
- Integrates two peer-reviewed sources consistently throughout, demonstrating appropriate citation practice for a short applied paper.
- Moves logically from one strategy to the next, building a coherent toolkit rather than presenting disconnected suggestions.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied synthesis — it does not simply summarize what Chenail (2011) and Elmir et al. (2011) say, but maps each strategy onto real participant problems. This technique shows the reader how theoretical or methodological literature can be translated into practical research decisions, which is the core skill of applied qualitative methods writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by naming the four strategies, then devotes a paragraph to each. CMC is addressed first as the solution for Participant C's scheduling problem. The pilot study and environmental management sections address Participants A and B respectively. The interviewing the investigator approach follows as a complement to the pilot study. A brief conclusion synthesizes the four approaches and reinforces their collective value. References are formatted in APA style.
Introduction to Interview Challenges
Two strategies that could be used to address the issue of difficult participants within the interview process are (a) the pilot study approach and (b) the interviewing the investigator approach (Chenail, 2011). Additionally, computer-mediated communication (CMC) can also be used to deal with difficult participants—especially those for whom it is hard to find time to sit down for a face-to-face interview (Elmir, Schmied, Jackson, & Wilkes, 2011). These four strategies together form a practical toolkit for researchers facing common but disruptive interview challenges.
Computer-Mediated Communication for Hard-to-Schedule Participants
CMC, such as email or instant messaging, helps overcome the time and space barriers that typically present themselves as obstacles for participants who may have initially expressed interest in an interview but lack the time or ability to attend a face-to-face session. Participant C, for example, has been difficult to schedule and has attempted to withdraw from participation despite having demonstrated initial interest. The CMC approach could be used to help Participant C contribute by simply submitting responses via email whenever the individual found the time to answer the questions posed. This would require far less coordination and would not demand a scheduled commitment on the part of the interviewee—just a few moments to reply to the questions and send the message.
The Pilot Study Approach
For the other two participants—A and B—both the pilot study approach and the interviewing the investigator approach would be helpful. The pilot study approach allows the interviewer to ascertain whether the questions developed for the interview are capable of obtaining the desired information. For instance, if an interviewer wants to learn about a participant's experiences during a traumatic situation but asks questions that are not open-ended or that do not compel the interviewee to elaborate, the problem may lie with the types of questions being asked. Perhaps they are closed questions, meaning only an affirmative or negative response is required. Or perhaps they are simply not well-worded, and the interviewee sees no reason to provide additional information.
A pilot study allows the interviewer to test the questions with a sample first and observe how respondents react. If adequate information is obtained, the questions are probably sufficient. If not, they may need to be reworked. It could be that Participant A is not being approached with effective questions, which is why he does not expand on his responses and gives only one-word answers. In any case, the pilot study can be used to generate feedback from participants to determine which questions were effective and which were not (Chenail, 2011), and the researcher can use that information to develop a stronger set of interview questions capable of generating the desired responses.
Conclusion
The effectiveness of the pilot study approach, the interviewing the investigator approach, the CMC approach, and the environmental management approach have all been noted by researchers (Chenail, 2011; Elmir et al., 2011). These methods help ensure that the qualitative interview process is not undermined by wasted time—whether caused by interviewees going off on tangents or by participants failing to answer questions adequately. The CMC approach can be especially helpful for participants who lack the time to meet face-to-face or who might not answer questions directly in person. Given time to reflect and write out their responses, participants can provide more detailed and focused answers than they might if they felt put on the spot.
References
Chenail, R. J. (2011). Interviewing the investigator: Strategies for addressing instrumentation and researcher bias concerns in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 16(1), 255–262.
Elmir, R., Schmied, V., Jackson, D., & Wilkes, L. (2011). Interviewing people about potentially sensitive topics. Nurse Researcher, 19(1), 12.
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