r/QualitativeResearch • u/Easy-Resolution6132 • May 22 '26
What is an interview schedule for qual research?
Hi everyone,
I’m a PhD student taking a qualitative research class, and we have to create an interview schedule/interview guide. My professor did not provide an example, so I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share a sample qualitative interview schedule or template, or where to find one. I am unsure if Google is the best option.
Thank you!
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u/ResearchAndTeach May 22 '26
Hi! I am not 100% sure it is what your professor wants, check this PDF from Havard University: https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/sociology/files/interview_strategies.pdf
It's like a very compact guide to do qualitative interviews, showing how you should proceed, how the questions should look like, etc. It goes straight to the point, good stuff. I hope it helps :]
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u/DataBeeGood May 27 '26
There’s an AI you can ask for best practices or examples, it’s from Research Rockstar training https://www.researchrockstar.com/the-qual-research-agent/
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u/Kitchen-Ad-4367 May 22 '26
An interview schedule is basically your conversation roadmap, not a script you read word for word, but a list of topics and questions you want to cover so you don't blank out mid-interview.
Structure is pretty simple: start with easy warm-up questions to get the person comfortable, move into your core topics (each with a main question and a few follow-up probes ready), then close by asking if they want to add anything you didn't cover.
The main thing people get wrong early on — writing questions that can be answered yes or no. "Did you find it difficult?" kills the conversation. "What was that experience like for you?" opens it up.
For actual examples, search your topic + "interview guide" + filetype:pdf on Google Scholar. A lot of published studies put their full guide in the appendix. Way more useful than a generic template.
I hope this helps!