Homework and Arts & Crafts are not just for Elementary School days.
Having respondents do “homework” before an interview is often times an extremely useful tool for adding a deeper emotional aspect to the interview. Read on to learn how doing your homework is still just as important in qualitative research as it was in school.
I have found in my many years of moderating that having respondents prepare homework before the interview or focus group has been a powerful tool in fostering a deeper level of discussion and helps respondents to get more in touch with their feelings. There are a few keys to making the idea of homework a successful technique in qualitative research, and as in life, it is all how you say things. I never refer to it as “homework” – the word doesn’t exactly call to mind happy memories – some of us less happier than others. I like to refer as a “home activity” – seems friendly enough, right. The second thing I like to do is give the respondent a “choice” of what they can do. As we all learn things different, we also all express things better in different ways, some people like to write, others like to express their thoughts in drawings and still other like to use videos. Whatever the approach, the objective is always the same in a home activity – to get the respondent to think about a topic BEFORE they enter the room. It gives them the chance to think about what they are going to talk about before questions are tossed out to them in an interview or focus group with little if any time to think about the replies. And a real bonus of a “home activity” is that it is a great way to avoid groupthink in a focus group setting. Respondents are far more engaged and in touch with their own feelings if they are able to express them ahead of time.
Here is an example of how I use a “home activity.” Let’s say that I am doing a project on diabetes. I may ask a respondent to pick from the following activities:
1. Write a letter to your condition telling it how it makes you feel and how it has impacted your life?
2. Make a collage that visually represents how you feel about your condition?
3. Prepare a 2 minutes that talks about how you feel about your condition?
The respondents are told about the home activity at the time of recruiting so they have ample time to complete the task and they are asked to bring it with them to the interview. Usually, at the start of the interview, I ask them to explain their activity and I use that as a springboard for discussion of the rest of the interview.
