General Overview

This page provides background and specifications on conducting key informant interviews for the End Commercial Tobacco Campaign.  Questions with an asterisk * are required to be asked of each informant.  Other questions can be added, edited, and/or deleted so that the instrument is tailored to your specific objectives and communities.  Text in bold is the interview content to be read aloud. 

GENERAL 

A few words about collecting qualitative data: key informant interviews should be conducted like a conversation in which your partner does most of the talking and you ask follow-up questions based on what they say to gather additional rich data. It is important to remain unbiased and respectful.  This is not the time to provide education or a persuasive presentation.  Focus on getting information from the policymaker instead of giving them information.  The informants for this interview should be policymakers in the primary endgame community. 

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW

Send a letter via mail or e-mail with pertinent information about the upcoming interview. State that you will contact them via e-mail or by phone to set up an appointment.  This is a helpful strategy to increase participation. Be sure to arrive or call at the agreed-upon time. 

DURING THE INTERVIEW 

It’s a good idea to record the conversation so you have back up for your note-taking, but you must obtain the interviewee’s permission to record. Rather than transcribing the entire interview (which can be quite time-consuming and challenging), use the recording to capture key statements you may have missed or to get a quote just right.  Always take thorough notes, even if recording, in case of technical difficulties.  If you conduct the interview over a meeting platform like Zoom, you may also generate a transcription of the conversation that can be the basis for your notes.  (It will need review and editing though because the transcription doesn’t get everything right.) 

Introduce yourself and then read the statement at the top of the interview guide. This is a conversation, so use a conversational voice. Read questions in an animated voice so that you are not “boring” the interviewee.  Encourage the interviewee to add comments to explain their choice. Read the question and note their answer and any comments. You may need to ask follow-up questions for clarification or probe to encourage them to provide more rich detail.  

If they ask you questions, answer as best as you can. If you do not have an answer, say that you are not sure but will be glad to research it for them (make sure to follow through if you promise to send information).  Be sure to be well informed, especially on the topics you are discussing. 

As the interviewer, your job is to gain insights into HOW and WHY your informants feel the way they do about the issue.  Decide when you need to ask follow-up questions and when you need to move on or steer them back to topic.   

Probing Techniques 

• Maintain a conversational tone so that the respondent does not feel that he or she is being cross-examined or interrogated. 

• Probe without indicating that the respondent’s answers are inadequate or not helpful.   

• Don’t agree, disagree, or argue with your informants.  Try to stay neutral to invite them to give more details to their answers. 

• Body language can be important. 

• Tone of voice can be important.  Try to sound curious and open not confused or judgmental 

• If you are doing KIIs in person, you can use nonverbal cues to encourage informants, e.g., head nodding.  If you are interviewing by phone, you need to use verbal cues that are neutral, e.g., “I understand, please continue,” “Oh I see,” “Aha, ok,” or "Thank you."  Try to avoid using comments that indicate approval like “Great!” or “That sounds wonderful.” 

• Be patient.  Be ok with some silence. 

Probing Questions/Phrases  

• “What do you mean by____?” 

• “Would you explain further?” 

• “Could you be more specific about ___?” 

• “Could you tell me a little more about____?” 

• “What makes you say that?” 

• “I’m not sure I understand.” 

• “What are the factors that you’re considering?” 

• “What additional information would you need on this topic?” 

• Instead of asking a follow-up question, just pause for five seconds or so to see if they say more. 

General Resources on Qualitative Data

Conducting Interviews

Evaluation Scenarios Video: Key Informant Interviews 

Analyzing Qualitative Data 

Coding Qualitative Data

Managing Qualitative Data 

FAQs

• What method(s) of outreach to policymakers is most effective?
• Leverage your power and contacts. Try to see if your coalition knows who could get you access or introduce you to decision makers or their staff.  Get to know their priorities and concerns first and then attempt to frame your “asks” and issues in ways that align with that.
  
  Find ways to establish ongoing relationships with them and their staff.  Become a resource for them where they can turn to for community contacts and reliable information on a range of health/environmental issues.  Show up to city council meetings regularly, request a meeting through the secretary of the city council.
  
  Engage and train youth to interview staff in a professional manner to learn about policymaker schedules, best way to approach them, how they like to receive information on issues of community concern
• I can't get an appointment with enough key informants.  What can I do?
• One option is to have your external evaluator conduct the interview.  Often, coalition members can be trained to do the interview.  You can reach out to nearby competitive grantees or agencies to make contact on your behalf.  Sometimes waiting for the right time is essential.  See answers to the question above as well.  
  
  If you anticipate any problems meeting the deadline for this or any other activity, be sure to let your PC know.  They are your partners in this work and can help connect you with resources or ideas to best accomplish the task.  
• Can this guide be used to interview community leaders besides policy makers?  Do we have to interview a city council member directly or can it be another position?
• It depends on your objective and activity language.  This KII activity and guide is meant to be used with people that are part of the decision making process in your community related to your objective.  For example, if you have a MUH primary objective, you may want to interview housing board members, if it is a parks objective you may interview parks and recreations staff.  Others have suggested including the sheriff, boards and commissions, or other committees that are either elected or appointed to create or uphold laws.  It does not have to be city council or board of supervisors staff.  It can be other related positions such as the city manager or the chief of staff.  It definitely has to be people involved in the decision making process.  
  
  Check your workplan.  Some have a separate key informant interview that includes non-decision makers
• What are some prompts to explain “tobacco free” in Q3?  Can we assume our respondent knows that tobacco free means no tobacco sold anywhere?
• This guide was written specifically to not describe endgame.  The intent is to gather data from decision makers without educating them on the end game campaign. You do not need to, nor should you, try to use this time to educate the policy maker on the current statewide campaign.  Instead, use prompts to this question to better understand what “tobacco free” means to them. Suggested prompts can be found in the guide.
  
  Another discussion brought up during the webinar were concerns about how a tobacco free community would look like if there is a community that uses tobacco for sacred or ceremonial purposes such as California Tribal Communities.  If your decision maker brings up this issue, this is great information!  This may signal that your project should tailor educational materials to focus on the difference between sacred and commercial tobacco.  The Tribal Community Coordinating Center can also be a resource to help with this messaging.
  
  Whatever information is provided by your key informant is data that you can use to tailor your strategies moving forward.  Try to avoid leading them to a specific answer and instead simply take that information back to your team to discuss how it can inform your work.
• Do the questions need to be asked word for word the way they're written for every interview?
• No.  Key Informant Interviews are meant to be discussions where your key informant does most of the talking.  If the conversation jumps around and you don't ask the questions in the exact order or exact wording on the guide, that's totally fine.  It's also ok to change the wording to better match the situation.  However, try not to change the meaning of the question.  
  
  One way others have adapted the guide is by using the term, "community" instead of how it's currently written as, "constituents" in the guide.  Depending on the person you're interviewing and how the interview is going, your script may change from person to person.  This is why it is important to practice so that you can get comfortable with the types of questions being asked.
• Can we tweak Q3 to be more specific to our objective?
• First ask the question as written so you don’t unintentionally lead the respondent.  Then follow up with prompts specific to your objective.  See guide for some suggested prompts.
• Why does Q7 not include CA cities that have gone completely tobacco free but instead choose a more global approach referencing other countries
• Other comparison communities can be mentioned instead of what is currently listed.  Keep in mind that this is an optional question, so it can also be deleted or changed.
• Do I have to ask Q7?
• No, it is not an asterisk question. You are only required to ask questions with asterisks in the guide; Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q8.
•  What do you do if your respondent brings up issues/concerns for their community not directly related to tobacco control?
• It's ok if their answers are not specific to tobacco control.  Take the information they share and discuss with your team ways to connect tobacco control to the decision maker's top concerns.  If you are able to think quickly on the spot, you can use the suggested prompts in the guide to try to tie their priority issues with your tobacco objective.  It may be helpful to brain storm ways to do this with your team and then practice.  For example, if their top concerns are about COVID, you could connect how smoking and vaping puts people at greater risk of developing respiratory infections if they are exposed to COVID.  If their priorities include environmental impacts, you would tailor your communications with them to include how toxic waste from cigarette litter finds its way into our water and soil. 
  
  This isn't information you discuss during the interview, this is to just give an idea of what your team could do with the information.  Whatever information is provided by your key informant is data that you can use to tailor your strategies moving forward.  Try to avoid leading them to a specific answer and instead simply take that information back to your team to discuss how it can inform your work.
  
  If you are able to think quickly on the spot, you can use the suggested prompts in the guide to try to tie their priority issues with your tobacco objective.  It's not necessary, but if you choose to do so, it will be helpful to brain storm ways to do this with your team first and then of course practice several times.  If you do not feel comfortable doing this, then you can follow the suggestion above to simply take the information back to your team to discuss how it can be used to tailor your strategies.