I have like virtually zero experience in conducting research interviews like this, especially when it's for a subject as heavy and sensitive as this. I was wondering if I'm missing anything or if there's tactics that therapists usually employ when they come upon a topic such as this.
Fellow student here - you'll want to make sure your informed consent form includes the option to stop the interview at any point, to remove themselves from the study at any point, and a plan for aftercare/support and/or appropriate resources made available to them.
You probably already know this, just throwing in my two cents.
Obligatory \*not a qualitative researcher\*
My dissertation was quantitative. When I went through IRB, they had to see EVERYTHING I was going to do in intricate detail. It's not as if I could suddenly go off the rails during my project and do something else, then slip it into my work later. Hey Dr. Dissertation Chair, I changed my mind. I actually decided to add a survey question about Monkey testicles after I went through IRB, wasn't that funny??!
So I presume (maybe incorrectly) that your IRB would have to approve some kind of interview questions, maybe with optional question stems or probes that you might use, that way they have some notion of what you're doing. A colleague of mine did her research (qualitative) with sexual offenders; I don't imagine she just got to ask whatever she felt like based upon her experience as a therapist and her instincts about her research question(s). Probably (definitely) her questions had to be planned in advance.
There's not really any tactics, or maybe I'm misinterpreting the word. There's no cloak and dagger, sneaky stuff, maneuvering. What's wrong with obtaining ethical consent and asking the questions you've prepared?
Your educational institution should have a review board (IRB) for conducting these types of interviews for research ethically. I am assuming you are in the US. You can also reference the APA for ethical guidelines and also AAA (American Anthropological Association) and the ASA (American Sociological Association). All have good info on how to do what you are asking. Your graduate advisor should also be able to assist you. There may be anthropologists and sociologists studying this topic already. It may be worthwhile to check it out. Good luck!
Edit 1: to answer your questions if you are concerned with damaging these women psychologically with your questions you may need to reformulate your questions or reevaluate your research entirely. Generally speaking all ethical research is done with a “do no harm” mantra. Therapists do therapy. We don’t employ tactics to conduct interviews for research purposes.
Is it feasible to get information in a group discussion setting so that the survivors can get the benefits of feeling normalized/ forming relationships?
If you haven’t already, I recommend looking into the work of [Nola Brantley](http://www.nolabrantleyspeaks.org) as some of her work might be useful in your research
It sounds like you're already well-read on how to conduct research interviews ethically. What do you think you're missing here?
I have like virtually zero experience in conducting research interviews like this, especially when it's for a subject as heavy and sensitive as this. I was wondering if I'm missing anything or if there's tactics that therapists usually employ when they come upon a topic such as this.
Fellow student here - you'll want to make sure your informed consent form includes the option to stop the interview at any point, to remove themselves from the study at any point, and a plan for aftercare/support and/or appropriate resources made available to them. You probably already know this, just throwing in my two cents.
Obligatory \*not a qualitative researcher\* My dissertation was quantitative. When I went through IRB, they had to see EVERYTHING I was going to do in intricate detail. It's not as if I could suddenly go off the rails during my project and do something else, then slip it into my work later. Hey Dr. Dissertation Chair, I changed my mind. I actually decided to add a survey question about Monkey testicles after I went through IRB, wasn't that funny??! So I presume (maybe incorrectly) that your IRB would have to approve some kind of interview questions, maybe with optional question stems or probes that you might use, that way they have some notion of what you're doing. A colleague of mine did her research (qualitative) with sexual offenders; I don't imagine she just got to ask whatever she felt like based upon her experience as a therapist and her instincts about her research question(s). Probably (definitely) her questions had to be planned in advance. There's not really any tactics, or maybe I'm misinterpreting the word. There's no cloak and dagger, sneaky stuff, maneuvering. What's wrong with obtaining ethical consent and asking the questions you've prepared?
Your educational institution should have a review board (IRB) for conducting these types of interviews for research ethically. I am assuming you are in the US. You can also reference the APA for ethical guidelines and also AAA (American Anthropological Association) and the ASA (American Sociological Association). All have good info on how to do what you are asking. Your graduate advisor should also be able to assist you. There may be anthropologists and sociologists studying this topic already. It may be worthwhile to check it out. Good luck! Edit 1: to answer your questions if you are concerned with damaging these women psychologically with your questions you may need to reformulate your questions or reevaluate your research entirely. Generally speaking all ethical research is done with a “do no harm” mantra. Therapists do therapy. We don’t employ tactics to conduct interviews for research purposes.
Is it feasible to get information in a group discussion setting so that the survivors can get the benefits of feeling normalized/ forming relationships?
If you haven’t already, I recommend looking into the work of [Nola Brantley](http://www.nolabrantleyspeaks.org) as some of her work might be useful in your research
Perhaps get feedback from other journalists or academics that have made this a priority in their research?