Write a semi-structured interview guide for a research study
A research interview protocol with aligned questions, neutral probes, and timing, mapped to my research questions.
The prompt
Write a semi-structured interview guide for my research study.
Research questions: [LIST]
Participants: [who, and anything sensitive about their situation]
Interview length and mode: [e.g. "45 minutes, online"]
Theoretical framework or concepts to explore: [DETAILS or "inductive"]
Sensitive topics that may come up: [DETAILS]
Requirements:
- Open with a short script: purpose, consent reminder, recording, right to skip or stop.
- 2-3 warm-up questions, then 6-10 main questions, then closing questions ("Is there anything I didn't ask that matters?").
- Map each main question to the research question it serves; drop any question that serves none.
- Questions must be open, neutral, and one idea at a time: no leading, double-barreled, or jargon-heavy questions.
- Add 2-3 probes per main question ("Can you give me an example?", "What happened next?").
- For sensitive topics, add a distress protocol: signs to watch for, how to pause, and support resources to offer.
Return: the guide with timings, a question-to-research-question alignment table, and tips for piloting the guide with 1-2 participants and revising it.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Research & Summaries prompts
What to fill in
- LIST
- who, and anything sensitive about their situation
- e.g. "45 minutes, online"
- DETAILS or "inductive"
- DETAILS
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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