Feminist Research Ethics
11. Conducting the interview (d) Using probes
Probes are used by researchers to support and encourage participants during interviews to reflect or speak in more detail on a particular issue.
Some examples of common probes used in conducting in-depth interviews include:
- Silent probe: the researcher, or interviewer, remains silent but encourages the participant to continue by nodding or maintaining eye contact.
- Echo probe: Repeat what the participant has said and ask them to continue or elaborate. For example, “So when you say, ‘xxxx’, what do you mean by that?”
- Neutral affirming probe: Encourage a participant to continue their story by providing an affirmation such as “yes”, “uh-huh”, or “yes, I see”.
- Leading the participant: A more explicit probe where you try to urge the participant to think about a particular issue. For example: “How did you feel about xxx?”, or “In what sense did you mean xxx?”
Reference:
Hesse-Biber, S. N. 2014. Feminist Approaches to In-Depth Interviewing. In: S. N. Hesse-Biber (ed), Feminist Research Practice: A Primer, Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC: Sage, p. 198.