Key Informant Interviews

Key Informant Interviews* are interviews conducted with key individuals within the community, schools, etc. Key Informant Interviews provide project staff with detailed, qualitative information about impressions, experiences and opinions. Conduct interviews in person or by telephone (or by Skype or video conferencing if available). Interviews can be either informal or more formally structured.

Resources needed: Using Key Informant Interviews is a low-cost way to gather information; the only resources needed are interviewer and respondent time, and minimal costs for conducting the interview.

Select an interviewer who is either involved with implementation or, if you would like a more independent interviewer, someone from outside the programme.

Read about the advantages and disadvantages of using either approach.

Who should be interviewed?
Choose interviewees that represent as many different groups as possible. If there are minorities in the community be sure to interview them.

Documenting the interview: If possible, record the interview using an audio recorder to allow you to focus more on the conversation. However, even when making a recording, the interviewer should take notes on key points.

Analyzing the interview: Even though the information collected through key informant interviews will be more qualitative than quantitative, there is still a structured process involved in analyzing the information. See data analysis.

How to conduct a key informant interview: Although a good key informant interview may seem like a seamless conversation with an informant, the interviewer should plan the interview, which may include researching the specific role and/or responsibilities of each informant.