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What is the Qualitative Pretest Interview?

Speakers:

Bio: "- Department of Social Monitoring and Methodology, German Youth Institute (DJI - Deutsches Jugendinstitut) (since 2011) - Ph.D. in Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute (2008) - Editorial board of the International Journal of Social Research Methodology (since 2011) Selected publications: - Buschle, Christina/Reiter, Herwig/Bethmann, Arne (2021): The qualitative pretest interview for questionnaire development: outline of programme and practice In: Quality and Quantity. (online first). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01156-0 - Reiter, Herwig/Witzel, Andreas (2019): Problem-centred interview. In: Atkinson, Paul A./Delamont, Sara/Cernat, Alexandru/Sakshaug, Joseph W./Williams, Richard A. (Hrsg.): SAGE Research Methods Foundations. Sage Publications. https://methods.sagepub.com/foundations/problem-centred-interview - Witzel, Andreas/Reiter, Herwig (2012): The Problem-centred Interview. Principles and practice. London: Sage Publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446288030"

Arne Bethmann, Technical University of Munich (Chair for the Economics of Aging); Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA); Max-Planck

Christina Buschle, IU International University of Applied Sciences

In this talk we outline purpose; programme; and practice of the Qualitative Pretest Interview (QPI); a novel method of pretest interviewing for improving the quality of questionnaires. Unlike other forms of pretesting; like for instance the Cognitive Interview; the QPI advocates a comprehensive consideration of qualitative-interpretive methodology by transferring the idea of intersubjective understanding (Fremdverstehen) in everyday communication to pretest interviewing. The QPI involves interview partners as co-experts in a dialogic clarification of manifest and implied meanings and understanding of formulations and expressions used in draft survey questions and other standardised stimuli. After discussing methodical background; definition; and distinction from similar approaches we highlight key practical aspects of doing QPIs like interviewee briefing; communication strategies and debriefing.Buschle; Christina/Reiter; Herwig/Bethmann; Arne (2021): The qualitative pretest interview for questionnaire development: outline of programme and practice. Quality and Quantity. (Online first.)