Tips for difficult interview situations

If a respondent is giving irrelevant or unnecessarily long answers or complaining about something, the data collector should:

• avoid stopping them abruptly or rudely;
• listen to what they have to say; and
• then try to steer them gently back to the original question.

The data collector can also write down what they say and tell them that it is duly noted.

Important: A good atmosphere must be maintained throughout the interview. The best atmosphere for an interview is one in which the respondent sees the data collector as a friendly, sympathetic, and responsive person who cares about them and their work.

Occasionally, a potential respondent will be reluctant to participate in the survey. The respondent may not be in the right mood at the time of the interview or they may have misunderstood the purpose of the visit. 

The data collector should try to find out why the respondent is unwilling to participate, and respond accordingly.

The following points can be used to persuade a respondent to participate:

• the information they provide will help the ministry of health and the government to better understand the effectiveness of programs and make improvements to health services;

• if confidentiality is an issue, they should reassure the respondent that everyone working on the survey has pledged to maintain confidentiality and that the respondent’s name will not be shared with others, including their supervisors or colleagues; and
• the respondent cannot be replaced by anyone else.

There may be other situations where the respondent simply says, “I don’t know”, gives an irrelevant answer, acts bored or detached, contradicts something they have already said, or refuses to answer the question.

This happens mostly when the respondent is concerned about their other work responsibilities and wants to get back to them.

In these cases, the data collector must try to re-interest the respondent in the conversation. For example, if the data collector senses that the respondent is growing restless, they should be reassured that there are not many more questions and that their responses are very valuable.

Some respondents may hesitate to answer questions about sensitive topics.

An example of a sensitive topic is abortion. The following points illustrate some reasons for hesitancy related to questions about abortion care:

• strong feelings: respondents may have personal feelings about abortion or sexual and reproductive health rights and may conscientiously object;

• fear of criminal charges: providers and administrators may fear legal repercussions if they are not sure of the legal status of the services they provide, or if they believe local law enforcement is not aware of legal indications for abortion;

• fear of losing funding: donor funding may prohibit provision of abortion services;

• fear of damage to reputation: for a provider or facility, this may result in community pressure and loss of clients;

• fear of career implications: other providers or administrators may stigmatize the abortion provider, and this may negatively affect their career and relationships with colleagues and supervisors.

1.  “Why are you asking me this? I can’t talk about it.”

• Show you have heard the person: “I understand your hesitation; abortion can be a sensitive topic to discuss. Let me try to explain why we are asking.”
• Explain the purpose and importance: “This is part of a large national survey called the HHFA that is being conducted in many different countries. We are asking about many different health topics, not just abortion. It is very important that we understand how abortion care is provided, to decrease health consequences and death from unsafe abortion.”
• Explain that the HHFA is backed by the government: “The ministry of health has approved these questions and has an interest in learning about the abortion care provision.”

2.  “We don’t provide abortion at this facility.”

• Show you have heard the person: “Yes, I understand that some facilities don’t provide abortion care.”

• Provide clarifications: “We are not just asking about inducing abortions, but also about care for women who come in with miscarriages or incomplete abortions, as we call them. Do you provide care to women in that situation?”