Dissertation Interview – A Short Guide with Helpful Tips

05.02.23 Dissertation tips Time to read: 4min

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Dissertation-Interview-Definition

A dissertation is a kind of academic report that a number of your professors have addressed numerous times during your first or second year of college/University. During your last academic year, you will be required to complete an extensive research project known as a dissertation. 1 This is your original work, making it stand out from other academic articles in many ways than just the length.

Dissertation Interview – In a Nutshell

  • Transcribing your dissertation interview is a necessity.
  • There may be situations in which you cannot include a dissertation interview transcript in your appendix.
  • Be more thoughtful than just writing down the interviewee’s name.

Definition: Dissertation interview

  • Unlike surveys, a dissertation interview needs a conversation between the interviewer and interviewee.
  • Researcher training is required for interviewing, unlike questionnaire approaches.
  • A wide variety of questions are open to researchers, each of which may provide unique information.

Example:

  • Closed questions only allow for a limited number of predetermined answers
  • Open questions encourage individuals to contribute their unique descriptions of their thoughts and feelings.

Including a dissertation interview

You have conducted interviews as part of your descriptive study for your dissertation. How do you incorporate them? There is a high possibility you do not know what is anticipated since no one ever told you.

Transcribing your interviews is a condition for using them in your dissertation. This may be accomplished with the use of transcribing software. The transcripts of the interviews might be included as an appendix.2 Due to the length of the appendix, it may be necessary to submit it as a separate document after discussing your dissertation interview with your supervisor. It is essential to have proof that interviews were conducted.

Tips for the final format revision of your thesis

Adjusting the format according to your university’s requirements is typically the final step. After several times of proofreading, many become blinkered to their own work and miss formatting mistakes. A 3D Look inside function representing the real-life version that can be edited virtually creates a fresh eye for formatting mistakes and helps you to detect them again.

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Referring to a dissertation interview

Include the transcripts of the interviews in an appendix, and then refer to them throughout your dissertation via paraphrasing. This is how paraphrasing works:

Example:

  • Interviewee A claims that (Appendix 1).
  • Through conversation with B, it became apparent that (Appendix 1)

There may be cases when you cannot include a dissertation interview transcript in your appendix. If we cannot make any references to the interview, it may be cited in the following way if you are using the APA format.

  • Person A claims that (Individual conversation, December 24th, 2012).

Quoting a dissertation interview

You must use quotation marks if you take someone else’s statements, as in a dissertation interview. Finding fascinating quotations will be much simpler if you understand how to pull useful data out of the individual during the dissertation interview. Throughout, it’s important to maintain professionalism throughout the dissertation interview.

How to avoid point deductions

Point deductions can also be caused when citing passages that are not written in your own words. Don’t take a risk and run your paper through our online plagiarism checker. You will receive the results in only 10 minutes and submit your paper with confidence.

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Using the name of the interviewee from the dissertation interview

Do not copy down the interviewee’s name without considering these two things:

Permission to Mention the Name When to Mention the Name
Before including an interviewee's identity in a dissertation, the first step is to answer the following:

• Discuss if the interviewee wants their name changed and get consent.
• For example, if you have interviewed a potential employee and the candidate prefers that their employer not see the responses
• This may also occur if the interviewer asks invasive personal inquiries
The second consideration during a dissertation interview is whether the name should be mentioned:

• Is there anything new that it reveals that might further your investigation?
• When the interviewee is a random individual met on the road, the
• A notable exception is if you have interviewed a high-profile executive, such as the CEO of a major company.3 Here, it would be helpful to provide a brief overview so the dissertation's audience is gets an idea of him

If the identity is important to the study and you have obtained the interviewee’s consent to use it, then you can go ahead. You may use a description instead if you are not authorized to use the name.

FAQs

Use a transitional phrase like “according to” or another reference when introducing your interview in the piece. Likewise, tailor your responses to the particular dissertation interview format you are using. Doing so will give your paper a more credible and convincing character.

Use two or three queries to get started. Research may become overwhelming in scope if excessive questions are asked. For this reason, you should begin with no more than two or three research topics, but some studies may have more.

They normally take 30 minutes to a few hours to complete and are only done once. It’s common practice in many fields to conduct interviews to gather information.

The truth is that defending a dissertation is tough and that some students have theirs turned down. All the academics showing you the ropes on how to write a dissertation that will get you accepted have been rejected at some time in their careers.

Sources

1 Bowen, Glenn A. “Preparing a qualitative research-based dissertation: Lessons learned.” The qualitative report 10, no. 2 (2005): 208-222.

2 Silverman, Stephen, and Mara Manson. “Research on teaching in physical education doctoral dissertations: a detailed investigation of focus, method, and analysis.” Journal of teaching in physical education 22, no. 3 (2003): 280-297.

3 Carey, Malcolm. The social work dissertation: Using small-scale qualitative methodology: Using small-scale qualitative methodology. McGraw-Hill Education (UK), 2013.