Construct an interview instrument on a topic of interest to you it can be mock. You may want to develop an instrument that would assist you in some aspect of your current position, or one that you can use as part of your qualitative research. Limit your questions, subjects, or categories of discussion to approximately five elements within the topic. Arrange for an interview with one person, and use your interview instrument to conduct the interview. Note any problems or successes and what changes you might make to avoid the problems and exploit the successes.
Ask your interviewee what they thought about the effectiveness of the instrument, and document their feedback. Write a summary report about the interview you conducted. List the strengths and weaknesses of your interview instrument and what changes you would make to improve it. Include a section with comments from your interviewee about what changes they would like to see in the instrument. I would be constructing an interview instrument with some of the healthcare personnel on organizing a health management information system in a hospital (HMIS). Details of the Personnel:
1. Name: Dr. XYZ 2. Age: 45 years 3. Job Position: Pediatrician 4. Department/Sector: Department of Pediatrics, ABC Hospital, NY 5. Address: ABC Hospital, Nth Cross, R Road, NY 6. Telephone Number: 7. Email Id: Policy of the current information system in the hospital: 1. In what way did the organization develop its previous information system? The organization had a previous information system that was not completely computerized and was introduced and modified on a trial and error basis. 2. Did it plan its information system? No the organization did not plan the system.
It was implemented earlier in just one department and later expanded and interconnected with other departments. 3. Were the staff members involved earlier? Yes, the staff members were included to some extent, as any working problems that arose were basically handled by the ideas of the staff members. 4. Are the staff members involved now? Yes, the advice of the staff members are still given a lot of importance with regards to the introduction of the MIS, as it could help to curb any working problems. 5. What are the deficiencies of the present system?
The present system is old, outdated, filled with errors and is not user-friendly. It cannot be updated with currently available software. Objectives of the current system 1. What are the main objectives of the future information system? The future system should help to manage the patient’s information in the most effective manner. It should help to maintain this information confidentially with the username and password. The information should be able to be modified and changed at any given point of time and from any system. Besides, it should be capable of being transmitted quickly. 2. Who brought out the idea?
The doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals and the managers of the hospital brought out this idea 3. Do you have anything to suggest with relation to the future system? It should be capable of being updated, and should also be capable of protecting confidential information. Obstacles that could arise 1. Can any obstacles or problems arise from the future system? Some of the problems that could arise with respect to the system include finding financial resources, expanding the system frequently, teaching the staff members how to use the system and setting up a back up. 2. How would introducing such a system be difficult?
Introducing such a system would be very difficult indeed. Training the staff members would be a problem. Transferring the information from the old system to the new one would also be very difficult. Besides, the management would be very difficult to get convinced regarding the importance of the system. The interviewees considered such a system as very effective (as we would be approaching the issue of setting up a new HMIS in the most scientific manner). Initially, the deficiencies of the earlier system are identified and accordingly, ways in which these deficiencies can be curbed is brought out.
This would help to define the characteristics the new system would posses. The instrument brought out the most positive and creative responses from the interviewees. It was very simple, easy to understand and was not complicated in structure. However, as the interview was conducted on a face-to-face basis, the best answer could not be expected (as they had to be given immediately). The Interviewees did not have any technical knowledge of MIS and only suggested working solutions.
References:
New York University (2002), The Interview Instrument, Retrieved on July 31, 2007, from NYU Web site