Successful interviews with people with intellectual disability

Abstract

People with intellectual disability who possess expressive language are able to participate successfully in qualitative interviews, providing the facilitator pays close attention to their communication preferences. This article considers the successes and flaws in interviewing techniques utilised in a study that invited twelve men and 17 women to talk about sex, risk, social and leisure life. Questions were posed in plain language and accompanied by concrete reference tools, namely picture cards and photo-story vignettes. Adjusting the depth of questioning in line with what a respondent wants to or can offer enhanced the quality of data obtained. The discussion highlights that interviewer’s actions may contribute to errors, which have previously been described in individualising terms as acquiescence, recency and unresponsiveness. The overall message of this article is that a responsive approach to each participant’s particular communication style, combined with avoidance of inaccessible question formats, are key ingredients of a successful interview.

Experiences of psychotropic medication use and decision-making for adults with intellectual disability: a multistakeholder qualitative study in the UK

“…Paid carers reported experiences and attitudes formed from supporting several different people. We adopted a flexible approach to interviews with people with ID in order to facilitate their involvement, including adapting the depth of questioning as appropriate to their ability 33. All study materials for people with ID were available in ‘easy-read’ format and laminated picture cards were used (where appropriate) as prompts and to orientate interviewees.…”

‘Everybody with Disability Should be Included’: A Qualitative Interview Study of Athletes’ Experiences of Disability Sports Participation Analysed with Ideas of Able-Mindedness

“…However, this does not mean that such accounts have less value (Beail & Williams 2014;Sigstad 2014). Accordingly, open-ended questions with follow-up questions, repetitions and reformulations were used and modifiers or negative wording were avoided (Hollomotz 2018). Kvale (1997) states that there is no set limit on how many interviews one should conduct-on the contrary, one should conduct as many interviews as necessary to determine what is being sought.…”

“…As a researcher in an interview situation it is impossible to know how questions are interpreted until an answer is given. This dilemma was addressed with extensive reading on interviewing, with getting acquainted with the athletes and with familiarisation with their context (Hollomotz 2018;Sigstad 2014).…”

Fra behovskartlegging til innovasjon for personermed utviklingshemming

“…Forsknings-og innovasjonsprosjekter som involverer personer med utviklingshemming har tradisjonelt vaert gjort på dem, fremfor med dem (se eksempelvis Gauthier-Boudreault, Couture & Gallagher, 2018;Colpani & Homem, 2015;Lanyi & Brown, 2010). Dette har gjerne skjedd ut fra en forestilling om at de ikke har hatt mulighet til å bidra med innsikter på grunn av redusert kognitiv funksjon og redusert samtykkekompetanse (Hollomotz, 2018;Prosser & Bromley, 2012).…”

“…Et par av deltakerne valgte å utdype det de hadde sagt med en tegning av sin hverdag, etter at kjøkkenbordsintervjuet var over. Tegning er et metodisk verktøy en kan bruke i forskningsintervju med personer med utviklingshemming (Hollomotz, 2018;Nind & Vinha, 2016).…”