Build a semi-structured interview guide
Get the free Interview & Focus Group Guide Builder
A fill-in template for building a semi-structured interview or focus group guide: map each question to a research question, sequence them, plan your probes, and check the wording. We’ll email you the download link.
What makes a good interview guide
A semi-structured guide is a scaffold, not a script. It keeps you covering the same ground across participants while leaving room to follow what matters to them:
- Open with trust — purpose, consent, recording, confidentiality, and that there are no right answers.
- Warm up with easy, concrete questions before the harder ones.
- Ask open, non-leading core questions — “Tell me about…”, “Walk me through…” — and let probes do the depth.
- Close by inviting anything you missed, then thank them.
- Pilot and time it — fewer, richer questions beat a long list of narrow ones.
This builder gives you a solid starting scaffold with generic probes; tailor the wording to your participants and your theoretical framing, and have your supervisor review it before fieldwork.
Frequently asked questions
How do I structure a semi-structured guide?
Opening (purpose + consent) → warm-up → core topics with open questions + probes → closing. Keep core questions open and non-leading.
What is a probe?
A short, non-leading follow-up for depth — “Tell me more,” “What was that like?”, “Can you give an example?”
How many questions?
Fewer than you think — a handful of open questions per topic plus probes usually beats a long narrow list.
Should I pilot it?
Yes — a pilot catches leading/confusing questions and checks timing before you collect real data.
Does it store anything?
No. The guide is built entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded or saved.
The Interview and Focus Group Workbook
Most researchers think they know how to have a conversation. But a research interview is not a conversation — it is a sophisticated data collection instrument that requires precision, ethics, and a structured protocol to produce valid results.
48 fill-in templates. Paperback $36.99 on Amazon
See inside the workbookJust want the templates? The Interview & Focus Group Kit: every template as a fillable PDF, $19.