How to Write Interview Questions for Research: A Complete UK Guide

Learning how to write interview questions for research is an essential skill for UK university students. Research interviews are a powerful way to gather rich qualitative data — but only if the questions are well designed. Poorly worded or leading questions produce weak, biased data. This complete UK guide explains the types of research interview, how to write open, unbiased questions, how to structure an interview guide, and how to pilot it.

How to write interview questions for research: Step-by-Step Guide

Types of Research Interview

✓  Structured — fixed questions, like a spoken questionnaire.
✓  Semi-structured — key questions plus flexibility to follow up (the most common).
✓  Unstructured — open conversation around a topic.

For further guidance on how to write interview questions for research, visit the UK research skills guidance — a trusted resource for UK students and graduates.

Writing Open Questions

Use open questions that invite detailed answers (“How did you experience…?”) rather than closed yes/no questions. Open questions are what make interviews rich; closed ones cut the data short.

Avoiding Bias

Avoid leading questions that suggest an answer, double-barrelled questions, and jargon. Keep questions neutral and clear so participants answer honestly in their own words, not the answer you expect.

Building an Interview Guide

Group your questions logically: start with easy, rapport-building questions, move to the core topics, and prepare follow-up prompts to probe deeper. Tie every question to your research questions. See our research question guide.

Piloting Your Questions

Always pilot your interview guide with one or two people first. A pilot reveals confusing wording, questions that do not elicit useful answers, and timing problems, so you can refine before the real interviews.

Common Mistakes and Tips

✓  Leading or closed questions.
✓  Jargon participants will not understand.
✓  Too many questions.
✓  No follow-up prompts. Tip: use open, neutral questions tied to your research aims, and pilot them.

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The Role of Research Interviews in UK Academic Dissertations

Research interviews are one of the most widely used methods of primary data collection in UK academic dissertations, particularly in the social sciences, health research, education, and business studies. Unlike questionnaires, which gather structured responses from large samples, interviews allow researchers to explore participants’ experiences, attitudes, and meanings in depth. This makes them especially valuable for qualitative research designs in which the goal is to understand “how” and “why” questions rather than to measure frequencies or test hypotheses.

In UK universities, the choice of interview as a data collection method must be justified in your methodology chapter with reference to your research questions, your epistemological position, and your research design. Interpretivism — the philosophical position that social reality is constructed through individual meaning-making — provides the most common epistemological foundation for interview-based research in the UK social science tradition. If your research aims to explore lived experiences, professional practices, perceptions, or social processes, interviews are likely to be well-suited to your needs.

Choosing the Right Type of Research Interview

Before writing your interview questions, you need to decide which type of interview best suits your research design. The three main types used in UK academic research each have distinct implications for how questions are formulated and how interviews are conducted.

Structured interviews use a fixed set of questions asked in the same order to every participant. This approach prioritises consistency and comparability across participants, making it more suited to research designs that combine qualitative and quantitative elements. The questions in a structured interview tend to be more specific and closed-ended, and the researcher has little flexibility to probe or follow unexpected lines of inquiry.

Semi-structured interviews are the most common format in UK dissertation research. They use a flexible interview guide containing a set of key themes and questions, but allow the researcher to follow up interesting responses, re-order questions as the conversation develops, and probe participants’ answers for greater depth and clarity. This format balances the comparability of structured interviews with the exploratory depth of unstructured ones.

Unstructured (or in-depth) interviews begin with a single broad opening question or topic and develop entirely in response to what the participant says. They are most appropriate for exploratory research, oral history projects, and phenomenological studies in which the aim is to understand the participant’s experience in their own terms. These interviews require the most interviewing skill and are typically used by experienced researchers rather than undergraduate students.

Formulating High-Quality Interview Questions

The quality of your interview questions will directly determine the quality of your data. Poorly formulated questions produce vague, superficial, or biased responses; well-designed questions elicit rich, thoughtful, and nuanced data. Several principles guide the formulation of effective research interview questions in the UK academic context.

Open questions are the cornerstone of qualitative interview design. Questions beginning with “how,” “what,” “why,” “describe,” “tell me about,” or “in what ways” invite participants to respond in their own terms, providing rich narrative data. For example, “What has been your experience of returning to work after a period of illness?” elicits far more useful data than “Did you find it difficult to return to work after illness?”

Probing questions follow up initial responses to encourage greater depth and specificity. Effective probes include “Can you tell me more about that?”, “What did you mean when you said…?”, “Can you give me an example?”, and “How did that make you feel?” Probes are not scripted in advance but are developed in response to what the participant says, making semi-structured interviews particularly reliant on the interviewer’s listening skills and in-the-moment judgement.

Neutral questions avoid leading the participant toward a particular answer. A leading question such as “Don’t you think that management failed to support employees during the restructuring?” embeds an assumption that may not reflect the participant’s experience. A neutral equivalent would be “How did you experience the management’s approach during the restructuring process?”

Ethical Considerations in Research Interview Design

In UK universities, all primary research involving human participants must undergo ethical review before data collection begins. For dissertation research involving interviews, this typically means obtaining approval from your department’s ethics committee or, in some institutions, the university’s central ethics board. The ethical principles governing interview research in the UK are closely aligned with the British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Ethics and Conduct, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Framework for Research Ethics, and, where applicable, NHS Research Ethics Committee guidelines.

Key ethical requirements include obtaining informed consent from all participants before the interview begins, explaining the purpose of the research, how data will be used, and what will happen to participants’ responses. Participants must be informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. Confidentiality and anonymity must be clearly addressed: will participants be named, or will pseudonyms be used? How will the data be stored, for how long, and who will have access to it? In sensitive research — involving topics such as mental health, trauma, discrimination, or illegal activity — additional safeguarding considerations apply, and you may need to include details of support services in your participant information sheet.

These ethical requirements are not merely bureaucratic formalities: they are fundamental to the integrity of your research and the protection of your participants. Ethical rigour is part of what your dissertation examiners will assess when evaluating your methodology chapter.

Organising, Conducting, and Transcribing Research Interviews

Once your questions are formulated and ethical approval obtained, effective organisation and execution of your interviews is essential. Before each interview, send participants a copy of the information sheet and consent form, confirm the time, format (in-person, telephone, or video call), and anticipated duration of the interview, and test any recording equipment. Most UK dissertation researchers record interviews with participants’ consent and then transcribe the recordings for analysis — a process that is time-consuming but ensures the accuracy and completeness of the data.

During the interview, begin with a brief re-statement of the purpose of the research and a reminder of the participant’s right to withdraw, then ask participants to sign or confirm their consent. Start with straightforward, non-threatening questions to help participants feel at ease before moving to more complex or sensitive topics. Maintain active listening throughout, using non-verbal cues (nodding, eye contact) and verbal acknowledgements (“I see,” “that’s interesting,” “tell me more”) to signal engagement without directing the participant’s responses.

After each interview, write up brief field notes capturing your impressions, any non-verbal behaviour that might be relevant to analysis, and any initial analytical thoughts. These field notes form part of your research audit trail and may be referred to during data analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the types of research interview?
Structured, semi-structured and unstructured.

What is a semi-structured interview?
One with key questions plus flexibility to follow up — the most common type.

How do I write good interview questions?
Use open, neutral questions tied to your research aims, and pilot them.

What is an open question?
One that invites a detailed answer rather than yes or no.

How do I avoid bias?
Avoid leading and double-barrelled questions and jargon.

What is an interview guide?
A logically ordered list of your questions and follow-up prompts.

Why pilot interview questions?
To catch confusing wording and questions that do not elicit useful answers.

How many questions should an interview have?
Enough to cover your topics without overwhelming the participant.

How many interview questions should I include in a dissertation interview guide?

For a semi-structured interview lasting 30–60 minutes — the most common format in UK undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations — an interview guide of 8–12 main questions is usually appropriate. This allows sufficient time to explore each theme in depth without rushing participants. Remember that probing questions will extend each main question, so fewer questions than you might expect are needed to fill a full interview. For structured interviews designed to be comparable across participants, 15–20 questions may be appropriate.

Do I need to gain ethical approval before conducting research interviews?

Yes — in UK universities, all primary research involving human participants requires ethical approval before data collection begins. This applies to dissertation research at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. You will typically need to submit an ethics application to your department’s ethics committee, including your interview guide, participant information sheet, and consent form. The approval process can take several weeks, so you should plan for this in your dissertation timeline.

How do I recruit participants for dissertation interview research?

Common recruitment strategies for UK dissertation interview research include purposive sampling (deliberately selecting participants who have relevant experience or expertise), snowball sampling (asking initial participants to refer others in their network), convenience sampling (recruiting from accessible groups such as fellow students or workplace colleagues), and online recruitment via professional networks such as LinkedIn. Your choice of sampling strategy should be justified in your methodology chapter with reference to your research questions and the type of participants needed to answer them.

Should I transcribe my interviews verbatim?

Verbatim transcription — capturing every word, pause, and utterance — is the most thorough approach and is expected in most qualitative dissertation research. It ensures that your analysis is grounded in the exact language used by participants, which is particularly important in discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Some researchers use intelligent verbatim transcription (removing fillers such as “um” and “uh”) where the precise mechanics of speech are less analytically important. Always follow the conventions of your analytical approach.

Can I use online tools to help transcribe interview recordings?

Yes — AI-powered transcription tools such as Otter.ai, Trint, and Microsoft Word’s transcription feature can significantly reduce transcription time. However, all automated transcripts must be carefully checked against the original recording for accuracy, as these tools frequently misinterpret accents, technical terminology, and overlapping speech. You should also ensure that using an online transcription service is compatible with your ethical approval — if participants’ data is identifiable, uploading recordings to third-party servers may require additional consent or data processing safeguards.

Related Study Guides

How to Write a Questionnaire  •  How to Do a Thematic Analysis  •  How to Write a Methodology  •  How to Write a Research Question

UK students who master how to write interview questions for research gain a significant advantage in their academic career. Whether you are in your first year or final year, understanding how to write interview questions for research thoroughly will improve your overall academic performance and help you achieve better grades.

Common Mistakes to Avoid with How to write interview questions for research

When students first learn how to write interview questions for research, they often make avoidable mistakes that can affect their grades. The most common error is rushing the process without properly planning each stage. UK university lecturers expect students to demonstrate a clear understanding of how to write interview questions for research through structured, well-organised work.

Another frequent mistake is failing to follow the specific guidelines set by your institution. Always check your assignment brief carefully before beginning, as requirements for how to write interview questions for research can vary significantly between universities and departments across the UK.

Tips for Success with How to write interview questions for research

The most successful UK students approach how to write interview questions for research methodically. Start early, give yourself enough time to review and refine your work, and don’t hesitate to seek feedback from your tutor. Many universities offer academic support services specifically to help students develop skills like how to write interview questions for research.