Interviews with individuals and focus groups are at the heart of qualitative research.  You want to know what people are thinking; you want to understand their attitudes; you want to learn what is really important to them; what they dislike and don't.  

It is difficult and sometimes impossible to get at this information through surveys.  You may not ask the right questions, and you can't get at the complexities of human thought and behavior.  Also, interviews and focus groups can identify the major issues to design a better survey.  Alternatively, once key themes and concerns turn up in a survey, qualitative methods like interviews and focus groups can probe further.  Combined with ethnographic methods, like participant observation, these make a powerful research tool.

Interviewing is also at the heart of many of our books -- as well as a series of radio interview programs called CHANGEMAKERS, featuring new social trends, changes in society, and developments in creativity and consciousness.

Typically, interviews and focus groups start with questions and guidelines to guide the process, which is adapted based on the responses, issues, and themes raised by the interviewees and group participants.  Here are some examples of research projects and organizations we have worked with to illustrate how we have used interviewing and focus groups.

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