From words to the scientific knowledge: a reflexive and meta-evaluative look at the interview guide

Abstract

The study integrates the research project "Impact and Effects of External Evaluation in Schools of Higher Education not» - AEEENS and it seeks to contribute to the expansion of scientific knowledge in the area of qualitative methodologies, particularly in terms of meta-analysis. We propose to offer a reflective look and meta-evaluation on the interview guide, content analysis and discourse analysis (that the interview increases). We start with the following question: 'What are the desired / desirable procedures for the use of the technique of data collection "Interview Survey" in scientific research?', having as main objective the production and presentation of a meta-evaluation method in the form of evaluative checklist, designed to be used as a support tool in the construction and validation of interview guides.  Thus, we present an evaluation checklist that includes fourteen indicators to allow the assignment of more or less quality to the interview guide analysed. The main findings show that this validation is an act of allocating 'quality' in this investigative tool. A meta-evaluation of a semi-structured interview script may demonstrate its extreme relevance and validity, since the more or less successfully result of the investigative task will depend on the validation of the interview guide. The study also revealed the need for researchers involved in these processes share the same point of view, since, in the case of an analysis of qualitative data, content analysis should be kept under review, continuously and circularly, requiring the look and the attention of the investigator to extract meaning from data.