Refinement pathway for quality research interview guides: an 8-step process to refine a protocol for a complex multi-country humanitarian study

As part of a larger study on primary health care in the conflict-affected regions of  North West and South West regions of Cameroon, and the North East states of Nigeria,  this research team developed and piloted the interview guides for the qualitative arm of the project, since none were found to exist for conflict-affected countries. The aim was to orientate how to navigate the complexities of conducting quality qualitative research in fragile and challenging operating environments. Piloting interviews is important for the reliability of the interview guides to obtain good quality data from interviews.

An eight-step process for piloting qualitative studies in multiple conflict-affected settings is presented in this article. It includes the development of interview guides, expert consultation, translation of interview guides, risk assessment/mobilisation, recruitment of participants, piloting interviews, modifying interview guides, reflecting on the process and reporting the pilot results.