The Power of In-Depth Interviews

In-depth interviews (also called “depth interviews,” “dyads” or “one-on-ones” and referred to as IDIs) are cousins to focus groups. Some clients gravitate towards focus groups, with which they are familiar and are comfortable, when they should actually employ IDIs.

IDIs are the best way to get detailed and open-ended information from a small or difficult to engage segment of the population.

IDIs can be thought of as halfway between focus groups and opinion surveys. While the number of interviews varies, typically 12 to 40 are completed. While length can vary, typically the interviews take 15 to 60 minutes. So, an in-depth interview usually requires less time from a respondent than a focus group, but involves more respondents, and an in-depth interview is usually longer than an opinion survey, but involves fewer respondents.

There are limitations to IDIs. While focus groups generate insights through participant debate, IDIs are unsuitable for that because they are conducted one-on-one. While surveys generate robust data that can be statistically analyzed, IDI proceedings, like those of focus groups, are not generalizable to the population of interest.

Competitive Edge has conducted successful IDIs with no special software or online platform.