Research and scholarly methods: Semi-structured interviews

The popularity and value of qualitative research has increasingly been recognized in health and pharmacy services research. Although there is certainly an appropriate place in qualitative research for other data collection methods, a primary benefit of the semi-structured interview is that it permits interviews to be focused while still giving the investigator the autonomy to explore pertinent ideas that may come up in the course of the interview, which can further enhance understanding of the pharmacy service being assessed. The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize methodological considerations and procedures for conducting semi-structured interviews in pharmacy services research. In this article, we propose the Seven Steps to Conducting, Analyzing, and Reporting Semi-Structured Interview Data (7S CARS-SID) for Pharmacy Services Research. While many of the proposed steps can be applied to various qualitative methods and types of research, this narrative review intentionally focuses discussion on semi-structured interviews and pharmacy services research. These seven steps along with the cited resources and applicable examples provide novice qualitative researchers with a step-by-step introductory guide to conducting qualitative pharmacy services research using semi-structured interview methods. Finally, the 7S CARS-SID for Pharmacy Services Research is intended to be a tool for assisting readers, reviewers, and editors of the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy to better understand the methodology behind qualitative research papers using semi-structured interview methods.