Lesson 2: Preparing to Conduct a Community Readiness Assessment
Conducting Interviews
Plan to conduct at least 6 key respondent interviews in your community. Some communities may require more interviews to get a complete picture of the community.
In general, 6 - 12 interviews are often sufficient, depending on the size of the defined community. If the community is very small or very homogenous, you may find that even 4 interviews is sufficient.
Preparing Interview Questions
Reference Appendix A of the Tri-Ethnic Handbook when preparing your interview questions.
- Replace placeholders with your specific issues and defined community in the interview questions located at the end of this lesson.
- Bold questions are mandatory for scoring and must be included.
- Select only key optional (non-bolded) questions to avoid interview fatigue.
- Questions are grouped by dimension, except question #1 which addresses Community Climate. *Note that information about any dimension may emerge throughout the interview.
- Have two people adapt questions for your context and pilot test before the first official interview. Add any additional questions at the end, if needed.
- Create a brief introductory script explaining the issue and community context.
- For translation, use back-translation method to verify accuracy.
Recording Tools
A variety of recording tools are available with some options listed below. Make sure to pilot your recording device and consider using two simultaneously. Note that your recording method will impact your transcription options later.
- Smartphone voice recording app
- Handheld digital voice recorder
- Microsoft Word dictate
- Zoom / Teams recording (virtual or in-person)