Key informant (KI) interviews are in-depth interviews with people who have first-hand knowledge about a community. The informant can give personal insight into the community. The informants can be either formal or informal leaders.
Informants will vary depending on the community but might include formal leaders such as teachers, police officers, elected officials, and social service organization directors. Informal leaders could be any ‘lay’ community member who is well respected and knows the community.
Each student will conduct a Key Informant interview in their selected community of focus. You need to have the selected key informant approved by your instructor prior to the interview. Submit your selection of a Key Informant to the course dropbox by the due date listed in course calendar. Faculty will approve the selection in the feedback box of the dropbox. The goal of the key informant interview is to obtain subjective data about your community.
Once approved by faculty:
Contact your selected key informant and set up either a face-to-face interview, virtual interview, or a phone interview. Introduce yourself to the informant. Provide the Informant with a brief explanation of the assignment emphasizing the person’s unique role in giving insight about the community’s strengths and challenges. The interview should be approximately 10-15 minutes and the information obtained will be shared with the class and course faculty. Give the role of the informant in the community and their initials (do not use real names).
Ask the following questions:
How long has the key informant lived in the community? If a formal leader, ask how long the person has been in their current role or position.What are the strengths of the community?What are the challenges or needs in the community?What are the top three issues/problems (health-related or other) facing the community? Ask for examples of issues/problems if clarification is needed?What (in the opinion of the informant) has contributed to the issue/problem?How do you feel the community needs to address the issue/problem?What community resources are already available to address the concerns?Is there other information you feel is important to share about the community?
At the end of the interview, clarify any information and review with the informant what you have learned. Thank the informant for their time. A written follow-up, thank you note, is suggested.
