How to Split Discussion Guides Across IDIs (Full Transcript)

Use two versions of your qualitative guide to cover more topics without overloading interviews or focus groups.

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Too Much Content for Your IDI or Focus Group

Added on 02/04/2026

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[00:00:00] Speaker 1: We've got so many things that we can accomplish with this research project, but it's too much for a data collection. So let's split it into two parts. Hey, we were planning on doing 30 IDIs. So how about we do discussion guide version A for 15, and then discussion guide version B for the next 15. That way, there might be some information we collect from everybody, but maybe for some of the extra information, only half people have to answer those particular components. So you're not trying to jam everything into every single interview. You're kind of load balancing a little bit by treating it as a two-part IDI project in this case. And of course, you could do the same thing for focus groups. If you're planning on doing a set of six focus groups, maybe three focus groups are with discussion guide A, and three focus groups are with discussion guide B.

Summary

The speaker suggests managing an overly ambitious research project by splitting qualitative data collection into two tracks. For 30 in-depth interviews (IDIs), run two discussion guide versions: 15 interviews with Guide A and 15 with Guide B. Collect core questions from everyone, but distribute additional sections across the two guides to reduce interview burden and avoid cramming. The same approach can be applied to focus groups, e.g., three groups using Guide A and three using Guide B.

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Title

Split Qualitative Guides to Balance Interview Load

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Keywords

qualitative research Remove

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in-depth interviews Remove

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IDIs

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discussion guide Remove

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research design Remove

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load balancing Remove

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focus groups Remove

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questionnaire length Remove

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modular guides Remove

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data collection planning Remove

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Key Takeaways

When a qualitative guide becomes too long, split it into two versions rather than forcing all topics into every session.
Use a common core across all interviews and distribute optional/deeper modules between Guide A and Guide B.
For 30 IDIs, consider 15 with Guide A and 15 with Guide B to reduce respondent fatigue and improve data quality.
Apply the same modular approach to focus groups (e.g., half the groups per guide) to cover more ground without overloading participants.
This approach preserves breadth of insights while keeping each session manageable in time and cognitive load.

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Sentiments

Neutral: The tone is practical and solution-oriented, focusing on an efficient way to structure research without expressing strong positive or negative emotion.

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