Probing in qualitative research interviews: Theory and practice

The effective use of probing in research interviews is central to eliciting rich, deep data from participants. Probing achieves access to this extra level of detail and depth via verbal prompts to clarify, elaborate, illustrate or explain a prior answer to an interview question that the participant has already given. This article presents a four-part theoretical framework of narrative theory, self-disclosure theory, autobiographical memory theory and attribution theory, which together provide a sense-making structure for why probing works and why it is important to research interviews. I then summarise a taxonomic model, entitled the DICE approach to probing. DICE is an acronym that stands for four types of probe based on first letters: 1. Descriptive Detail Probes, 2. Idiographic Memory Probes, 3. Clarifying Probes, 4. Explanatory Probes. This is followed by a critical consideration of probing in relation to Yardley's evaluation criteria for qualitative research.