How long should we wait after asking a participant a question before encouraging a response or using a probing technique? In qualitative research, a few seconds of silence can feel uncomfortable to the interviewer, but that pause may be exactly what the participant needs.
A person’s response time varies depending on what we ask. For example, describing an experience often requires more mental processing than recalling a simple fact, so effective moderators avoid rushing participants or filling the silence too quickly.
A useful research best practice is the 8-second rule:
- Wait up to eight seconds before paraphrasing or prompting.
- Watch for facial cues during webcam-based in-depth interviews (IDIs).
- Distinguish between confusion and someone simply gathering their thoughts.
- If there is still no response after 8 seconds, gently restate the question or use known, non-biasing probing techniques.
In practice, this small pause can improve data quality in IDIs being conducted for UX research, customer experience (CX) research, and other qualitative research applications. Not convinced that silence is a powerful tool? Check out this article in the International Journal of Qualitative Research.
Learn more at our August 11 Live Event on Advanced IDI Interviewing Skills – Probing Techniques for Challenging Interviews. Registration details here.
