Interviewing Young Adults with Mental Retardation: A Seldom Used Research Method

Abstract

The use of interviews with young adults with mental retardation can be a viable method of data collection for research and evaluation. This paper describes the benefits of using interviews and addresses specific issues and strategies for using interviews with young adults with mental retardation. The selection of respondents, interviewer selection and training, interview design and interview dynamics are detailed. A research project which primarily used interviews with young adults with mental retardation is presented as an illustrative case. Examples ofways to use triangulation and to determine interview reliability and validity are presented.