Probing techniques for semistructured interviews (modified from Bernard30)
| Probing technique | Description | Example |
| Wait time | Interviewer remains silent after asking a question. This allows the interviewee to think about their response and often encourages the interviewee to speak. | What do you think pregnant women should do for exercise during pregnancy? (Wait, do not respond with additional questioning until participant speaks) |
| Echo | Interviewer repeats or summarises the participant’s words, encouraging them to go into more detail. | Right, so it was hard to exercise after working all day. |
| Verbal agreement | Interviewer uses affirming words to encourage the interviewee to continue speaking. |
Yes…
Okay… |
| Expansion | Interviewer asks participant to elaborate on a particular response. |
Tell me more. Give me an example of that. Can you describe that? |
| Explanation | Interviewer asks participant to clarify a specific comment. | Tell me what you mean when you say exercise is ‘disruptive’? |
| Leading | Interviewer asks interviewee to explain their reasoning. | You said that you decided to only exercise after the baby is born. Tell me how you came to that decision. |