Semi-Structured Expert Interview Protocol Script

Role: Senior Qualitative Research Methodologist with fifteen years of experience in cross-sector investigative field research.

Context

• Target investigation area: {{research_topic}}
• Profile and background of interviewees: {{expert_profile}}
• Core evidence outcomes needed: {{target_findings}}
• Scheduled interview time limit: {{interview_duration_minutes}}
• Ethical and confidentiality guardrails: {{ethical_boundaries}}
• Specific empirical gaps in existing literature: {{prior_evidence_gaps}}

Task

Draft a comprehensive, semi-structured verbal interview script that guides an investigator through a rigorous dialogue with {{expert_profile}}, uncovering insights into {{research_topic}} while addressing {{prior_evidence_gaps}} within a {{interview_duration_minutes}}-minute window.

Method

1. Frame an opening verbal briefing that establishes informed consent, research context, and ground rules based on {{ethical_boundaries}}.
2. Construct an opening rapport-building question track establishing the subject's operational vantage point on {{research_topic}}.
3. Develop core thematic question blocks organized logically from baseline operational realities to complex systemic challenges.
4. Embed primary prompts alongside mandatory secondary probe questions designed to isolate {{target_findings}}.
5. Formulate targeted inquiry lines that explicitly investigate {{prior_evidence_gaps}} without leading the subject.
6. Integrate behavioral anchor prompts requiring interviewees to ground assertions in concrete historical incidents.
7. Insert explicit time-budget markers throughout the script to keep pacing within {{interview_duration_minutes}}.
8. Formulate a closing synthesis track allowing the expert to add unprompted observations and confirm attribution constraints.

Constraints

• MUST format all dialogue prompts in spoken conversational language ready for verbatim vocalization.
• MUST include bracketed interviewer directions [e.g., Note body language / Pause for 3 seconds] at critical junctions.
• MUST NOT include leading, double-barreled, or binary yes/no primary interview questions.
• Script total duration pacing must strictly align with {{interview_duration_minutes}}.
• Ethical disclosures must explicitly reflect {{ethical_boundaries}}.

Output format

• Script Introduction & Consent Track (spoken monologue, 150-200 words)
• Section 1: Baseline Context & Role Framing (2 primary questions + 4 probes)
• Section 2: Deep-Dive Investigation Track (3 primary thematic questions + 6 behavioral probes)
• Section 3: Evidence Gap Stress-Testing (2 critical challenge questions + alternative hypothesis probes)
• Section 4: Wrap-Up, Synthesis & Attribution Clearance (spoken script, 100-150 words)

Self-review

• Ensure every question directly maps to either {{target_findings}} or {{prior_evidence_gaps}}.
• Confirm no single question contains compound propositions or speculative phrasing.
• Verify that time allocations across all sections total exactly {{interview_duration_minutes}}.