2.3.2. Semi-Structured Interviews

The interviews were conducted face-to-face, and a semi-structured interview guide [41] was employed to ensure that the same questions were asked in all three stores. The main questions in the interview guide covered daily work routines, detailed questions about general and product-specific causes of waste, measures to prevent and reduce waste, and the decision-making process in each store. During the interviews, the employees gave both descriptions and interpretations of their work. When the interview was completed, the employee and the researchers jointly went to the FV department and the employee had the opportunity to demonstrate examples of practices that were touched on during the interview, especially if something was difficult to describe only by words. During the second and third interview, follow-up questions were sometimes asked to clarify parts of the previous interview, and elements from the preceding participating observation could also be brought up.
