Pre-Study Interview Script – Team Rattlesnake

Introduction: 

Hi there! Thanks again for taking the time to speak with me today. This interview will take about 30 minutes. Our team is interested in understanding your everyday eating routines, maybe your goals, and your experiences trying to change them. This isn’t a nutrition evaluation, so don’t worry about having a “right” or “wrong” eating routine. We’re focused on understanding context, routines, and what kinds of support feel helpful for students like you.

If it’s ok with you, we’ll record this interview so we can review it later for research purposes. Feel free to skip questions if you don’t feel comfortable answering or stop at any time. 

Part 1: Daily Context & Current Behavior

1. Can you walk me through a typical weekday for you, from when you wake up to when you go to bed?
   – Are there times when your schedule changes a lot?
   – What parts of the day feel most busy or stressful?
2. Where does eating usually fit into your day?
3. How would you describe your current eating habits?

Follow-ups:

• How regular or irregular do your meals feel?
• When do you most often skip meals or eat late?
• What usually causes that to happen?

Part 2: Attitudes Toward Eating & Change 

1. How do you feel about your eating habits right now?
2. Do you feel satisfied with them, or do you wish they were different?
3. What does “eating better” or “eating differently” mean to you personally? Do you have specific eating goals? 
4. How important is changing this behavior to you right now?

Part 3: Past Attempts to Change 

1. Have you ever tried to change your eating habits before?
2. What motivated you to try at that time?
3. What specific changes did you attempt to make?
4. What parts of that effort worked, even briefly?
5. What didn’t work?
6. Why do you think it was difficult to maintain those changes? (time constraints? Forgetting? Stress or workload? Lack of support?)

Part 4: Likeliness to Commit

1. Do you have habit of taking pictures of your meals
   1. If yes: What motivates you to do so?
   2. If no: How do you feel about taking photos of your meals for a few days?
2. If we asked you to take a photo and briefly reflect on each meal for 5 days, how realistic does that feel for you? 

Closing Note:

That’s all the questions I have. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.
Before we wrap up:

1. Is there anything about your eating habits or past attempts to change them that we didn’t talk about but feels important to mention?
2. Do you have any concerns or questions about what participating in the study would be like? 
3. If you could design the “perfect” kind of support to help you change your eating habits, what would it look like?

Thank you for your time!