Interviews

• What are structured interviews??

  -Read out by interviewer

  -Closed questions requiring one word answer/ don't require explanation
• What are unstructured interviews?

  
  

  -Informal & more like a conversation

  -flexible questions

  -Preset questions based on the topic they want to cover
• What are the advantages & disadvantages of unstructured interviews?

  Advantages:

  -Open-ended flexible

  -Atmosphere is more relaxed

  
  

  Disadvantages:

  -Less generalisability

  -Less reliability
• What are semi-structured interviews?

  
  

  -Same set of questions read out to the ppts

  -Allows ppts to give detailed answers
• What are the advantages & disadvantages of semi-structured interviews?

  Advantages:

  -Some of the same advantages as structured interviews

  -allows interviewers to clarify and probe the ppt to develop their responses

  -compared to structured interviews it can add depth and detail

  
  

  Disadvantages:

  -Non-standard interviews

  -As a result the data are not directly comparable
• An interview is a conversation between a researcher and a respondent?

  1. An interview is a conversation between a researcher and an interviewee where the researcher asks a sets of questions
  2. You have to pick a sample, organise the interview, select/train your interviews, ask the questions and record the answers. Bias can get in the way at each stage. Interviewer should create a friendly relaxed atmosphere
• structured interviews are questionnaires given face to face? (1)

  1. structured interviews are like questionnaires given to individuals or groups, expect an interviewer is present to ask the questions
  2. structured interviews ask the same questions each time. The question are closed questions, with set of multiple-choice answers
  3. They give quantitative data and they're very reliable
  4. They're used in a large-scale social surveys
  5. Plus point over a postal questionnaire is that interviewer can explain and clarify the questions
• structured interviews are questionnaires given face to face? (2)?

  6) Most structured interviews get a much higher response rate than questionnaires. Ppl tend to agree to be interviewed (unless research topic is sensitive)

  7) However, they're more expensive than questionnaires- you need to pay for the interviewer

  8) Interviewer has to follow the list of questions so they can't ask for more detail if the respondent says something particularly interesting
• Pilot studies allows researcher to find out what kind of question gets a substantial response and also tell researcher whether they need to warm up with a gentle chat to gain rapport with the respondent before asking more meaty questons
• Unstructured interviews give qualitative data? (1)

  1. Unstructured interviews are informal, no rigid structure
  2. More flexible,used to find out facts or attitudes
  3. Good for researching sensitive issues, whether the interviewer has to gain respondent's trust e.g. sexuality, domestic violence or crime
  4. Use open-ended questions and give qualitative data. They're quite valid
  5. Interviewer needs to have skill so they can probe to find out more detail about interviewee's opinions
• Unstructured interviews give qualitative data? (2)

  6. They're used with smaller samples, which means they're not very representative

  7. It takes a long time to write up an unstructured interview- you have to write down whole conversation, not the answers to particular multiple-choice questions
• In contrast, Becker suggested that an Agressive interview style could actually uncover more honest responses that a participant might otherwise have kept to themselves
• Interviewers can have an effect on people's answers?

  1. Respondents in interviews may give the sort of answer they think the interviewer wants to hear- or the exact opposite, if they're feeling uncooperative
  2. Interviews can give subtle direction towards certain responses- often without realising they're doing it
  3. These are known as 'interviewer effects' or 'research effects' they make data less valid