Semi-Structured interviews

• Semi-structured interviews

  • Interviewers are given a list of topics and possible questions which guide them through the interview
  • Responses are recorded and transcribed, and the researcher looks for key themes that emerge
• Semi-structured interviews


  A qualitative method. It is a conversation style method, where the researcher introduces talking points, and even a small number of pre-written open-ended questions, but allows the conversation to flow based mainly upon participants' responses
• Semi-structured interviews


  • Favoured by Interpretivists, as they use methods/approaches that generate detailed, in-depth data, which reveal the meanings individuals attach to behaviour
  • Attempt to establish verstehen (empathetic understanding)
• A growing culture of "laddiness" among school girls is based on a fear of failure according to a study from Lancaster University
• Dr Carolyn Jackson from the Department of Educational Research interviewed more than 200 pupils aged between 13 and 14 at schools in northern England for her book "Lads and Ladettes in Schools"
• Dr Jackson found that some girls are smoking, drinking, swearing and disrupting lessons for fear of being considered unpopular and "cool"
• Teachers reported increasing cheekiness from girls, more answering back, and said that their rudeness is often now more "in your face"
• Dr Jackson said there are no quick fixes for "laddish" behaviour, but it could probably be reduced if the culture of competition in schools was replaced with a more supportive atmosphere where developing ideas was more important than passing tests
• When interviewing teachers and pupils, Dr Jackson had a set of themes she wished to discuss, such as teacher-pupil relationships, achievement in assessments, friendships

  1. Conversations flowed dependent on the response of each participant, giving them control over the information provided and increasing validity

  2. Responses differed based upon student or teacher participants, and in each individual interview
• The semi-structured interview cannot be reliable - no comparisons could be made
• Frosh wanted to find out how boys in the early years of secondary school come to an idea of what masculinity means to them and how this impacts on their behaviour and learning
• Frosh undertook 2 main types of qualitative research, group interviews and semi-structured interviews

  1. In the semi-structured interviews each interviewer was given a list of topics and possible questions which guided them through the interview

  2. All responses were recorded and transcribed and the researcher looked for key themes that emerged
• Frosh found key themes around gender, ethnicity and education that were then followed up in group interviews
• Strengths of semi-structured interviews

  • Practical - good access to hard to reach groups
  • Flexibility - the interview is like a conversation so the participants feel comfortable
  • Can build rapport and reach more unusual groups
• Limitations of semi-structured interviews

  • Practical - time and cost to go with the flow and transcribe
  • Dependent on the participants' responses which could be time consuming
  • Requires researcher to build rapport which needs more training