Unstructured Interviews

• Researcher


  Completely flexible with questions
• Rapport


  A close and harmonious relationship between researcher and participant
• Verstehen


  A deep, empathetic understanding
• Interviewer bias


  When the values and beliefs of the researcher influence the response of the interviewee. The interviewer might ask leading questions in order to encourage particular responses from a respondent
• Types of data


  • primary
  • secondary
  • qualitative
  • quantitative
  • reliable
  • valid
• Qualitative data


  • More time consuming to analyse
• Qualitative interviews


  • Impractical as the interview can take hours. The researcher needs to be flexible and give the participant enough time to respond
  • Certain personal skills required in order to build a rapport and trust as well as being flexible
• Qualitative interviews


  • More appropriate for sensitive topics as it gives the respondent a chance to express their views which allows the respondent to have power over the direction of the conversation
• Qualitative interviews


  • Less reliable than structured interviews as the questions are not standardised and are often open to interpretation