AO1 - Interviews

• Interviews - A method of asking questions in a face to face nature, sometimes it can also be over the phone or computer such as skype. (1) There are two types of interviews, these are structured and unstructured. (1)
• Structured interviews:

  • Questions are pre-set before the interviews are carried out
  • Less likely to deviate from the topic
  • Every interviewee will be asked the same questions in exactly the same order
  • The interviewer cannot ask any extra questions based on information provided by the participant
• Unstructured interviews:

  • May contain a topic area for discussion but no set questions so each interviewee gets different questions
  • The questions are based on the responses of the interviewee so the interviewer can discuss interesting points made by the interviewee
  • The questions that are asked are more likely to be open questions
• There are 6 things to consider when designing an interview:

  1. Will the interview be structured or unstructured?
  2. Choice of open or closed questions
  3. Decide on the appearance of the interviewer so that it is the same for all participants - they should be trained to speak in a neutral tone, ask the questions in a similar way to all ppts, have an appropriate appearance
  4. How will the interview be recorded? - this may avoid the interviewer missing information
  5. Will you include an additional interviewer to increase inter-rater reliability?
  6. Conduct a pilot study to identify and resolve any problems