Chapter 3 Topic 5 Interviews Flashcards
Interviews are an ulternative to what?
questionnaires
Which two ways are interviews carried out?
face to face
telephone
What four types of interviews are there?
structures or formal interviews
unstructured or informal interviews
semi-structured interviews
group interviews
How is the difference between the different types of interviews?
how free the interviewer is to vary the questions and the way they are asked
What is a structured or formal interview?
they are very similar to a questionnaire
interviewer is given strict instructions on how to ask the questions
interview is conducted in the same standardised way each time asking each interviwee precisely the same questions word for work, in the same order, tone of voice and so on
What is an unstructured or informal interview?
also called discovery interviews
they are like guided conversation
interviewer has complete freedom to vary questions, their wording, order and so on dfrom one interview to the next
pursuing whatever line of questioning seems appropriate at the time
asking follow up questions or probing more deeply
What is a semi-structured interview?
lies between the other two extreems
each interview has the same set of questions in common b ut the interviewer can also probe for more information
eg Aaron Cicourel and John Kitsused 1963 allways followed up their questions with ‘how do you mean?’ as a way of gaining more information
additional questions can be asked where the interviewer thinks is relevant
What is a group interview?
Most interviews are one-to-one but some are group interviews, with up to a dozen or so people being interviews together
Paul Willis 1977 used group interviews as a part of his research into the ‘lads’ and schooling
What are focus groups a form of?
group interviewin which the researcher asks the group to discuss certain topics and records their views
What are four strengths of group interviews?
Participants may feel more comfortable being with others and thus more likely to open up.
In a discussion, participants often throw ideas around the group, stimulating each others thinking which produces richer and more reflective data.
They can be a useful way of generating initial ideas that can be followed up in later research.
The researcher can combine questioning with the opportunity to observe group dynamics and norms.
What are four limitations to group interviews?
One or two individuals may dominate the discussions, limiting others from contributing.
Much depends on the researchers ability to keep the group focused on the discussion topic.
Peer group pressure to conform to group norms may lead to participants not syaing what they really think.
Data generated from group interaction is more complex and difficult to analyse.
What are the four practical issues with structured interviews?
Training interviewers is relatively straightfoward and inexpensive, since all thry are really requires to do is follow a set of instructions, however, this is more costly than simply posting or emailing questionnaires to people.
Surveys that use structured interviews can cover quite large numbers of people with relitevly limited recources because they are quick and fairly cheep to administer, however, they still cannot match the potentially huge numbers reached by postal questionnaires.
Structured interviews are suitable for gathering straightforward factural information such as a persons age or job.
The results are easily quantified because they use closed-ended quesions with coded answers, this makes them suitable for hypothesis testing.
What is the responce rate with structured interviews?
The large numbers who can be surveyed using structured interviews increase the chances of obtaining a representative sample of the population.
Although the numbers that can be studied are lower than for questionnaires, structured interviews generally have a higher responce rate.
Eg of the 987 people Young and Willmott approached for their main smaple only 54 refused to be interviewed, this may be because people find it harder to turn down a face-to-face request, and some may welcome the oppertunity to talk.
Responce rates can be increased if the interviewer can make several call backs to pursue those who fail to respond initially, however, this increases the cost of the survey.
High responce rates help to produce a more representative result and therefore a better basis for making generalisations.
What does it mean if something in sociology is reliable?
If a method is reliable, another sociologist could repeat the research and get the same results
What is reliability with structured interviews?
structured interviews are seen as reliable because it is easy for the researcher to standardise and control them.
They Can ensure that each interview is conducted in precisely the same way, with the same questions, in the same order, with the same wording and tone of voice.
If each interviewer conducts every intedrview in exactly the same way, then any other researcher following the same interview procedures should get the similar results.
What is a valid method?
A valid method is one that provides a true, authentic picture of the topic beign researched
What do critics say about structured interviews? (validity in structured interviews)
Critics of tructured interviews argue that, like questionnaires, they often produce a false picture of the subjects they are trying to study
What type of questions are used in structured interviews and what is the problem with them? (validity in structured interviews)
Structured interviews usually use close ended questions that restrict interviewees to choosing from a limited number of pre-set answers.
If non of these answers fits what the interviewee really wishes to say the data obtained will be invalid.