evaluate semi-structured interviews (20)

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

-interviewers have a list of questions, but are free to ask further, differentiated questions based on the responses given

Question 2

practical (weakness)

Answer 2

-practicality refers to how easy a research method is to conduct in terms of access to location, funding, time, and ppts
-semi-structures interviews are not very practical as they take lots of time to conduct and it takes a lot time to transcribe and analyse the data as both quantitative and qualitative data is gathered

Question 3

ethics (strength)

Answer 3

-the BSA issued a “statement of ethical conduct” which encourages researchers to consider ethical issues such as harm, deception, privacy and confidentiality of the ppt. Ethical research must consider the impact the study may have on both the ppts and the researcher themselves
-semi-structured interviews can be considered ethical as the face-to-face nature of the research method means that support can be given to the ppt by the researcher if needed. The interview schedule can also be ignore to better suit the needs/comfort of the ppt

Question 4

theory (strength)

Answer 4

Interpretivism is an approach to social research that emphasises the need to understand people’s beliefs, attitudes, and motives towards their actions to better understand society. They believe that human behaviour is complex and cannot be reduced to simple cause and effect relationships
-Positivism is an approach to sociological research based on social facts. They believe we shouldn’t go beyond the boundaries of what is observed and prefer quantitative methods of research because statistics are factual and measurable, allowing for comparisons between groups/the findings
-semi-structured interviews provide a neutral middle ground, as they are liked by both Positivists and Interpretivists. This is because it provides both quantitative data (from the questions in the interview schedule) and qualitative data (from asking ppts to expand on their answers)

Question 5

reliability (strength/weakness?)

Answer 5

-reliability refers to the repeatability of a study, so if the study were to be replicated it would produce the same results
-semi-structured interviews are more reliable than unstructured interviews as they follow an interview schedule, so all ppts are asked the same questions. However, they are less reliable than structured interviews as ppts are not all asked the same follow up questions as these differentiate based on the responses given

Question 6

representativeness (weakness)

Answer 6

-representativeness is the extent to which a sample mirrors the researcher’s target population and reflects it’s characteristics
-field expts are particularly representative. They are conducted in natural settings and the social environment allows for larger groups to be studied
-due to the time consuming nature of interviews, the sample size used in semi-structured interviews is generally quite small, meaning the sample is unrepresentative of the target population

Question 7

validity (strength)

Answer 7

-the validity of a research method refers to how detailed and accurate the study’s results are
-semi-structured interviews are more valid than structured interviews as they gather qualitative data as well as quantitative data. The benefit of also gathering qualitative data means we can gain a more in-depth understanding of why they answered the way they did, which allows for a more empathetic understanding (verstahen).