Interviews Flashcards
Why are ‘Interviews’ a compromise?
- Includes both structured/unstructured methods
- Adapted to meet theoretical + practical preferences of researchers
What is ‘Interviewer Bias?’
- Status of researcher has a social impact
- Researcher could direct responses consciously/unconsciously
What are the ‘Practical Issues’ with structured interviews?
- Training is straightforward but more costly than questionnaires
- Covers a large sample (Not as much as online questionnaires)
- Results are easily quantified + suitable for hypothesis
What is the ‘Response Rate’ like for structured interviews?
- High response rate since it’s difficult to reject a face-to-face request
- Participants may be untypical + produces unrepresentative data
Why is the ‘Reliability’ like for structured interviews?
- Standardised + easily repeated
- Answers can be easily compared, similarities + differences identified
What is the ‘Validity’ like for structured interviews?
- Pre-coded answers have little scope to clarify misunderstandings
- Interviewer bias can impact answers
What is the ‘Inflexibility’ like for structured interviews?
Predetermined answers limit responses
What are the ‘Feminist Criticisms’ of structured interviews?
- Researcher’s dominance reflects women’s subordination in wider society
- Unstructured interviews enable an equal + collaborative relationship
Why are unstructured interviews good for ‘Rapport and Sensitivity?’
- Allows for a researcher to develop a trusting conversation with interviewee
- Dobash + Dobash used unstructured interviews to study domestic violence
What is the ‘Interviewee’s view’ in unstructured interviews?
- Interviewee can produce fresh insights + valid data
- Researchers can probe interviewees for developed thoughts
Why are unstructured interviews good for ‘Checking Understanding?’
Interviewer + interviewer can check each other’s meanings + follow up clarifications
Why are unstructured interviews ‘Flexible?’
Researcher can formulate new ideas, themes, questions + hypotheses to test them
Why are unstructured interviewers good for ‘Exploring Unfamiliar Topics?’
- Researcher has little subject knowledge on the issue researched
- Unstructured interviews develop initial ideas on a topic
What are the ‘Practical Problems’ with unstructured interviews?
- Not time efficient
- Training is necessary to conduct research (Costly)
- Interviewers need good interpersonal skills to establish rapport
Why aren’t unstructured interviews ‘Representative?’
Tend to be small scale when conducted, can’t be generalised
Why aren’t unstructured interviews ‘Reliable?’
Not standardised as each interview is unique + impossible to replicate
Why aren’t unstructured interviews ‘Quantifiable?’
Open-questions can’t be quantified + not useful to establish cause + effect relationships
Why aren’t unstructured interviews ‘Valid?’
Critics argue because they are interactive, it distorts the information obtained
What did Oakley argue about ‘Interviewer Bias?’
As a mother herself, she found it difficult to remain detached when interviewing women on maternity
Why are interviews ‘Artificial?’
Every interview isn’t a normal conversation, answers can’t be guaranteed to be truthful
Why do interviews produce ‘Power and Status inequalities?’
- Inequalities between interviewer + interviewer may impact honesty
- Social class, Age, Gender + Ethnicity can impact interviews
What did Rich find about unstructured interviews?
When adults interviewed children, answers will often reflects the child’s need to please the interviewer
Why are there ‘Cultural Differences’ in interviews?
Misunderstandings between interviewer + interviewee as a result of different meanings attached to words
What is the ‘Social Desirability Effect’ in interviews?
- Social interactions cause people to seek approval
- Interviewees may not answer truthfully to avoid judgement
What are the ‘Ethical Issues’ with interviews?
Interviewee may feel under pressure to answer questions
