interviews

Question 1

types of interviews

Answer 1

structured

semi-structured

unstructured

Question 2

structured interviews

Answer 2

a closed answered questionnaire is read out to respondents following a set script

little scope for interaction between the respondent and the interviewer

Question 3

semi-structured interviews

Answer 3

the interviewer has a interview schedule but will follow up on issues of relevance that come up in the interview

Question 4

unstructured interviews

Answer 4

the interviewer may have some topics they wish to discuss but the interview can cover any issues in depth

Question 5

practical advantages to structured

Answer 5

response rate - better response rate than questionnaires

time - quicker to conduct than more unstructured so large sample - Willmott and Young - 933 interviews

Personal skills - dont need special training

Question 6

ethical advantages to structured

Answer 6

informed consent and privacy - people are free to not take part and respondents coded numerically

Question 7

theoretical advantages to structured

Answer 7

interviewer effect - conducted in a more formal manner and answers more limited, so less chance of interviewer bias than with semi- or unstructured- this produces higher validity - positivists

generalisability - large samples

Question 8

practical issues for structured

Answer 8

time - more time-consuming than other forms such as questionnaires if sample is large

Question 9

theoretical issues for structured

Answer 9

interviewer effect - lower validity - social desirability effect

interviewer bias - may ask leading questions - tone and facial expressions may influence responses

validity - structured interviews are seen as having the same problems of validity as questionnaires

Question 10

practical advantages to semi-structured

Answer 10

time - whilst taking longer than structured interviews - relatively quick way to gain qualitative data

Question 11

theoretical advantages to semi-structured

Answer 11

validity - allows some depth and detail as interviewers can probe to further responses - validity

triangulation - provide in-depth info to particular questions - interviews help create questionnaires - may be used alongside questionnaires to provide qualitative data to support quantitative

Question 12

theoretical disadvantages to semi-structure

Answer 12

reliability - unstructured part is less reliable, less comparable and more difficult to quantify

limited flexibility - closely linked to specific questions and topics - unable to cover new possibilities

Question 13

practical advantages for unstructured

Answer 13

rapport - building rapport with respondent, trust is built between interviewer and respondent - useful for access to sensitive groups

Question 14

theoretical advantages to unstructured

Answer 14

flexibility - direct interview towards own priorities - high validity - interpretivists

honesty - rapport - more likely to be truthful - valid - interpretivists

in-depth

Question 15

practical issues for unstructured

Answer 15

time-consuming - limit sample size

personal skills - communication and emphasising skills of researcher

sociological knowledge - so they can recognise relevant points and probe further - issues if professional interviewer and not specialist sociologist

Question 16

ethical issues for unstructured

Answer 16

confidentiality - research publications quote from interviews - anonymity may be compromised esp with observations

Question 17

theoretical disadvantages for unstructured

Answer 17

representative - time consuming - small sample

qualitative data - ahrd to quantify

low reliability - different interviewers will always get different responses as would same interviewer

low comparability

validity - positivists - social desirability effect and interviewer effect is stronger and also analysis is subjective

Question 18

group interviews

Answer 18

interview a number of people at the same time

Question 19

practical advantages for group

Answer 19

cost and time

Question 20

theoretical advantages for group

Answer 20

group interaction - good for exploring group dynamics and interactions - high validity of how people interact with others

in-depth data - respondents may feel less self-conscious in a group and so reveal more of their true opinions and feelings - high validity

Question 21

theoretical issues of groups

Answer 21

validity - pressured by group - conformity - Asch

validity - one or two individuals may dominate discussion

reliability - cannot be repeated

representative - researcher try to produce a rounded sample, small numbers

Question 22

positivist views on interviews

Answer 22

favour structured interviews - reliable, objective and representative

closed ended questions - correlations and causal laws

unstructured lack validity and are subjectively analysed

Question 23

interpretivist views on interviews

Answer 23

favour unstructured as in-depth info and rapport

Question 24

feminist views on interviews

Answer 24

favour unstructured as respondents become equal partner in discussion so remove patriarchal power