interviews Flashcards
structured / formal interviews
strict questions to ask, interview consducted in the same way every time same questions word for word ,same order same tone
unstructured/ informal interviews
like conversations .
interviewer has freedom to cary questions, pursuing whatever line of questions seems appealing asking follow up questions
semi structured interviews
same set of questions in common but researcher can prove for more information
cicourel and Kitsuse - semi structured
always followed up questions with what do you mean?
as a way of gaining more information
group interviews -Willis
used that for lads and schooling with focus groups to discuss certain topics
practical issues ; structured interviews
- training interviewers is straightforward + inexpensive however this is more costly than questionnaires that do not involve interactions
- cover large numbers of people with relatively little resources because quick + easy, however cannot match the large numbers of postal questionnaires
practical advantages of surcutred interviews
- structure interviews suitable for gathering straightforward large info
- easily quantified, suitable for hypothesis testing
the response rate of structured interviews
large numbers of people can be surveyed increases chances of generalisability
young and willlmott : the response the rate
from 987 participants chosen, 54 refused to be interviewed, people may find it harder to have a face to face opportunity to talk
how to increase response rates
making several calls back to those who fail to respond for a more representable response
how can structured interviews be representable
lonely people with time on their hands are attracted whereas busy people will not reply so cannot make generalization of the true population
reliability and structured intreviews
reliable, it is easy to replicate and standarise the research in precisely the same way, order tone….
if this is done the answers of the questions will not be influenced and so the same so its easy to identity any differences or similarities
validity and structured interviews
- close ended questions, so there is a limited set of answers to chose from which may not represent the true feeling + though of the participant - invalid
- very little freedom to explain answers, if participant doesn’t understand the participant must move on to the next question
- people may exaggerate. false data produced
- personal characteristics of the interviewer may influence the answer of the participant
inflexibility and structured interviews
research must decide what is important and finalise it, but if new interest comes up they cannot explore it
this means that it can lack validity, it does not measure researchers true questions
- they fail to capture the flowing, dynamic nature of life as it is only for one period of society .
cannot measure social phenomena of diff times
feminist criticism of structured interviews according to this sociologist
Graham argues that these interviews give a distorted, invalid picture of women’s experience
- men are in charge of research and so line of questioning is followed. represents womens subordination in wider society
- survey methods treat women as isolated individuals in society making it difficult to express the oppression in the power of institutions
- researcher may not be interested in the female oppression, it is difficult to voice the oppression they receive
these questions do not represent womens behaviour, attitudes because they may not even be explored
why may some feminists like structured interviews
enables researcher to build a more equal + colleberative relationship
rapport and senstivity - advantages if unctructred interviews
allows rapport to be built, buts the interviewee at ease so they answer more correctly + give more knowledge of experience.
enocurages a more formal interview
Labov and unstructured interviews (rapport)
using formal method to test he language of black american children
Labov found that they were linguistically deprived, however having a more relaxed style , interviewer sitting on the floor children opened up + spoke freely shpwing they are competent speakers
uncsturctued interviews good at what tpye of reseach topics
sensitive topics e.g Dobash + Dobash used them to study DV
empathy + encouragement of interviewer allowed them to be comfortable discussing sensitive topics ( rapport)
the interviewers view - advantage of unstructured interviews
no set questions, questions not made up before hand so it is possible to be flexible and ask questions of a new interest with a participant to find a wag large in info that interactionists like
valid data prodcued
Dean and Taylor - Gooby
used unstructured tape recorded interviews lasting up to 90 mins wit h85 people
questions were not put in set order, wording of Q’s adapted to fit circumstances of the respondent + situation additional Q’s + prompts used in interviewers discretion to clarify / develop themes
the understanding of questions - advantages of unstructured interviews
Checking understanding is easy by the interaction of the researcher + person to check eachothers meaning
produced valid data
if question ont understoof it can be explained
follow up Q’s to check up theme
flexibility and unstructured interviews advantages
they can be more flexible to to ask different
Q’s of what seems appropriate at the time
exploring unfamiliar topics - advantages of structured interviews
a hypothesis before interviewing may be established
open ended questions can be asked and start to develop a new topic and go on to have structured interviews to test reliability of new hypothesis
disadvantages of unstructured interviews - pratical problems
time + sample size -large quantity of data means that is is time consuming so that means that they need small scale samples- may not be generalisable
training - more thorough training as it needs skill to ask the right questions to keep the conversation flowing
interpersonal skills - must have good skills in building a rapport and making the participant comfortable
representativeness - disadvantage of unstructured interviews
small scale samples means that it lacks the reflection of the wider population and so we cannot make generalisations
reliability - disadvantage of unstructured interviews
– may not be reliable as it is not standarised, each participant has diff Q’s as it meets their personal experiences - its impossible to repeat questions + compare findings
quantification - disadvantages of unstructured interviews
mainly open ended so data is difficult to quantify + standaridse
validity - disadvantage of unstructured interviews
- generally aim to produce valid data - social desirability may cause participant to have diff answers that are not true
interviewer bias in question asking
interviewer may ask leading Q’s that may also lead answers of participants
may consciously/ unconsciously influence the answer by facial expressions, body language, tone of voice
Oakley and interviewer bias
Oakley admits that as a mother herself she found it hard to remain detached from the study
Artificiality of interviews
not a normal situation, doubtful if true answers obtained
status and power inequalities of interviews
interviewees honesty/ willingness to answer
bigger the status difference the less valid the data
gender differences causes interviewing to be more difficult
status and power inequalities of interviews - Rich
when adults interview children children feel like they need to please the interviewer
status and power inequalities of interviews - Griffin
gender differences made interviewing to be abandoned and use participant observation instead
cultural differences in interviews
undermine validity e.g misunderstandings to the meanings of same words
cultural differences in interviews - Mead
research on adolescents in Samoa in the western pacific had been criticised that mead couldnt speak the language, unable to spot that girls misunderstood
the social desirability effect
people often seek for approval, may be on best behaviour that presents them in favorable light
ethical issues and interviews
may feel pressure to answer some questions
informed consent should be given + anonymity guaranteed
reduce psychological harm
improving the validity of interviews -Kinsey
questions on sexual behaviour, he asked questions rapidly, giving little thinking time.
- not very valid
cultural differences in interviews - Becker, how did he gain sensitive answer from a sensitive topic
he used aggression approach, playing dumb, disbelief in extracting some sensitive information about what was ideal in ethnicity, gender and more
how does Nazroo overcome the cultural differences of interviewees and interviewrs
makes sure that ethnicity and language are matched so that they were no personal characteristics affecting answers
group interviews advantages + disadvantgaes
- participants may feel more comfortable + more likely to open up
- discussion stimulating ideas are thrown around, producing reflective data
- generating initial ideas that can form a hypothesis to be later investigated
- researcher combines Q’s with opportunity to observe the group
- 1 or 2 individuals may dominate discussion, inhibiting others from contributing
- depends on researchers ability to keep group focused on the discussion topic
- peer pressure of group to conform to answers - not reliable
- data is complex + difficult to analyse
