interviews

Question 1

structured interviews

Answer 1

favoured by positivists - method of structured interview involve face-to-face or over-the-phone delivery of a questionnaire. they use a list of pre-set questions, designed by the researcher and asked for all interviews in the same way

Question 2

structured interviews - advantages (5)

Answer 2

practical - training interviewers is easy and cheap

practical - cheap and easy to administer

representative - can reach a geographically wide research sample

results are easily quantifiable because they use close-ended questions with coded answers

reliable - the structured process provides a ‘recipe’ for reproducibility

Question 3

structured interviews - disadvantages (2)

Answer 3

lack of validity: the use of closed-ended and pre-coded answers may not fit what the interview wishes to say

lack of validity: people may lie or exaggerate

Question 4

unstructured interviews

Answer 4

favoured by interpretivists. mainly ask open-ended questions that produce qualitative data. there is a strong relationship built between the interviewer and the interviewee, which means it is more likely to be valid

Question 5

unstructured interviews - advantages (3)

Answer 5

Rapport - the informality allows the interviewer to develop a relationship with the interviewee

flexibility - the interviewer is not restricted to a fixed set of questions

valid - they are flexible due to how the conversation is not constrained by fixed questions - people can be more truthful

Question 6

unstructured interviews - disadvantages (3)

Answer 6

practical - time consuming, due to how unstructured interviews are typically longer, and expensive due to training interviewers in sensitivity

unrepresentative - due to small research samples, data obtained is not representative of the wider population

not reliable - due to how the questions are open, thy cannot be easily repeated by another researcher. additionally, the respondents ability to respond in the way they wish makes it impossible to clarify their responses

Question 7

semi structured interviews

Answer 7

qualitative member of inquiry that combines a pre-determined set of open questions, with the opportunity for the interviewer to explore particular themes or responses further

Question 8

semi-structured interviews - advantages (3)

Answer 8

large amount of detail generated

fairly flexible and sensitive

easier to analyse that unstructured interviews

Question 9

semi-structured interviews - disadvantages (5)

Answer 9

can’t guarantee honesty of participants

cause and effect cannot be inferred

flexibility of interviewer may lessen reliability

open-ended questions are difficult to analyse

difficult to compare answers