Interviews

Question 1

What are structured/formal interviews?

Answer 1

• Those in which the interviewer asks the same interviewee the same questions in the same way to different respondents
• Typically involve reading out questions from a pre written and pre coded structured questionnaire

Question 2

What are unstructured interviews?

Answer 2

• aka: informal or discovery interviews
• More like a guided convo
• Interviewer has complete freedom to vary the questions from respondent to respondent
• Can follow whatever lines of enquiry they think are most appropriated, depending on responses given by each respondent

Question 3

What is an interview schedule?

Answer 3

A list of questions or topic areas the interviewer wishes to ask or cover in the course of the interview
- more structured the interview, the more rigid the interview schedule will be

Question 3

What are semi structured interviews?

Answer 3

Those in which respondents have a list of questions but they’re free to ask further, differential questions based on the responses given

Question 3

What are focus groups?

Answer 3

• Type of group interview in which respondents are asked to discuss certain topics

Question 4

What are group interviews?

Answer 4

Interviewer interviews two or more respondents at a time
- group interviews have their own unique strength and limitations

Question 5

What are practical advantages to interviews?

Answer 5

Relatively quick method for gaining in depth data
- good method to combine with overt participant observation in order to get respondents to further explain the meaning behind their actions

Question 5

What are ethical disadvantages?

Answer 5

• Assuming that informed consent is gained and confidentially ensured
• Researchers gaining in depth data and insight into who the person really is offers the potential for the info to do more harm to the respondent if it gets into the wrong hands#
• dependent on the topics discussed and the exact content of the interviews tho

Question 6

What’s a practical disadvantage?

Answer 6

Impractical as you have to often combine them with other methods

Question 7

What are theoretical advantages to the interviews?

Answer 7

• Rapport and Empathy
• Checking understanding
• Good for sensitive topics
• Empowerment for respondents

Question 8

What is meant by rapport and emapthy?

Answer 8

• encourage good rapport between interviewee and interviewer
• Unstructured interviews are more likely to make respondents feel at ease than with the more formal setting of a structured questionnaire or experiment
• Encourages openness, trust and empathy

Question 9

What is meant by checking understanding?

Answer 9

Unstructured interviews allow the interviewee to check understanding
- If an interviewee doesn’t understand a question, the interviewer is free to rephrase it or to ask follow up questions to clarify aspects of answers that weren’t clear in the first instance

Question 10

What is meant by good for sensitive topics?

Answer 10

• Unstructured interviews are good for sensitive topics because they’re more likely to make respondents feel at ease
• allow the interviewer to show more sympathy (if required) than with the colder more mechanical quantitative methods

Question 11

What is meant by empowerment for respondents?

Answer 11

Researcher and respondents are on more equal footing than with more quantitative methods, the researcher doesn’t assume they know best
- Empowers respondents
- Feminists researchers believe that unstructured interviews can neutralize the hierarchical, exploitative power relations that believed to be inherent in the more traditional interview structure