Interviews Flashcards
(8 cards)
What are interviews?
-a type of qualitative research method where researchers engage in conversations with participants
-They gather in-depth information about a specific topic.
What are the 2 types of interviews?
-structured interviews
-unstructured interviews
What is a structured interview?
• an interview that follows a list of pre-set questions
• interviewees choose from a limited list of possible answers.
• They are usually done face-to-face or over the phone.
• Usually consists of mainly-closed ended questions which creates quantitative data.
• Favoured by positivists.
What are strengths of structured interviews?
• they are reliable because they use a fixed list of questions, so it can be easily repeated by another interviewer. T and P
• They are relatively quick to conduct, which means the interviewer can get a large sample. P
• They are the cheapest form of interview. P
What are weaknesses of structured interviews?
• They lack validity because the questions and responses are already predetermined, so may not fit what the interviewee actually thinks. P
• Employing interviewers incurs a cost. P
• Not useful for many situations (eg- sensitive subjective topics). PTE
What are unstructured interviews ?
• An interview that asks mainly open ended questions. There are non fixed set to ask every person.
• They produce qualitative meaningful data.
• Guided by the interviewee as well as the interview.
• Free- flowing, so similar to a natural conversation.
• A strong relationship is built between the interviewer and the interviewee.
• Favoured by Interpretivists.
What are some strengths for unstructured interviews?
• Because they are informal, participants may be more likely to ‘open up’. - T
• Because questions aren’t fixed, there’s less chance of ideas being imposed. T
• Interviewers can add questions in to exp]ore specific answers further. T
What are some weaknesses of unstructured interviews?
• Not reliable at all. - T
• Too much data. - P
• Not always relevant. - T
• Employing interviewers can be expensive. - P
• Can close a relationship and ‘conversational’ tone can make answers ‘less’ valid? - T
