Interviews

Question 1

What is a practical advantage of all interviews?

Answer 1

You can plan as many as you need

Question 2

What are the practical issues with all interviews?

Answer 2

Costly (money + time)

Low accessibility

Time limit may restrict validity

Question 3

What are the ethical advantages of all interviews?

Answer 3

Informed consent

Identities can be kept confidential

Question 4

What are the ethical concerns with all types of interviews?

Answer 4

Consent may be hard to get

Interviewees may be uncomfortable with the setting

Power and status inequality may make some people uncomfortable

Question 5

What are the validity advantages of all types of interviews?

Answer 5

Able to read body language

Know that the right person is answering

Able to use own words

More spontaneous answers

Rapport

Question 6

What are the validity concerns with all interviews?

Answer 6

Interviewer bias

Social desirability effect

Imposition problem

Lack of anonymity makes it hard to be honest

Demand characteristics

Question 7

Case study for interviewer bias

Answer 7

Labov, 1968

Young black children were more open and thorough in their responses to black over white interviews

Question 8

Practical advantages with structured interviews

Answer 8

Quick

Little training required

Question 9

Practical disadvantages with structured interviews

Answer 9

Not possible to alter/ adapt poor questions during process

Question 10

Ethical advantages of structured interviews

Answer 10

Questions can be screened beforehand

Less pressure on respondent as questions are often closed

Question 11

What makes structured interviews reliable?

Answer 11

Standardised questions

Same order

Easy to repeat and challenge

Question 12

Validity advantages of structured interviews

Answer 12

Able to explain phrasing

Question 13

What are the validity concerns with structured interviews?

Answer 13

Questions can be restrictive

Imposition problem unchangeable

Question 14

Case study for structured interviews

Answer 14

Young and Wilmott, 1957

Bethnal Green

Able to represent 1000 people with short biographical questions

• Time consuming

Question 15

What type of interviews can be generalised?

Answer 15

Structured - comparisons are easily made

Patterns easily seen

Stratified sampling ensures a representative group

Question 16

What are the practical disadvantages of unstructured interviews?

Answer 16

Interviewers must all be trained the same

Difficult to classify qualitative results

May stray too far from objective

Question 17

Ethical advantages of unstructured interviews

Answer 17

Can build a comfortable relationship so it is easier to talk about sensitive topics

Question 18

Ethical disadvantages of unstructured interviews

Answer 18

Subject could become too distressing

Question 19

Why aren’t unstructured interviews reliable?

Answer 19

Impossible to replicate the exact conditions and conversation

Question 20

What are the validity advantages of unstructured interviews?

Answer 20

Guided conversation

Deeper concepts can be explored

Full explanations can be prompted with extra Qs

Question 21

Relate Labov’s 1968 study to unstructured interviews

Answer 21

1968

He intended to research black children’s speech patterns with structured questions

Got better results by sitting on the floor with them in their friendship groups

Question 22

Why can’t you generalise unstructured interviews?

Answer 22

Small sample sizes

Intended to represent individual thoughts rather than reflect a whole target population

Question 23

Practical advantages of focus groups

Answer 23

Able to get several people’s opinions at once

Question 24

Practical issues with focus groups

Answer 24

Scribing whilst joining/leading discussion

Time consuming

May be hard to pull together a group

Question 25

What are the ethical concerns with focus groups?

Answer 25

Some participants may be incredibly shy or made to feel uncomfortable

Question 26

Reliability concerns with group interviews

Answer 26

Would be hard to replicate the same discussion

Path of discussion may rely on interviewer’s characteristics

Question 27

Validity advantages of group interviews

Answer 27

Complex discussions can spark

Very flexible

Sociologist’s ideas/hypothesis can change during the research

Can ask further questions

Strong face validity

Question 28

What is face validity?

Answer 28

Measuring what it is intended to

Question 29

What are the validity concerns with group interviews?

Answer 29

Social desire ability effect, especially amongst peers

Shyness may lead to people holding back

Major, popular opinions may be left unexplored or unmentioned by the small group

Question 30

Where are focus groups often used?

Answer 30

In marketing and public relations

Question 31

Are focus groups representative?

Answer 31

Yes - well composed groups should reflect a lot of diverse opinions

No - sample is likely to be from snowball/volunteer method

Multiple groups could express extremely different opinions which can’t be explained

Question 32

Case studies that advocate structured interviews

Answer 32

Sharpe - able to see trends over time

Question 33

Case studies that challenge structured interviews

Answer 33

Labov - children too uncomfortable in formal situation

Young and Willmott - validity of findings questionable - false impression?

Question 34

Case studies that advocate unstructured interviews

Answer 34

Dobash and Dobash - made victims of domestic violence more comfortable

Question 35

Case studies that challenge unstructured interviews

Answer 35

Willis - social desire ability effect

Hey - got participants out of class (unethical)