interviews - research methods

Question 1

what are interviews?

Answer 1

an interview is a conversation between a researcher and an interviewee where the researcher asks a set of questions

Question 2

what are structured interviews?

Answer 2

•structured interviews ask the same questions each time
•they are closed questions, with a set of multiple choice answers

Question 3

what data does structured interviews collect?

Answer 3

quantitative data

Question 4

what are unstructured interviews?

Answer 4

•unstructured interviews are informal with no rigid structure
•they use open-ended questions

Question 5

what data do unstructured interviews collect?

Answer 5

qualitative data

Question 6

what type of interviews would interpretivists prefer?

Answer 6

unstructured interviews

Question 7

what type of interviews would positivists prefer?

Answer 7

structured interviews

Question 8

structured interviews advantages

Answer 8

•cheaper than unstructured interviews as the interviewer for unstructured interviews would need more training
•quicker than unstructured interviews- saves time
•easier to quantify data

Question 9

structured interviews disadvantages

Answer 9

•the interviewer has to follow a list of questions so they can’t ask for more details
•not flexible

Question 10

unstructured interviews advantages

Answer 10

•flexible
•they’re good for researching sensitive issues, as the interviewer can gain the interviewees trust - building rapport

Question 11

unstructured interviews disadvantages