L11 - Collecting data - Interviews Flashcards
Name the three different types of interviews (Rowley, 2012)
Structured, semi-structured, unstructured
Structured interviews
- Formally structured
- No deviation from question
- Wording of each question as written
- No additional questions
- Similar in format as survey
Semi-structured interview
- More or less structured interview guide
- Wording of questions are flexible
- Level of language may be adjusted
- Interviewer makes clarifications, adds or delete probes
Unstructured interview
- Free-flowing conversation
- No set order to any questions
- No set wording
- Interviewer makes clarifications, adds or delete probes
When are structured interviews useful? (Rowley, 2012)
- Information gathering/fact checking
- Hypotheiss testing
- When comparability is needed
When are semi-structured interviews useful? (Rowley, 2012)
- When you have some idea of the phenomenon (concepts, linkage between concepts)
- When comparisons are needed
- When interviewing a larger number of individuals
When are unstructured interviews useful? (Rowley, 2012)
- If the interviewer has limitied prior knowledge (The interviwee guides the interview)
- When we don’t know what is there
- In connection with other methods e.g. observations
Name the different forms of interviews
- Face-to-face
- Telephone
- Virtual
- Group
What are the two approaches for determining length and number of questions in an interview? (Rowley, 2012)
Theoretical and pragmatic
Theoretical approach
The length of the interview as well as the number that you need to conduct depend on the nature of your research questions, and your research strategy
• E.g. an in-depth ethnographic study in which sensitive personal issues are being explored might require longer, and less structured interviews
Pragmatic approach
It is important to take into account both the length of time that interviewees are willing to make available for the interview, and the number of willing participants that can be identified.
Advantages of interviews
- Learn about people’s interpretations and points of view
- Compare between different interpretations
- Insight into important narratives
- Insigts into local norms, ideals, values
Disadvantages of interviews
- Knowledge depends on question asked
- Difference between saying and doing – You get the interviewee’s own perceptions
- Targets only existing knowledge that can be put into words
- Interviews are complex social situations
How can you ensure that questions are understandable? (Rowley, 2012)
Questions should be checked to ensure that they:
• are not leading or have implicit assumptions
• do not include two questions in one
• do not invite “yes/no” answers
• are not too vague or general
• are not, in any sense, invasive
• also consider the order of the questions
Name the four different views on interviews (Alvesson, 2003)
Neopositivist, romaticists, localist, reflexitivist
Neopositivst
“The interview as a research instrument”
Neopositivists are eager to establish a context-free truth about reality “out there” through following a research protocol and getting responses relevant to it, minimizing researcher influence and other sources of bias.
Romanticist
“the interview as a human encounter”
The romantic, advocating a more “genuine” human interaction, believes in establishing rapport, trust, and commitment between interviewer and interviewee, in particular in the interview situation. This is needed in order to be able to explore the inner world (meanings, ideas, feelings, intentions) or experienced social reality of interviewee.
Localist
“the interview as an empirical situation”
Localists’ approach emphasizes that interview statements must be seen in their social context.
E.g. People talk with their bosses, they serve customers, they drive trucks. They also participate in interviews
Reflexitivist
“Think about the content and situation”
• This approach means working with alternative lines of interpretation and vocabularies and reinterpreting the favored line(s) of understanding through the systemic involvement of alternative
