Research methods based on primary data - interviews Flashcards
Structured interviews
The questions are the same and follow the same format
positivist
Unstructured interview
Follow like a conversation and are based on a topic/theme, participant isn’t restricted
Interpretivist
Semi-structured interviews
Follow a conversation and are based on a topic/them, participant isn’t restricted
Group interviews/focus groups
A group interview, save time and money
Socially desirable answers
Structured interviews - advantages
✓ High in reliability as questions are the same
✓ Quantitive
✓ Easy to analyse
Structured interviews - disadvantages
x Not in depth
x Lack validity as the participant can’t explain why
x Restricted
Unstructured interviews - advantages
✓ In depth
✓ High in validity
✓ Meaning’s and motives
✓ Not restricted
Structured interviews - disadvantages
x Lack reliability
x Hard to analyse
x Time consuming
Structured interviews - evidence
Wilmott and Young
- Used structured interviews in their research into extended family
- Sample consisted of 933 people
- Each interview took between 10 mins and half an hour
- Micro scale
- Not very time consuming, quick
- Multiple interviewers used, more reliable
Unstructured interviews - evidence
Dobash and Dobash
- ‘Violence against wives’
- Usually used by interpretivists
- Women had lived in refugees
- Time took 2-12 hours
- Provide detailed accounts
- 109 unstructured interviews, rapaur was established
- Women can talk freely
- Micro scale
Focus groups - dads on dads
- Aim was to discover how involved dads are in the lives of their families
- The researcher conducted 61 highly structured interviews
- Also held 3 focus groups where they were encouraged to talk about more in depth issues surrounding fatherhood
- Improve validity
- Group rapaur
The interview process
Ways in which social interaction can threaten validity
- Interviewer bias
- Artificially
- Cultural differences
- Status and power
- Socially desirable
