self report: interviews

Question 1

what is an interview

Answer 1

type of spoken questionnaire where the interviewer recorder the responses
→ interviews can be structured with a predetermined set of questions or unstructured where no questions are decided in advance

Question 2

unstructured (informal) interview

Answer 2

→ interviews that are like casual conversions
→ there are no set up questions and the pp is given the opportunity to raise whatever topics they feel are relevant and ask int their own way

Question 3

pros of unstructured interviews

Answer 3

→ high in ecological validity → pps have the complete freedom to repond in any way they choose and the interview is tailored towards them as an individual
→ thoughts, feeling, fears, hopes and emotions can all be openly expressed by the pp with no manipulation from the researcher
→ the researcher has the flexibility to pursue any interesting topics that emerge during the interview and can be discussed from several different perspectives → gives rich and detailed qualitative data especially if the client feels the interviewer is sympathetic and understanding to what their problem is

Question 4

cons of unstructured interviews

Answer 4

→ the responses cannot be compared fully as different may be asked
→ this means the qualitative data produced is not easy to analyse and compared, and standardised questions means that reliability cannot be assessed fully
→ researcher may lose their objectivity due to the imitate nature of unstructured interviews particularly if more than one interview sessions is required → they begin to feel too close to the pp and may begin to identify with them

Question 5

structured (formal) interviews

Answer 5

→interviews that are more like job interviews
→ there is a fixed, predetermined set of questions that are put to every pp in the same order and in the same way
→ the interviewer stays within their role and maintains social distance from the interviewee

Question 6

pros of structured interviews

Answer 6

→ the use of standardised questions means that the interview can be replicated and used by different researchers → this minimises the researcher effect as all researchers have to ‘stick to the script’ as it were rather than pursuing responses they find interesting
→ structured interviews may generate more quantitive data than unstructured interviews → which means the results can be statistically analysed and in turn increases the reliability of the findings

Question 7

cons of structured interviews

Answer 7

→ a predetermined set of questions may be restrictive
→ the pps may say something which should be explored further but the format of the structured interview does not allow this