Structured Interviews

Question 1

What is a structured interview?

Answer 1

Interviewer is given strict instructions on how to ask questions. The interview is conducted in a standardised way, asking precisely the same questions

Question 2

What is a unstructured interview?

Answer 2

The interviewer has freedom to vary the questions, their wording and order. They can pursue whatever line of questioning seems appropriate, asking follow-up questions

Question 3

What is semi-structed interview?

Answer 3

Interview has a set of questions but interviewer can ask additional questions when relevant

Question 4

What is a group interview?

Answer 4

When a up to a dozen or so people are interviewed together

Question 5

What are practical advantages of structured interviews?

Answer 5

• Training interviewers inexpensive as all they have to do is follow instructions
• They can cover a large number of people with limited resources as they’re quick and cheap to administer
• Results are easily quantified as they use closed-ended questions, making them suitable for hypothesis testing

Question 6

How can structured interviews be representative?

Answer 6

• The large numbers who can be surveyed increase its representativeness, and structured interviews have a higher response rate than questionnaires.
• Response rates can increase if researcher makes call backs to pursue those who refused but this can be costly

Question 7

Give an example of an interview with a high response

Answer 7

Of the roughly 1,000 people Young and Willmott approached for their sample, only 54 refused to be interviewed. This may be as turning down a face-to-face request is harder.

Question 8

How can structured interviews be unrepresentative?

Answer 8

As with questionnaires, those with time or willingness to be interviewed may be atypical, which produces unrepresentative data

Question 9

How are structured interviews reliable?

Answer 9

• Structured interviews are easy to standardise and control, ensuring each interview is conducted in the same way
• As all interviewees are asked the same questions, it makes it easy to compare their answers to identify similarities and differences

Question 10

What issues of validity with structured interviews?

Answer 10

• As they use closed-ended questions, it limits interviewees answers. If none of the answers fit what they think, the data obtained will be invalid
• People may lie or exaggerate. These responses will produce false data
• Interviewers have little freedom to explain questions or clarify.

Question 11

Describe Graham feminist criticisms of structured interviews

Answer 11

• Graham argues survey methods are patriarchal and give a distorted picture of women’s experiences
• Surveys impose categories on women, making it difficult for them to express their experiences, concealing the unequal power relationships
• Survey methods treat women as isolated rather than seeing them in the context of the power relationships that oppress them

Question 12

Describe Oakley’s feminist criticisms of structured interviews

Answer 12

• She argues this positivistic ‘masculine’ approach to research placing a high value on objectivity and regards ‘science’ as more important than furthering the interests of the people it researches
• There’s a strict division, where the researcher takes an active role while the interviewee has a passive role. This mirrors the gender divisions of patriarchal society