Structured Interviews

Question 1

What is a Structured Interview?

Answer 1

A structured interview is a quantitative research method commonly employed in survey research. This involves a conversation between the interviewer and participants following a set list of predetermined questions regarding the subject matter of study.

Question 2

Practical - Strengths

Answer 2

• Structured interviews are practically advantageous because the interviewer does not need to as much time with respondents in relation to asking the questions and obtaining the answers. This means that structured interviews can be less time consuming.
• The creation of numerical data provides practical benefits because the interviewer has to spend less time to analyse the data in which statistical analysis is easier in comparison to the interpretation of qualitative data.

Question 3

Practical - Weaknesses

Answer 3

• The Crime Survey is an example of a structured interview which has practical limitations. This is because it uses a sample size of 51,000 in 2010/11 which creates a large sample size which is time consuming and costly.

Question 4

Ethics - Strengths

Answer 4

• Ethics of structured interviews are high because participants must be asked in order to be interviewed. This means that interviewers can ensure that informed consent is gained.
• Ethics of structured interviews are high because they are less likely to cover sensitive topics due to not having room for expansion of answers. Therefore, respondents are typically protected from harm.

Question 5

Theoretical - Strengths

Answer 5

• Structured interviews are favoured by positivist because they ensure reliability as a result of all participants being asked the same questions.

Question 6

Theoretical - Weaknesses

Answer 6

• Structured interviews are criticised by interpretivists because the creation of quantitative data fails to provide in-depth information regarding respondents and lacks validity.

Question 7

Reliability - Strengths

Answer 7

• Structured interviews are reliable because the set let of closed questions with predetermined answers helps to provide a standardised procedure. For example, how many questions there are and what order they appear in. Therefore, structured interviews are reliable in order to test for consistency of results.

Question 8

Representativeness - Strengths

Answer 8

• Due to practical benefits of questionnaires, it is easy to gain a large amount of data in a shorter period of time. This means that representativeness is likely to be improved because the sample is more likely to consist of a variety of people with different characteristics.
• Structured interviews typically have a high response rate because the researcher writes down the answers given to the questions opposed to the respondent. This avoids unrepresentative samples caused by low response rates in which those who are most likely to drop out will have the same characteristics.

Question 9

Representativeness - Weaknesses

Answer 9

• In Young and Wilmott’s study, 2500 questionnaires were completed in the form of structured interviews. This a smaller sample than if they chose a postal questionnaire which may affect representativeness. This is because the data may not be representative of all married couples

Question 10

Validity - Strengths

Answer 10

• Structured interviews typically use closed questions as a way of gathering information which provides quantitative data. This allows for a statistical analysis of the responses to improve the validity of the data. This is because the analysis does not involve any interpretation of answers and is therefore free from subjectivity.

Question 11

Validity - Weaknesses

Answer 11

• Validity is compromised due to the lack of insight gained as result of mainly closed questions being used. This means that there are predetermined answers for respondents to select from with no option to expand their answers. Therefore, the responses may not be a true reflection of respondent’s opinions which compromises validity.