Interviews

Unstructured interviews

• Like a guided conversation

• Topics in mind to cover (interview schedule), but few pre-set questions

• Aims to obtain depth, feelings

Dobash & Dobash

Conducted unstructured interviews with women who were victims of domestic violence

Barker

Conducted unstructured interviews (as well as observation) to find out if the religious group ‘Moonies’ had been brainwashed

Practical considerations - unstructured

• Can build up rapport, so more likely to ‘open up’

• Flexibility allows follow up

• Respondent may try to please the interviewer

• Huge amount of data produced

• Lacks representativeness

• Cost of training

• Relevance

• Interviewer bias

Ethical considerations - unstructured

• Uncomfortable - distress

• Rapport - allows people to open up

• Potential discussion of sensitive topics and information

Theoretical considerations - unstructured

• Valid - allows researcher to gain ‘verstehen’

• Unreliable, not repeated easily

• Favoured by interpretivists, qualitative data, provides meaning, details, feelings

Structured inerviews

• Based on structured, pre-coded questionnaire administered by an interviewer (reading out a questionnaire)

• Asks questions in same order each time, not probing for more information

• provides qualitative and some quantitative data

Crime Survey for England and Wales

Data on crimes committed but nor always known by police

Humphreys

Turned up at door of people previously observed in his study of homosexuality in 1950s

Practical considerations - structured

• Time consuming

• Cheap to train researcher

• Limited resources (pen, paper)

• Access to venue e.g. school

Ethical considerations - structured

• Uncomfortable/probing questions may lead to distress

• Rapport is difficult - building relationships with people to open up

• Sensitive topics may be discussed

• Opportunity to withdraw, informed consent etc.

Theoretical considerations - structured

• Validity low as cannot gain a reason why

• Reliable especially if answers pre-coded

• Favoured by positivists due to quantitative data, representative

Group interviews

• Unstructured interview done in a group, interviewer speaks to large number of pts

• Influence of peer pressure (e.g. young gangs)

• Also focus groups: A discussion topic set for a small group and the researcher keeps discussion on topic and encourages members to participate

paul Willis

Study of 12 working class lads, counter school culture

Ofsted

Gets focus groups of students together for inspections etc.

Practical considerations - group

• Can build on ideas of others

• Interviewer can clarify responses

• Group think

• Go off topic, no relevant info

• Practically hard to analyse data

• Can’t generalise

Ethical considerations - group

• Feelinfs of rapport established

• Peer pressure

• Right to withdraw, informed consent etc.