Interviews

What are interviews?

• Interviews are conversations between a researcher and a respondent about a certain topic of interest

• The range of questions, both open-ended or closed, which may or may not follow a specific interview schedule

What are structured interviews?

Face-to-face from a list of standardised questions

What are semi-structured interviews?

Face-to-face, some standardised questions but with the ability to ask follow-up questions

What are unstructured interviews?

Face-to-face in a less formal setting with themes to discuss, rather than set questions, giving the researcher flexibility to take the interview in whichever direction they choose

What are group interviews?

Often referred to as focus groups- Can be structured, semi-structured or structured

What is the usefulness of interviews?

• Higher response rate than questionnaires

• Can provide quantitative and qualitative data depending on the structure of the questions

• Can explain and clarify questions and develop a rapport with respondents to gain more valid responses

• Structured interviews can be repeated, so high reliability

What are the practical issues with interviews?

• Cost: Training and recruiting of interviewers can be expensive

• Time: It can be time-consuming to gain a representative sample and to transcribe and analyse findings

• The skill level required for interviewers varies depending on the structure on the structure of the interview

What are the ethical issues with interviews?

• Can be useful for socially sensitive issues, however, they may cause respondents to recall psychologically upsetting memories

• Revealing information in group interviews may be distressing or have consequences

• Anonymity and confidentiality of responses need to be guaranteed as they could cause distress to respondents if their experiences are revealed to others

• Illegal or immoral activities may be disclosed during interviews which presents researchers with an ethical dilemma

What are the theoretical issues with interviews?

• Issues of validity: Interviewer’s presence may mean people give socially desirable answers

• Interactions with the interviewer may also be influenced by the theoretical preferences of an interviewer

• Depending on the format, interviews can have issues with reliability and the ability to generalise

• Positivists prefer structured interviews, whilst interpretivists favour unstructured interviews

What are the examples of interviews?

• Becker: Unstructured interviews with teachers to formulate ideas of ‘Ideal Pupils’

• Carlen: Unstructured interviews when assessing gender and criminality

• Willis: Unstructured and group interviews as part of studying anti-school subcultures in ‘Learning to Labour’