INTERVIEWS IN SOCIOLOGY

What are structured interviews?

interviews follow a schedule, a set list of questions that the interviewwer sticks to

What are unstructered interviews?

more like a conversation on a theme with the interviewer asking questions as they arise as part of the conversation

SDB and unstructered interviews?

can decrease it as it flows like a natural conversation but can increase as it builds a rapport and the interviewee wants to be likeable

what type of interviews are most often used in real life?

semi structures

closed questions

quant data, facts given, easy to answer, quick to answer, questioner keeps control of the conversation

open questions

qual data, respondents can think and reflect, opinions and feelings, control of the conversation to the respondent

strengths of structured interviews

cost effective, little trainin needed, gather in depth data if open questions used, replicable, questions already set out, closed questions give easy to answer quant data

strengths of unstructured interviews

allows more in depth info (room for development), can ask follow up questions or follow up interesting areas, ask for clarification, develop rapport

weaknesses of structered interviews

sdb and hawthorne effect, not possile to deiate from interview, less depth

weaknesses of unstructered interviews

easy to go off topic, sdb, expensive and time consuming, interviewer bias (make questions up on the spot), need high level of skill, not easy to replicate

Interviewer bias in structured interviews?

interviewers expressions, body language and ton can all influence answers or the interviewer may identify too closely with the group being studied

How does status and power inequality effect interviews?

inequalities between the interviewer and interviewee’s willingness to answer honestly

What did Rich say about status and power inequality?

when adults interview children, the childrens need to please the interviewer effected their answers

What did Griffin say about status and power inequalities?

1962, abandoned interviews for participant observations because of this

What does Graham say about interviews?

1983, questionnaires and structured interviews are patriachal give us an invalid picture of women’s experiences, researcher is in control of the interview and decides the line of questioning, mirroring womens subordination in society, survey methods treat women as isolated individuals ignoring the context of the power relations

What do fixed choice questions do to women?

impose categories on women, meaning that they can’t expresas their experiences of opression, results will conceal power imbalances between sexes

What are feminist criticism similiar to?

similiar to interpretivist criticisms, structured interviews don’t reveal how the interviewee sees the situation

What does Graham recommend doing?

using direct observation to allow researchers to understand women’s behaviour, attitudes and meanings, other feminists favour unstructured interviews so researchers can build equal and collaborative relationships with interviewees based on trust and empathy

What did Kinsley find out about interviews?

asked questions about sexual behaviour very rapidly so that interviewees would have less time to think that and lie in their answers

What can follow up interviews be used for?

checking the reliability of answers

What did Becker use in his interviews?

used agression, disbelief and ‘playing dumb’ when interviewing chicago schoolteachers to extract sensitive info they wouldn’t have otherwise revealed

Nazroo’s survey

on health of ethnic groups were carried out in in the interviewee’s language of chice, ensure the interviewer and inteviewees ethnically and linguistically match to avoid power imbabalances