Unstructured interviews

What are advantages and disadvantages of unstructured interviews?

Advantages:

- The interviewer has complete freedom to vary the interview.

- The informality of unstructured interviews allow the interviewer allow the interviewer to develop a rapport with the interviewee.

Disadvantages:

- Smaller numbers- less representative

- Being in-depth explorations, unstructured interviews take a long time to conduct- often several hours each.

- Unstructured interviews are not reliable because they are not standardised.

What are advantages of semi-structured interviews?

They lie between two extremes. Each interview has the same set of questions in common, but the interviewer can also probe for more information.

What are advantages and disadvantages of group interviews?

Advantages:

- Focus groups are a form of a group interview in which the researcher asks the group to discuss certain topics.

- Participants may feel more comfortable with other and are more likely to open up.

Disadvantages:

- One or two individuals may dominate the discussion, inhibiting others from contributing.

- Peer group pressure to conform to group norms may lead to participants not saying what they really think.

What is the positivist view of using unstructured interviews?

Positivists reject unstructured interviews because each one is unique and cannot be replicated.

What is the interpretivist view of using unstructured interviews?

Unstructured interviews achieve the main interpretivist goal of validity. Absence of a pre-set structure means interviewees can discuss what is important to them. Open ended questions allow interviewees to express themselves in their own words- this produces qualitative data.

What are some practical (time, money and opportunity) advantages of using unstructured interviews?

-Perhaps it is easier to access participants for an unstructured interview as it is more informal and the respondent may not feel pressured to answer a specific way.

-The researcher may go out of their way to make the respondent feel comfortable.

What are some ethical (deception, informed consent and social sensitivity) advantages of using unstructured interviews?

-Low risk of deception

-The respondent has the opportunity to discuss sensitive topics the researcher can protect the respondent from harm.

What are some theoretical (representative, validity and reliability) advantages of using unstructured interviews?

It produces more qualitative data- interpretivist

What are some disadvantages of using unstructured interviews?

-Very time-consuming

-It may be harder to access participants who will be willing to give up a lot of time to take part in a research study.

What are some disadvantages of using unstructured interviews?

Sensitive topics may be discussed- protection from harm?

What are some theoretical disadvantages of using unstructured interviews?

The sample interviewed will not be representative/generalisable to the wider population. This means that it will be harder to make valid generalisations based on the findings of the interviews.