Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Unstructured Interviews - Coggle Diagram
Unstructured Interviews
what are they?
ask mainly open ended questions, with no fixed set of questions to be asked of every respondent
-
-
are informal and free flowing and more normal than a structured interview - more like a guided conversation
-
-
Validity
trust and rapport can develop between interviewer and interviewee and the more likely they are to open up often helping when researching sensitive issues and increases the chances of getting full and honest responses
they avoid the sociologists imposing their ideas onto the interview as interviewees have the opportunity to reply in their own words in ways that are meaningful to them and the interviewee has the opp to raise issues they think are important
-
allow interviewees scope to give detailed, in depth reactions and the more detailed the greater understanding of the subjects worldview
DISADVANTAGES
the close bond may increase the chance of the respondent seeking to please by giving the answer they think the researcher wants to hear
the researcher has to interpret and be selective about what is presented in the final research report but the researcher's own perspective may distort the interviewee's original meanings
Lack of reliability - positives say the lack of structure makes it impossible to classify and count their responses meaning statistical evidence cannot be created from informal interviews, preventing comparisons being drawn or correlations being established
Lack of representativeness - take longer to carry out and limits the size of research sample as harder to obtain a rep sample from a small number of respondents, this may limit the ability of the researcher to make generalisations
Unsuitable for sensitive issues - some people may prefer to fill in an anonymous postal questionnaire rather than answer probing questions asked fact to face
Cost - need to be trained in sensitivity, the purpose of the research, how much to explain to interviewees etc. which adds to cost and it does as it takes longer to carry out and to process the data they create
Relevance - interviewee may touch areas that are irrelevant unless the interviewer is prepared to redirect the respondent with possible loss of validity and alot of time may be wasted and irrelevant data collected
Group interviews - can help jog memories, stimulate answers and suggest lines of enquiry but there is a danger that individuals will offer conformist answers rather than say what they really think
-