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Structured & unstructured interviews - Coggle Diagram
Structured & unstructured interviews
Unstructured interview - An informal interview with no fixed set of questions, allowing the conversation to flow freely and explore topics in depth.
Structured interview - A formal interview in which participants are asked the same prepared questions in the same order
Pros
Conversation style: means that people are at ease and open up.
Validity:
Flexible, probing, builds deeper understanding
Ethical: balance privacy/confidentiality with open discussion.
Examples of unstructured interviews
Interviewing people on the streets and podcasts
Pros
Quantitative data:
measurable and reliable - in theory, reproducible.
Precoded answers:
Easy to analyse
Objective
Quick
Arguably more ethical:
Don’t have to elaborate on difficult issues
Larger sample: more representative of the population
Examples of structured interviews
Job interviews and the news
Cons
Social desirability effect: People may act differently or lie to impress the researcher.
Interviewer bias: Researcher might prejudge and phrase questions a certain way.
Reliability issues: Subjective interpretation of data
More formal: May cause people not to open up/be normal
Cons
Social desirability effect: People may act differently or lie to impress the researcher.
Interviewer bias: Researcher might prejudge and phrase questions a certain way.
Imposition problem: Multi-choice means the sociologist is imposing their version of reality on the participant
More formal: May cause people not to open up/be normal