A semi-structured interview again, has a set format of questions. However, some of the questions and answers can be expanded and explored in more detail.
An unstructured interview involves questions which are not in a set format so the interviewer is able to expand on questions and explore the answers in more depth to gather the required data.
The purpose of an interview is usually to collect detailed and in-depth information, so the data is qualitative. Qualitative data will involve more of an exploration of ideas and opinions as well as some 'yes' and 'no' answers. Some quantitative data may also be collected during the interview , such as age, length of time at a job or other personal information and this quantitative data can be shown in numbers or percentages. If the interview is very structured, then it is more likely that quantitative data will be gathered; the less structured the interview is, the more qualitative data is gathered.
There are many advantages of using face to face interviews as a method of collecting data. One advantage is that questions can be explained and enlarged upon if the questions aren't in a set format. A questionnaire is limited to the questions written and when gathering qualitative data, there will be limited space available. This is an ideal method to use when in-depth and detailed information is required. Another advantage of using interviews is that they always tend to gather valid answers. This is because the interviewers are able to use their own words and aren't constrained by the questions as they are in questionnaires. The data is also 'real life' and 'true' because the respondent is being asked the questions face-to-face, so are less likely to give an inaccurate or invalid answer.
There are as many disadvantages as advantages of using interviews . One of these being that the interviewer may unknowingly influence the data. They might ask the question in a certain way e.g. the tone of their voice or lead the respondent to give a particular answer. Their looks may also affect the responses that they are given. All of these points would be forms of 'researcher bias'. Another weakness of using interviews is that the researcher may find it difficult to not interpret the responses in a certain way when analysing the data. This means that the analysis may be subjective. Subjectivity is when the analysis of the results includes input from the person doing the analysis. There are circumstances where the information gathered must be objective, in other words containing no bias from the researcher such as scientific studies.
Although there maybe drawbacks or using interviews as a method of obtaining data as outlined above, there are obvious advantages of obtaining data in a face-to-face situation and in particular the fact that the responses are more likely to be spontaneous and accurate. Data obtained in a sterile environment such as a questionnaire cannot be as in depth or open.
Practically, it may also be difficult to organise an interview in the first place and to find the people you wish to interview . It may not be easy to actually carry out the interview due to perhaps the age or mental capacity of the person involved or other issues relating to their state of mind. Interviews can then of course be very time consuming. They need lots of preparation to ensure that the researcher is prepared properly and afterwards the information will need to be written up properly.
However, depending on the purpose of the research and many other important factors an interview may be the best way of obtaining the data required and the researcher will be able to structure the interview in the way in which he or she thinks it will work best.
by
oliviatrowell123 (student)
