Sociologists could also use interviews when conducting an experiment. Interpretivists are more likely to use this type of research, because they believe in performing small scale experiments or ‘micro’ research. This is because they believe you get a more detailed and in depth analysis of the subject being studied. The information gathered is qualitative, as words are being used, and the respondent is often encouraged to go in depth with their answers.
There are three particular types of interview a sociologist could use. Structured interviews are questionnaires read out by the interviewer who then records then answers. The same questions are read out in the same order to everyone. Semi-structured interviews are more detailed. The interviewer has the freedom to ‘probe’ the respondent, who can be asked to clarify their answers, to provide examples, and to develop what they have said. Unstructured interviews are more like and everyday conversation in comparison. They are much more informal, and the questions asked are unlikely to be pre-set, although the interviewer usually has subjects they wish to cover.
A famous interview is Ann Oakley’s ‘From here to maternity’ interview. Oakley was interested in the feelings and experiences women went through before, during and after their first pregnancy. She interviewed a number of women; all aged between 19 and 32, and asked them about their emotions and in particular their attitudes towards the child and the father after they had given birth.
There are many advantages to using both of these types of experiment.
The advantages of using questionnaires are that the experiment is not very time consuming, as they only have to write one questionnaire and send it to different people. Also, the data collected is primary, as you collect it yourself, so the sociologist would know the information had not been tampered with or manipulated or massaged. The information collected is representative as the sociologist is covering a large number of people, presumably with different ages, races and gender. Questionnaires are usually valid information, as many are anonymous so the respondent would feel no need to lie. Also, it should be reliable as you would get the same answers no matter how many times you sent it out.
However, questionnaires have many disadvantages as well. Interviewers may use leading or loaded questions, meaning it is persuading the respondent to answer in a certain way. This would mean the information gathered is not very valid. Validity is also never certain as people may lie on the questionnaire, or mess around and fill it in inappropriately. An interviewer may also word a question wrongly, meaning many respondents may not understand what they are being asked. Also, if the respondent chooses not to fill out the questionnaire, as many did not with the Bristol Stool questionnaire as they believed it was too unethical and rude, then the sociologist is left with little or no data to work with.
Interviews are useful as they can sometimes gather very in depth information, giving the sociologist more information to work with. You can also see a person’s body language and see their facial expressions when conducting an interview, which tells a lot. An interviewer can also go off track if they are particularly interested in something the subject is saying, so they can gather data they are really interested in.
The disadvantages of using interviews are that an interviewer could use leading or loaded questions. Also, the interviewee may answer in a way they believe is right or politically correct to please the interviewer, even if they do not believe what they are saying. Interviews are not very representative as a sociologist would only be asking one small group of people, and so would not be gathering varied answers. The interviewee may also feel intimidated when being questioned, and so lie or mess up their response, so interviews are not very valid. Also, they are not reliable as a respondent may change their thoughts or feelings later on in life.
To conclude, both questionnaires and interviews are two very different, but useful, methods for a sociologist to consider when conducting sociological research. Some may suggest that one, if not both, come with many disadvantages but if a sociologist structures their experiment correctly, both types can be very rewarding.
