The interviewing method has strengths and weaknesses to consider when designing research, the design of the interview schedule and those concerned within the interview situation itself. The interview must be created so that the questions appear sensible to the interviewer and the interviewee flowing in an appropriate sequence, especially because the interviewee needs to be warmed up by feeling comfortable and relaxed with the interviewer. The interview is a form of social interaction, which can make it problematic; it reflects the circumstances by which the interview occurred - where it may have occurred whether it’s being recorded and even gender of the interviewer. The data drawn from qualitative methods is most valid where ethical guidelines have been followed, and certain codes of practice abided. The interviewer interjection should be kept at minimum, the interviewee should be able to express themselves with as much breadth and depth as they would wish, and the interview should be structured in such a way as to enhance the interviewee’s ability to respond. Interviews for research or evaluation purposes differ in some important ways from other familiar kinds of interviews or conversations. Unlike conversations in daily life, which are usually reciprocal exchanges, professional interviews involve an interviewer who is in charge of structuring and directing the questioning. In some professional interview situations, the power of the interviewer is much greater than the power of the interviewee.
The main limitation of qualitative approaches is that by being so subjective it is hindered by the biases and assumptions of both the interviewer and the interviewee. For instance, interviewer bias could reflect in the type of questions asked, and the interviewing style of the interviewer. Even with the absence of a human interviewer, a human interviewee’s attitudes and memories would be skewered by intended deception, self-deception and false memory. For instance, an adult recollecting being a school ground bully might remember their role in events differently, or the sexual abuse victim might not be able to recall incidences at all. Therefore the subjectivity that makes qualitative methods a flexible and attractive field of methodology is also riddled with the inherent problems of subjectivity, bias and distortion.
In qualitative program evaluation, open-ended responses to questions provide the interviewer with quotations, which are the main source of raw data. The task for the qualitative interviewer is to provide a framework within which people can respond in a way that represents accurately and thoroughly their point of view about the program. In practice, open-ended, qualitative interview questions are often combined with more closed-ended, structured interview formats. Qualitative interviews may be used as an exploratory step before designing more quantitative, structured questionnaires to help determine the appropriate questions and categories.
Bibliography
Rubin, H. Rubin, I. 1995. Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Browne, K. 2002. Introducing Sociology for As Level. Cambridge: Polity Press
