INTERVIEWS

Question 1

Powney and Watts (1987): Interviews - Practical Issues

Answer 1

• young children tend to be more literal minded + often pay attention to unexpected details in q + may use a diff logic from adult interviewers
• so training needs to be more thorough for someone interviewing children - adds to costs of the research

Question 2

Powney + Watts: Interviews - Access and Response Rate

Answer 2

• Schools r hierarchical institutions which can cause problems when interviewing teachers/pupils - the lower down the hierarchy the interviewee is, the more approvals that have to be obtained - to interview a teacher, researcher may need permission of the head first, whereas pupils may require parental consent as well - likelihood of being granted varies acc to subject of research
• Schools may be reluctant to allow soc to conduct interviews during lesson time bc it causes disruption or they object to the researcher’s chosen topic eg. drug use
• Problems conducting interviews after school hours
• If researcher can obtain official support for the study, then the hierarchical nature of school may work in their favour eg. heads can instruct teachers to release pupils from class for interviews which increases response rate

Question 3

Field (1987): Interviews - Access and Response Rate

Answer 3

• Study of pupils’ exp of sex + health education in schools had relatively high refusal rate (29%) mainly bc of parents withholding consent

Question 4

Bell (1981): The interviewer as ‘teacher in disguise’ - how do power + status inequalities affect the outcome of interviews?

Answer 4

• If interviewees have less power than interviewer, may see it as in their interest to lie, exaggerate, conceal info or seek to please r when answering q + may be less self-confident + less articulate responses - reduces validity of data
• Interviewers r usually adults, who children see as authority figures, esp for education research conducted on school premises - see interviewer as a ‘teacher in disguise’ - affects validity of data bc;
• Pupils may seek to win their approval by giving untrue but socially acceptable answers that show them in favourable light eg. how much time they spend on hw
• Pupils r accustomed to adults ‘knowing better’ so may defer to them in interviews eg. children r more likely than adults to change their og answer when q is repeated bc they think it must’ve been wrong
• Similar inequalities when interviewing parents as W/C parents may see interviewer as having a higher status than them + feel q r patronising or intrusive, yet when interviewing M/C teachers, power + status inequalities r less likely to be pronounced
• Bc the interview is a social interaction, the inequalities bw child + adult, pupils + teachers may influence this interaction + thus distort the data obtained

Question 5

Greene and Hogan (2005): Improving the validity of interviews with pupils

Answer 5

• If interviewees have less power than interviewer, may see it as in their interest to lie, exaggerate, conceal info or seek to please r when answering q + may be less self-confident + less articulate responses - reduces validity of data
• Interviewers r usually adults, who children see as authority figures, esp for education research conducted on school premises - see interviewer as a ‘teacher in disguise’ - affects validity of data bc;
• Pupils may seek to win their approval by giving untrue but socially acceptable answers that show them in favourable light eg. how much time they spend on hw
• Pupils r accustomed to adults ‘knowing better’ so may defer to them in interviews eg. children r more likely than adults to change their og answer when q is repeated bc they think it must’ve been wrong
• Similar inequalities when interviewing parents as W/C parents may see interviewer as having a higher status than them + feel q r patronising or intrusive, yet when interviewing M/C teachers, power + status inequalities r less likely to be pronounced
• Bc the interview is a social interaction, the inequalities bw child + adult, pupils + teachers may influence this interaction + thus distort the data obtained

Question 6

Greene and Hogan (2005): Improving the validity of interviews with pupils

Answer 6

• Interviews may not give a true pic of young ppls attitudes + behaviour however researchers can adopt strategies to improve validity of interviews w them eg. G+H arg interviewers should
• Use open-ended q
• Not interrupt children’s answers
• Tolerate long pauses to allow children to think abt what they want to say
• Recognise children r more suggestible + so it’s esp important to avoid asking leading q
• Avoid repeating q as this makes children change their first answer bc they think it’s wrong
  USI may be more suitable for overcoming barriers of power + status inequalities as their informality puts young interviewees at ease + establish rapport more easily
  Labov’s research shows this encourages interviewees to open up + respond more fully, producing more valid data - useful when dealing w sensitive topics like bullying

Question 7

Green + Hogan: Group interviews

Answer 7

arg GI r esp suitable for use w pupils as they create a safe peer enviro + reproduce the small group settings young ppl r familiar w in class work