P1 Research Methods - Structured Interviews

Question 1

What are interviews?

Answer 1

Conversations between a researcher and a responder about a topic of sociological interest.

Questions can be opened or close and may not follow a specific interview schedule

Question 2

What are the different types of interviews?

Answer 2

1. Structured
   - Face to face from a list of standard questions
2. Semi structured
   - Face to face, structured but with the ability to ask follow up questions
3. Unstructured
   - Face to face, less formal setting, discussion of themes rather than set questions
4. Group Interviews
   - Often referred to as focus groups. They can be structured, semi structured or unstructured

Question 3

What are structured interviews?

Answer 3

Structured interviews are like questionnaires both involve asking people a set of prepared questions.

Questions are usually closed with pre-coded answers. in interviews the questions are read out and answers are recorded by a a trained interviewer

Question 4

What is advantages of structured interviews?

Answer 4

Reliability:
- It’s easy for researcher to standardise and control
- They can ensure that each interview is conducted in precisely the same way (same questions in order)

Question 5

What are disadvantages of structured interviews?

Answer 5

1. Validity:
   - They produce a false picture of the subjects they are trying to study
   - They use closed questions that restrict the interviewees to choosing from a number of pre-set answers
   - Gives the interviewer little freedom to explain questions
2. Response rate
   - The people who respond may be untypical meaning it undermines the validity of the generalisations so the data is unrepresentative.