In the context of education , why could interviews be better than questionnaires
Students tend to have better verbal skills than written skills , therefore interviews may be more productive
Five practical problems of using unstructured interviews with pupils
They tend to be more inarticulate and reluctant to talk
Read body language differently to adults
Have limited vocabulary and use words incorrectly
Have shorter attention spans
More difficulty sticking to the point
Three ways the interview could effect the results of a unstructured interview when interviewing students
Due to status differences and power inequality’s , public may lie exaggerate or conceal imformation or speak to please when answering questions
Bell 1981- pupils may see the researcher as a teacher in disguise
Children are likely to chnage their answer when a question is repeated as they believe they’re answer is wrong
Who did a study on black American children comparing styles of interviews
William labov (1973)
William labov’s study
First used a formal and structured interview technique to study language of black American children , however children seemed tongue tied and linguistically deprived , until he adopted a more relaxed informal style , sitting on the floor , having a friend present , the children spoke freely and compently
Ways to avoid the problems of using interviews on pupils
Tolerate long pauses to allow children to think about what they want to say , avoid leading quetsioms since children are more suggestible , and do not interrupt them
