what is a structured interview?
- it’s a formal face to face interview where the interviewer asks pre-set questions to respondents in same way
- usually brief
example
willmott and young’s research of extended family in east london
positive practical factors
(+) cheap; training is straightforward since they only follow a set of instructions
(+) suitable for gathering straight forward factual information
(+) data can be quantified easily because they use close questions with coded answers which makes it suitable for hypothesis testing
negative ethical factors
(-) some people may be uncomfortable with talking about their past
(-) people may lie/change answers because they might feel embarrassed
negative validity factors
(-) it uses closed questions which restricts interviewers to choose from limited numbers of preset answers
(-) no freedom to explain questions/clarify misunderstanding
positive reliability factors
(+) they’re reliable because it is easy for the researcher to standardised/control them
(+) ensures each interview is conducted precisely the same way, same questions, same order/wording
(+) provides structure for others
positive representative factors
(+) large sample size who can be surveyed which increases chances of obtaining a representative sample of the population
feminist critique
Hilary Graham says that the survey methods like questionnaires and structured interviews are patriarchal and gave distorted picture of women’s experience.
- treats women as isolated individuals than seeing them in context of power relationships than oppress them
- male researcher is in control of the interview and decide line of questioning to be followed ( it reflects women subordination in society)
why would Positivists prefer this
- they believe there is a measurable objective social reality
- they take scientific approach using standardised methods e.g structured interviews to obtain quantitative data
- they employ fixed lists of closed questions so the answers can be classified and quantified
- this allows researcher to identify patterns and produce generalisations and cause and effect statements
- they are reliable and can produce large scale data
