Definition of unstructured interviews
Similar to an everyday conversation , an informal atmosphere with free flowing and open questions , not pre set and if they are , it’s flexibility
Three advantages of unstructured interviews
Allows rapport to be built for sensitive topics causing physiological
No set questions meaning the interviewee can talk about what they think is important , producing more validity data
Can check the questions were understood and follow ups can be asked for more info or to clarify misunderstanding
Imformation on new topics
Practical problems with undstructed interviews
Time consuming , costly , good interpersonal skills needed to build a rapport
Theoretical problems with unstructured interviews
Unstandardised nature makes them low in reliability as each interview is unique
Only a small number of interviews can be done , means not representative and hard to make valid generalisations beyond just who was interviewed
Hard to quantify data , can’t establish cause and effect relationships
Interview is still a social interaction and therefore imformation can be distorted
