Interviews

Question 1

Interviews:

Answer 1

• A method of collecting data to use as evidence in support of your hypothesis
• Creates qualitative data which is used by interpretivism
• interviewer asks questions to get answers from participants in a study
• Research can speak to individuals or groups in interviews
• Can be structured or unstructured
• Conducted face-to-face or over the phone

Question 2

Different forms of interviews:

Answer 2

• Structured
• Semi-structured
• Unstructured
• Informal
• Focus groups

Question 3

Structured interviews:

Answer 3

• Used by positivists due to the standardised methods (scientific)
• An interviewer plays a passive and robotic role which they can’t deviate from
• An interview schedule using closed questions is required for allowing information to be analysed
• Large numbers of interviewer can be done
• Not allowed to encourage respondents or add questions

Question 4

Advantages of structured interviews:

Answer 4

• Positivists think that the method is scientific
• Closed questions generate quantitative data which can be converted into graphs
• Interviewers can explain aims and questions before which lead to less no-response rates than questionnaires

Question 5

Disadvantages of structured interviews:

Answer 5

• Artificial devices which aren’t part of everyday life - interview bias which undermines the validity
• Inflexible because the schedule must be stuck to
• Imposition bias - they measure what the sociologist thinks is important rather than the interviewees experiences
• Interviewees may not be aware or conscious of their own or be in denial

Question 6

Unstructured interviews:

Answer 6

• Conversation which builds a relationship with respondents
• Interview has a topic and couple of ideas
• Takes place in a neutral relaxed environment
• Used by interpritivists

Question 7

Group interviews:

Answer 7

• Carried out with groups rather than individuals
• Often used when interviewing children as a one-to-one interview may feel more threatening
• Can also be used to investigate group dynamics of how a group operates

Question 8

Ingram:

Answer 8

• Catholic school boys
• Focused on the start and end ages of secondary school
• Most of the children were working class and from a poor area
• Supporting study for group interviews and semi-structured interviews

Question 9

Focus group interviews:

Answer 9

• Variation of unstructured interviews where participants talk to each other
• Normally discuss an issue
• researcher relies on the dynamics of the group to keep discussion going with minimal interference from the sociologist
• interaction is recorded on audiotape or video

Question 10

Advantages of unstructured interviews:

Answer 10

• Allows a relationship to be established which allows more in depth information to be collected
• Respondent may feel more likely to open up if the interviewer seems interested and empathetic
• very flexible technique because they aren’t restricted to questions and can ask follow-up questions
• Provides richer and vidid data - high in validity

Question 11

Disadvantages of unstructured interviews:

Answer 11

• Researcher can’t use all data so may have bias when selecting what they include
• Difficult data to analyse and categorise
• Less representative as less respondents are used
• Expensive due to the training required for interviews

Question 12

Semi-structured interviews:

Answer 12

• Mix of structured and unstructured interviews
• Contains closed questions but can contain a few open questions
• These allow for some flexibility and clarification
• This means depth and detail can be added

Question 13

Disadvantage of semi-structured interviews:

Answer 13

• Low reliability because some interviewees need more probing than other which means interviews can’t be standardised