Pros and Cons for Research Methods

Question 1

What are advantages of structured interviews?

Answer 1

• High reliability, allows all respondents to answer the question which makes it easier to compare to other groups
• involve pre coded closed questions and answers making them easier to put into quantitative data

Question 2

What are disadvantages of structured interviews?

Answer 2

• interview may impose limits on what the respondent can say, meaning lack of validity
• possibility of interview bias

Question 3

What are the advantages of unstructured interviews?

Answer 3

• high validity as they have a greater flexibility on the questions asked, allows interview to gain rapport with the interviewee
• Group interviews spark off other topics which yields for more in depth information

Question 4

What are disadvantages of unstructured interviews?

Answer 4

• are time-consuming and costly, which can mean that less interview in this style will be conducted, raising problems of representativeness
• low in reliability as questions might be phrased in a variety of ways, meaning another researcher will not be able to get the same results

Question 5

What are the advantages of participant observation

Answer 5

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