Considering the nature of my research and the result I wish to gain from it I have done an extensive research on different research methods. Doing this I have decided on using the Qualitative interview as my tool of research.
Below I have composed a short summary of some important things I have learnt and are important to know when using the interview.
What is an interview?
It consists on a direct conversation between the researcher and the interviewee in which the purpose is to probe the ideas of the interviewee about the subject of interest. It is useful to record the data from an interview that you can refer to and use when analyzing them. This can be done by audio recording, video recording or written notes. When performing an interview it is very important that I keep in mind the ethical issues surrounding it. I must ensure the participants are fully aware of the purpose of the research and that they understand their rights. For this I will create a premade consent form that will be understood and signed by myself and the interviewee beforehand.
What are the advantages of using the interview?
- · Adaptability. You can follow up ideas, probe responses and investigate motives and feelings
- · You can get information from the body language of the interviewee when responding or explaining their experiences.
- · Responses and be developed and clarified
What are the disadvantages of using the interview?
- · Time consuming. Due to the long, in depth responses the interview will take up a larger amount of time.
- · Subjective.
- · Danger of Bias
- · There can be problems when analysing the responses.
What types of interview are there?
Structured and semi structured
This is an interview that enables you to tick or circle responses on a previously prepared schedule. At the end result you end up with a number of responses that can be easily recorded. You can probe deeper on some of the questions if desired; this will normally be recorded via notes on a separate sheet.
Unstructured Interview
Unstructured interviewing is more like a conversation in which the interviewer and researcher discuss a topic. It differs from the structured interview in many ways. First, although the researcher may have some initial guiding questions or core concepts to ask about, there is no formal structured instrument or protocol. Second, the interviewer is free to move the conversation in any direction of interest that may come up. Consequently, unstructured interviewing is particularly useful for exploring a topic broadly. However, because each interview tends to be unique with no predetermined set of questions asked of all respondents, it is usually more difficult to analyze unstructured interview data.
References
Bell, Judith, 2005, pp156-172
Trochim, William M.K, 2006
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