Structured Interviews

Structured Interviews

1. Practical issues

   • Quick
   • Fairly cheap
   • Suitable for gathering straightforward factual information
     • Age
     • Job
     • Religion
     • Daily routine
   • Response rates are usually higher than for questionnaires
   • They are inflexible
   • They are only snapshots

2. Theoretical issues

   • Positivism
     • Hypothesis testing
     • Reliability
     • Representativeness
   • Interpretivism
     • Usually uses closed-ended questions = produces invalid data
     • They give little freedom to explain questions or clarify misunderstandings
     • People may lie/exaggerate = invalid data
   • Feminism
     • The relationship between researcher and researched reflects the exploitative nature of gender relationships in patriarchal society
     • Interviewers must remain detached and in control
       • Interviewees have a passive role, whilst the researcher takes the active role
         • This mirrors the gender divisions and hierarchies of patriarchal society
     • Interviewers must avoid any personal involvement with interviewees