6.1.9

Interviews

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Interviews

There are three main types of interviews: structured, unstructured and semi-structured.

Interviews

Interviews

  • Interviews are a research method that can be structured or unstructured.
  • The aim of interviews is to collect answers from respondents.
  • Participants need to give their informed consent for their answers to be used for research purposes.
Interviews cont.

Interviews cont.

  • Anonymity and confidentiality need to be guaranteed.
  • Conducting an interview can be complicated for the sociologist:
    • It might be hard to stay objective.
    • It might be hard to separate useful from useless information.
Structured interviews

Structured interviews

  • Structured interviews use predetermined questions, which prevent the researcher from diverting.
  • Structured interviews resemble the questionnaires (the difference being that they are face-to-face).
  • Easier to analyse and draw patterns and trends.
  • Disadvantage: might not produce qualitative data.
Unstructured interviews

Unstructured interviews

  • The theme is predetermined, but the questions are not.
  • The researcher can follow up on the respondent's answers in order to dig deeper
  • The researcher can use the respondent's body language to assess how truthful their answers are.
  • Disadvantage: unstructured interviews can be very time consuming and hard to analyse.
Semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews

  • Semi-structured interviews are a combination of the two aforementioned interview types.
  • Some sociologists prefer this type as the drawbacks of each question type is usually eliminated.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are usually small groups who are selected in order to answer questions related to a particular issue.

Advantages

Advantages

  • Focus groups can help sociologists by revealing shared beliefs.
  • Sociologists can watch the interactions between the members to gauge whether or not they are being honest.
Disadvantages

Disadvantages

  • Focus groups can also hinder sociologists’ work because:
    • Strong-minded participants can dominate the whole discussion, without leaving any room for elaboration from the rest.
    • Individuals might be affected and conform to the majority because they want to be part of the group and not seen as outcasts.
    • It can be complex for sociologists to maintain confidentiality.

Evaluating Interviews

Social desirability bias

Social desirability bias

  • Social desirability bias describes any variable that can affect the respondents’ answers (e.g. age, gender etc. of the interviewer).
  • These variables can make the interviewee alter their answers because they might wish to please the interviewer or they might be embarrassed.
Interviewer bias/interviewer effect

Interviewer bias/interviewer effect

  • Sociologists have developed ways to overcome interview bias:
    • Dressing appropriately depending on the circumstances
    • Keeping a neutral stance.
  • Feminist sociologists believe that the best way to deal with interviewer bias is by building rapport and being emotionally involved.
Advantages of interviews

Advantages of interviews

  • Interviews produce qualitative data.
  • Interviews are more valid than quantitative data.
  • If the interviews are unstructured, the researcher can be more flexible with their questions and get more in-depth information.
Disadvantages of interviews

Disadvantages of interviews

  • If interviews are structured, they can’t offer qualitative data.
  • If interviews are unstructured, they can be time-consuming, costly, hard to analyse and low in reliability as they are hard to replicate.
  • Interviewer effect/bias can affect the accuracy of results.

Jump to other topics
1

The Sociological Approach

1.1

Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?1.1.2Culture & Socialisation
1.2

Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism1.2.2Marxism 21.2.3Functionalism1.2.4Feminism
1.3

The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach
2

Families

2.1

Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family2.1.2Marxist Views on Family2.1.3Feminist Views on Family
2.2

Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?2.2.2Nuclear Family2.2.3Families in a Global Context2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms
2.3

Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles
2.4

Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline2.4.2Domestic Abuse2.4.3Symmetrical Family
2.5

Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families2.5.2Marxist Views of Families2.5.3Feminist Views of Families2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families
2.6

Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate2.6.2Consequences of Divorce2.6.3Functionalist Views2.6.4Marxist Views2.6.5Feminist Views2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce
3

Education

3.1

Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives3.1.3Types of School3.1.4Alternative Education3.1.5State & Private Schools
3.2

Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes3.2.2External Processes
3.3

Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success3.3.2Social Class & Education3.3.3Social Class & External Factors3.3.4Gender & Education3.3.5Ethnicity & Education3.3.6Parental Choice3.3.7History of UK Education Policy3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education
4

Crime & Deviance

4.1

The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime
4.2

Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control4.2.2Formal Social Control4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime
4.3

Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime4.3.2Social Class & Crime4.3.3Gender & Crime4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime4.3.5Age & Crime4.3.6Criminal Responsibility4.3.7The Prison System4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime
4.4

Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour
5

Social Stratification

5.1

Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?5.1.2Functionalism5.1.3Socio-Economic Class5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 25.1.5Life Chances5.1.6The Affluent Worker5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion
5.2

Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty5.2.3Explanations of Poverty5.2.4Impact of Globalisation5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue
5.3

Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber5.3.2Sociological Perspectives5.3.3Power Relationships5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority
6

Sociological Research Methods

6.1

Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design6.1.2The Scientific Method6.1.3Other Considerations6.1.4Primary Sources6.1.5Secondary Sources6.1.6Surveys6.1.7Sampling6.1.8Questionnaires6.1.9Interviews6.1.10Observation6.1.11Statistics6.1.12Case Studies6.1.13Longitudinal Studies6.1.14Ethnography6.1.15Experiments6.1.16Small Scale Research6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

Practice questions on Interviews

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    What are the three main types of interviews?Fill in the list
  2. 2
    In which type of interview is the theme determined, but NOT the questions?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    What is the name given to small groups who are selected in order to answer questions related to a particular issue?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    How may watching the interactions between focus group members be useful for a sociologist?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    Which group of sociologists believes that the best way to deal with interviewer bias is by building rapport and being emotionally involved?Multiple choice
Answer all questions on Interviews

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Questionnaires

Observation