Interviews

-An interview involves someone being asked questions. They are usually taped as the answers might go into a lot of depth. Different types of interviews can be classified as follows:

§ Structured interviews – a formal set of questions are asked and the interviewer cannot ask extra questions. I.e. comparisons can be made because there is standardization.

§ Unstructured interviews – no lists of formally pre-arranged questions exist. I.e. the interviewee is able to say what they feel, as directed by the interviewer.

Advantages:

· It can utilize large samples, so generalizations are more justified.

· With some coding of responses it is possible to produce statistical data.

· Easy to replicate the research and check results because of the degree of structure in an interview

Disadvantages:

- There might be an interviewer bias i.e.interviewer directing answers with leading questions, ensuring they get what they wanted to find.

- no comparability if questions are not the same as there will be no standardization.

- Expensive as interviews take a long time.