Qualitative researchers sometimes use structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviews to collect data. Discuss each of these interviewing techniques to show how they differ.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: For structured interviews, the questions composing the interview schedule are fully worked out ahead of time, and the researcher adheres strictly to the protocol without any deviation. The idea is that all participants are asked the same questions in exactly the same way and in the same order. Although participants may give diverse answers to the questions at hand, and often researchers prepare follow-up questions to possible answers, all the questions are formulated and presented in the same way to every participant. The semi-structured interview represents a “middle way” of sorts: The interviewer uses a well-worked-out schedule which serves as a clear guide, but then has the freedom to adapt during the course of the interview by skipping or adding questions as the situation warrants. Semi-structured interviews have some basic questions that will be asked to every single respondent in the study. Semi-structured interviews are extremely useful for gathering the same information from all the participants. Unstructured interviews may not have an actual interview schedule in hand, but rather just a few broad topics and questions in mind that researchers plan to cover. Unstructured in-depth interviews are similar to a leisurely conversation between the participant and the researcher. The researcher usually has a clear idea about the focus of the study and what is important to find out, so he or she may guide the interview toward their interest, but they also are free to explore other interesting paths on the way.