I N T E R V I E W S

AS SOCIOLOGY – RM

1 MINUTE

Run up to the white board and write down one keywords which

summarises for you the concept of interviews

BY THE END OF THIS TOPIC YOU WILL BE ABLE TO....

•Understand the differences between structured and unstructured interviews, • Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the

various different types of interviews, •Apply your understanding of interviews to the

study of education.

FACTS

• Interviews are another type of social surveys, • Interviews can be conducted by phone or face

to face, • Interviews involve social interactions between

the researcher and the participant,

2 TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

• Structured and formal interviews:• Interviewer under

strict instructions, • Standardised

questions,• Standardised

interviews in terms of question order, tone of voice, etc

• Unstructured or informal interviews:• Similar to a guided

conversation, • Freedom to vary the

questions, • Freedom to pursue any line

of questioning which is appropriate at the time,

• Ability to ask follow up questions and to probe more deeply.

• Circourel, Kitsuse (1963)

SAMPLE IN INTERVIEWS

• Interviews can either be done on a 1-2-1 basis or within a group setting also known as a focus group,

Within which context do you believe that group interviews might be appropriate ?

READING TASK

Using the handout, read through box 26 and complete the two questions

asked individually

STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

•Usually have some pre set close ended questions,

• Required a trained interviewer to ask the questions and record the answers,

• Interaction between the interviewer and interviewee.

ISSUES WITH STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

1. Practical issues, 2. Response rate, 3. Reliability, 4. Validity, 5. Inflexibility, 6. Feminist criticism

PRACTICAL ISSUES

1. Training of the interviewers is inexpensive but the methods is more costly than using questionnaires,

2. Representative and can cover a large number of participants however not to the scale of questionnaires,

3. Data is easily quantified when using pre-set close ended questions,

RESPONSE RATES

1. Large numbers can be sample thus rendering the data gathered as representative,

2. Young and Willmott (1962)3. Response rates can be increased by doing call

back interviews, but this increases the cost of the survey,

4. Sample might not be representative of the whole population.

Why might the sample not be representative of the whole

population ?

GROUP TASK

In your groups read through Box 27 and

complete the activity on the flipchart paper given.

Be ready to feedback in 3 minutes.

RELIABILITY

• If a method is reliable this means that another sociologist would be able to repeat the study and get the same results.

How might interviews be seen as reliable ?

RELIABILITY

1. Controls :1. Standardised questions, 2. Question order, 3. Question wording, 4. Tone of voice.

VALIDITY

•A valid method is one which provides a true picture of the topic being researched.

How might interviews seen as valid or non valid methods of getting a true picture of a

topic being researched ?

VALIDITY

1. Close ended questions reduces freedom of expression,

2. Structured interviews gives very little freedom to clarify understanding or explain questions,

3. People may lie or exaggerate, 4. Researcher bias, 5. S.I seen as only giving a snapshot.

FEMINIST CRITICISM

•Graham (1983) • S.I seen as patriarchal which give a distorted

view of women’s experiences.

How might this occur ?

FEMINIST CRITICISM

• Researcher control and line of questioning used which mirrors women subordination in wider society, • Survey methods treat women as isolated individuals rather

than seeing them in the context of the power relationships that oppress them, • Surveys impose the researchers categories on women making

it difficult for them to express their experiences and concealing the unequal power relationships between the sexes.• Graham advocates the use of methods which will instead

allow the researcher to understand women’s behaviour, attitudes and meaning such as observations.

UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

• Advantages :• Rapport and sensitivity, • Interviewee's view, • Checking understanding, • Flexibility, • Exploring unfamiliar topics

• Disadvantages:• Practical problems, • Representativeness, • Reliability, • Quantification, • Validity.

RAPPORT AND SENSITIVITY

• Building a relationship of trust and understanding is beneficial as it puts the interviewee at ease and makes them more likely to share,

• Labov (1973),

• Useful when researching sensitive topics as the empathy and encouragement of the interviewer will help the interviewee feel comfortable.

INTERVIEWEE’S VIEWS

•More opportunity to speak about those things they see as important, • Production of fresh insights and valid data, •Dean and Taylor-Gooby (1992)•Gives interviewees the freedom to talk in their

own terms about the issues that concern them.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ?

Explain the advantages of allowing interviewees the freedom to talk in their

own terms?

What do you see as the disadvantages of tape recorded interviews?

CHECKING UNDERSTANDING

• Easier to clarify a misunderstanding in U.I as it can be explained or be asked follow up questions to clarify an answer.

FLEXIBILITY

• U.I seen as highly flexible: • No restrictions with regards to questions that can be

asked, • Ability to further explore something that comes up

during U.I that could be of interest, • More open ended and exploratory,

DISADVANTAGES OF U.I

What might be some of the disadvantages of using U.I ?

PRACTICAL PROBLEMS

• Time consuming, • The depth to which the researcher can go into

means that the sample will have to be smaller, • Training needs to be more thorough, • Interviewer will be required to have good to

excellent interpersonal skills.

REPRESENTATIVENESS

• Smaller numbers required for U.I means that the sample will not be representative to the whole population,

•Harder to make generalisation.

RELIABILITY

• Poor reliability due to the lack of standardisation,

• Each interview is unique as the interviewer is free to ask different questions to each of his participants.

QUANTIFICATION

•Due to the use of mainly open ended questions the answers can not be pre-coded,

• This makes it difficult to quantify the results thus harder to establish a cause and effect relationship.

VALIDITY

•Although U.I are seen as able to produce valid data critics argue that the interaction between the researcher and interviewee can distort the information obtained.

INDIVIDUAL TASK

Read through pages 199 to 201 and individually complete the quick

check questions on page 201.