advantages and disadvantages of interview research

Advantages and Disadvantages of Interview in Research

Approaching the Respondent- according to the Interviewer’s Manual, the introductory tasks of the interviewer are: tell the interviewer is and whom he or she represents; telling him about what the study is, in a way to stimulate his interest. The interviewer has also ensured at this stage that his answers are confidential; tell the respondent how he was chosen; use letters and clippings of surveys in order to show the importance of the study to the respondent. The interviewer must be adaptable, friendly, responsive, and should make the interviewer feel at ease to say anything, even if it is irrelevant.

Dealing with Refusal- there can be plenty of reasons for refusing for an interview, for example, a respondent may feel that surveys are a waste of time, or may express anti-government feeling. It is the interviewer’s job to determine the reason for the refusal of the interview and attempt to overcome it.

Conducting the Interview- the questions should be asked as worded for all respondents in order to avoid misinterpretation of the question. Clarification of the question should also be avoided for the same reason. However, the questions can be repeated in case of misunderstanding. The questions should be asked in the same order as mentioned in the questionnaire, as a particular question might not make sense if the questions before they are skipped. The interviewers must be very careful to be neutral before starting the interview so as not to lead the respondent, hence minimizing bias.

listing out the advantages of interview studies, which are noted below:

There are certain disadvantages of interview studies as well which are:.

INTERVIEW AS SOCIAL INTERACTION

Apart from the errors caused by the responder, there are also certain errors made by the interviewers that may include-

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Interviews in Social Research: Advantages and Disadvantages

Table of Contents

Last Updated on September 11, 2023 by Karl Thompson

An interview involves an interviewer asking questions verbally to a respondent. Interviews involve a more direct interaction between the researcher and the respondent than questionnaires. Interviews can either be conducted face to face, via phone, video link or social media.

This post has primarily been written for students studying the Research Methods aspect of A-level sociology, but it should also be useful for students studying methods for psychology, business studies and maybe other subjects too!

Types of interview

Structured or formal interviews are those in which the interviewer asks the interviewee the same questions in the same way to different respondents. This will typically involve reading out questions from a pre-written and pre-coded structured questionnaire, which forms the interview schedule. The most familiar form of this is with market research, where you may have been stopped on the street with a researcher ticking boxes based on your responses.

Unstructured or Informal interviews (also called discovery interviews) are more like a guided conversation. Here the interviewer has a list of topics they want the respondent to talk about, but the interviewer has complete freedom to vary the specific questions from respondent to respondent, so they can follow whatever lines of enquiry they think are most appropriated, depending on the responses given by each respondent.

Semi-Structured interviews are those in which respondents have a list of questions, but they are free to ask further, differentiated questions based on the responses given. This allows more flexibility that the structured interview yet more structure than the informal interview.

Group interviews – Interviews can be conducted either one to one (individual interviews) or in a a group, in which the interviewer interviews two or more respondents at a time. Group discussions among respondents may lead to deeper insight than just interviewing people along, as respondents ‘encourage’ each other.

Interviews: key terms

The Interview Schedule – A list of questions or topic areas the interviewer wishes to ask or cover in the course of the interview. The more structured the interview, the more rigid the interiew schedule will be. Before conducting an interview it is usual for the reseracher to know something about the topic area and the respondents themselves, and so they will have at least some idea of the questions they are likely to ask: even if they are doing ‘unstructred interviews’ an interviewer will have some kind of interview schedule, even if it is just a list of broad topic areas to discuss, or an opening question.

The Strengths and Limitations of Unstructured Interviews 

The strengths of unstructured interviews

The key strength of unstructured interviews is good validity , but for this to happen questioning should be as open ended as possible to gain genuine, spontaneous information rather than ‘rehearsed responses’ and questioning needs to be sufficient enough to elicit in-depth answers rather than glib, easy answers.

Rapport and empathy – unstructured interviews encourage a good rapport between interviewee and interviewer. Because of their informal nature, like guided conversations, unstructured interviews are more likely to make respondents feel at ease than with the more formal setting of a structured questionnaire or experiment. This should encourage openness, trust and empathy.

They are good for finding out why respondents do not do certain things . For example postal surveys asking why people do not claim benefits have very low response rates, but informal interviews are perfect for researching people who may have low literacy skills.

The Limitations of unstructured interviews

The main theoretical disadvantage is the lack of reliability – unstructured Interviews lack reliability because each interview is unique – a variety of different questions are asked and phrased in a variety of different ways to different respondents.

We also need to keep in mind that interviews can only tap into what people SAY about their values, beliefs and actions, we don’t actually get to see these in action, like we would do with observational studies such as Participant Observation. This has been a particular problem with self-report studies of criminal behaviour. These have been tested using polygraphs, and follow up studies of school and criminal records and responses found to be lacking in validity, so much so that victim-surveys have become the standard method for measuring crime rather than self-report studies.

Sudman and Bradburn (1974) conducted a review of literature and found that responses varied depending on the relative demographics of the interviewer and respondent. For example white interviewers received more socially acceptable responses from black respondents than they did from white respondents. Similar findings have been found with different ethnicities, age, social class and religion.

Practical disadvantages – unstructured Interviews may take a relatively long time to conduct. Some interviews can take hours. They also need to be taped and transcribed, and in the analysis phase there may be a lot of information that is not directly relevant to one’s research topic that needs to be sifted through.

There are few ethical problems , assuming that informed consent is gained and confidentially ensured. Although having said this, the fact that the researcher is getting more in-depth data, more of an insight into who the person really is, does offer the potential for the information to do more harm to the respondent if it got into the wrong hands (but this in turn depends on the topics discussed and the exact content of the interviews.

Sociological perspectives on interviews

Fo r Interactionists , interviews are based on mutual participant observation. The context of the interview is intrinsic to understanding responses and no distinction between research interviews and other social interaction is recognised. Data are valid when mutual understanding between interviewer and respondent is agreed.

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The Interview Method In Psychology

Saul McLeod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Interviews involve a conversation with a purpose, but have some distinct features compared to ordinary conversation, such as being scheduled in advance, having an asymmetry in outcome goals between interviewer and interviewee, and often following a question-answer format.

Interviews are different from questionnaires as they involve social interaction. Unlike questionnaire methods, researchers need training in interviewing (which costs money).

How Do Interviews Work?

Researchers can ask different types of questions, generating different types of data . For example, closed questions provide people with a fixed set of responses, whereas open questions allow people to express what they think in their own words.

The researcher will often record interviews, and the data will be written up as a transcript (a written account of interview questions and answers) which can be analyzed later.

It should be noted that interviews may not be the best method for researching sensitive topics (e.g., truancy in schools, discrimination, etc.) as people may feel more comfortable completing a questionnaire in private.

There are different types of interviews, with a key distinction being the extent of structure. Semi-structured is most common in psychology research. Unstructured interviews have a free-flowing style, while structured interviews involve preset questions asked in a particular order.

Structured Interview

A structured interview is a quantitative research method where the interviewer a set of prepared closed-ended questions in the form of an interview schedule, which he/she reads out exactly as worded.

Interviews schedules have a standardized format, meaning the same questions are asked to each interviewee in the same order (see Fig. 1).

   Figure 1. An example of an interview schedule

The interviewer will not deviate from the interview schedule (except to clarify the meaning of the question) or probe beyond the answers received.  Replies are recorded on a questionnaire, and the order and wording of questions, and sometimes the range of alternative answers, is preset by the researcher.

A structured interview is also known as a formal interview (like a job interview).

• Structured interviews are easy to replicate as a fixed set of closed questions are used, which are easy to quantify – this means it is easy to test for reliability .
• Structured interviews are fairly quick to conduct which means that many interviews can take place within a short amount of time. This means a large sample can be obtained, resulting in the findings being representative and having the ability to be generalized to a large population.

Limitations

• Structured interviews are not flexible. This means new questions cannot be asked impromptu (i.e., during the interview), as an interview schedule must be followed.
• The answers from structured interviews lack detail as only closed questions are asked, which generates quantitative data . This means a researcher won’t know why a person behaves a certain way.

Unstructured Interview

Unstructured interviews do not use any set questions, instead, the interviewer asks open-ended questions based on a specific research topic, and will try to let the interview flow like a natural conversation. The interviewer modifies his or her questions to suit the candidate’s specific experiences.

Unstructured interviews are sometimes referred to as ‘discovery interviews’ and are more like a ‘guided conservation’ than a strictly structured interview. They are sometimes called informal interviews.

Unstructured interviews are most useful in qualitative research to analyze attitudes and values. Though they rarely provide a valid basis for generalization, their main advantage is that they enable the researcher to probe social actors’ subjective points of view.

Interviewer Self-Disclosure

Interviewer self-disclosure involves the interviewer revealing personal information or opinions during the research interview. This may increase rapport but risks changing dynamics away from a focus on facilitating the interviewee’s account.

In unstructured interviews, the informal conversational style may deliberately include elements of interviewer self-disclosure, mirroring ordinary conversation dynamics.

Interviewer self-disclosure risks changing the dynamics away from facilitation of interviewee accounts. It should not be ruled out entirely but requires skillful handling informed by reflection.

• An informal interviewing style with some interviewer self-disclosure may increase rapport and participant openness. However, it also increases the chance of the participant converging opinions with the interviewer.
• Complete interviewer neutrality is unlikely. However, excessive informality and self-disclosure risk the interview becoming more of an ordinary conversation and producing consensus accounts.
• Overly personal disclosures could also be seen as irrelevant and intrusive by participants. They may invite increased intimacy on uncomfortable topics.
• The safest approach seems to be to avoid interviewer self-disclosures in most cases. Where an informal style is used, disclosures require careful judgment and substantial interviewing experience.
• If asked for personal opinions during an interview, the interviewer could highlight the defined roles and defer that discussion until after the interview.
• Unstructured interviews are more flexible as questions can be adapted and changed depending on the respondents’ answers. The interview can deviate from the interview schedule.
• Unstructured interviews generate qualitative data through the use of open questions. This allows the respondent to talk in some depth, choosing their own words. This helps the researcher develop a real sense of a person’s understanding of a situation.
• They also have increased validity because it gives the interviewer the opportunity to probe for a deeper understanding, ask for clarification & allow the interviewee to steer the direction of the interview, etc. Interviewers have the chance to clarify any questions of participants during the interview.
• It can be time-consuming to conduct an unstructured interview and analyze the qualitative data (using methods such as thematic analysis).
• Employing and training interviewers is expensive and not as cheap as collecting data via questionnaires . For example, certain skills may be needed by the interviewer. These include the ability to establish rapport and knowing when to probe.
• Interviews inevitably co-construct data through researchers’ agenda-setting and question-framing. Techniques like open questions provide only limited remedies.

Focus Group Interview

Focus group interview is a qualitative approach where a group of respondents are interviewed together, used to gain an in‐depth understanding of social issues.

This type of interview is often referred to as a focus group because the job of the interviewer ( or moderator ) is to bring the group to focus on the issue at hand. Initially, the goal was to reach a consensus among the group, but with the development of techniques for analyzing group qualitative data, there is less emphasis on consensus building.

The method aims to obtain data from a purposely selected group of individuals rather than from a statistically representative sample of a broader population.

The role of the interview moderator is to make sure the group interacts with each other and do not drift off-topic. Ideally, the moderator will be similar to the participants in terms of appearance, have adequate knowledge of the topic being discussed, and exercise mild unobtrusive control over dominant talkers and shy participants.

A researcher must be highly skilled to conduct a focus group interview. For example, the moderator may need certain skills, including the ability to establish rapport and know when to probe.

• Group interviews generate qualitative narrative data through the use of open questions. This allows the respondents to talk in some depth, choosing their own words. This helps the researcher develop a real sense of a person’s understanding of a situation. Qualitative data also includes observational data, such as body language and facial expressions.
• Group responses are helpful when you want to elicit perspectives on a collective experience, encourage diversity of thought, reduce researcher bias, and gather a wider range of contextualized views.
• They also have increased validity because some participants may feel more comfortable being with others as they are used to talking in groups in real life (i.e., it’s more natural).
• When participants have common experiences, focus groups allow them to build on each other’s comments to provide richer contextual data representing a wider range of views than individual interviews.
• Focus groups are a type of group interview method used in market research and consumer psychology that are cost – effective for gathering the views of consumers .
• The researcher must ensure that they keep all the interviewees” details confidential and respect their privacy. This is difficult when using a group interview. For example, the researcher cannot guarantee that the other people in the group will keep information private.
• Group interviews are less reliable as they use open questions and may deviate from the interview schedule, making them difficult to repeat.
• It is important to note that there are some potential pitfalls of focus groups, such as conformity, social desirability, and oppositional behavior, that can reduce the usefulness of the data collected.

For example, group interviews may sometimes lack validity as participants may lie to impress the other group members. They may conform to peer pressure and give false answers.

To avoid these pitfalls, the interviewer needs to have a good understanding of how people function in groups as well as how to lead the group in a productive discussion.

Semi-Structured Interview

Semi-structured interviews lie between structured and unstructured interviews. The interviewer prepares a set of same questions to be answered by all interviewees. Additional questions might be asked during the interview to clarify or expand certain issues.

In semi-structured interviews, the interviewer has more freedom to digress and probe beyond the answers. The interview guide contains a list of questions and topics that need to be covered during the conversation, usually in a particular order.

Semi-structured interviews are most useful to address the ‘what’, ‘how’, and ‘why’ research questions. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses can be performed on data collected during semi-structured interviews.

• Semi-structured interviews allow respondents to answer more on their terms in an informal setting yet provide uniform information making them ideal for qualitative analysis.
• The flexible nature of semi-structured interviews allows ideas to be introduced and explored during the interview based on the respondents’ answers.
• Semi-structured interviews can provide reliable and comparable qualitative data. Allows the interviewer to probe answers, where the interviewee is asked to clarify or expand on the answers provided.
• The data generated remain fundamentally shaped by the interview context itself. Analysis rarely acknowledges this endemic co-construction.
• They are more time-consuming (to conduct, transcribe, and analyze) than structured interviews.
• The quality of findings is more dependent on the individual skills of the interviewer than in structured interviews. Skill is required to probe effectively while avoiding biasing responses.

The Interviewer Effect

Face-to-face interviews raise methodological problems. These stem from the fact that interviewers are themselves role players, and their perceived status may influence the replies of the respondents.

Because an interview is a social interaction, the interviewer’s appearance or behavior may influence the respondent’s answers. This is a problem as it can bias the results of the study and make them invalid.

For example, the gender, ethnicity, body language, age, and social status of the interview can all create an interviewer effect. If there is a perceived status disparity between the interviewer and the interviewee, the results of interviews have to be interpreted with care. This is pertinent for sensitive topics such as health.

For example, if a researcher was investigating sexism amongst males, would a female interview be preferable to a male? It is possible that if a female interviewer was used, male participants might lie (i.e., pretend they are not sexist) to impress the interviewer, thus creating an interviewer effect.

Flooding interviews with researcher’s agenda

The interactional nature of interviews means the researcher fundamentally shapes the discourse, rather than just neutrally collecting it. This shapes what is talked about and how participants can respond.

• The interviewer’s assumptions, interests, and categories don’t just shape the specific interview questions asked. They also shape the framing, task instructions, recruitment, and ongoing responses/prompts.
• This flooding of the interview interaction with the researcher’s agenda makes it very difficult to separate out what comes from the participant vs. what is aligned with the interviewer’s concerns.
• So the participant’s talk ends up being fundamentally shaped by the interviewer rather than being a more natural reflection of the participant’s own orientations or practices.
• This effect is hard to avoid because interviews inherently involve the researcher setting an agenda. But it does mean the talk extracted may say more about the interview process than the reality it is supposed to reflect.

Interview Design

First, you must choose whether to use a structured or non-structured interview.

Characteristics of Interviewers

Next, you must consider who will be the interviewer, and this will depend on what type of person is being interviewed. There are several variables to consider:

• Gender and age : This can greatly affect respondents’ answers, particularly on personal issues.
• Personal characteristics : Some people are easier to get on with than others. Also, the interviewer’s accent and appearance (e.g., clothing) can affect the rapport between the interviewer and interviewee.
• Language : The interviewer’s language should be appropriate to the vocabulary of the group of people being studied. For example, the researcher must change the questions’ language to match the respondents’ social background” age / educational level / social class/ethnicity, etc.
• Ethnicity : People may have difficulty interviewing people from different ethnic groups.
• Interviewer expertise should match research sensitivity – inexperienced students should avoid interviewing highly vulnerable groups.

Interview Location

The location of a research interview can influence the way in which the interviewer and interviewee relate and may exaggerate a power dynamic in one direction or another. It is usual to offer interviewees a choice of location as part of facilitating their comfort and encouraging participation.

However, the safety of the interviewer is an overriding consideration and, as mentioned, a minimal requirement should be that a responsible person knows where the interviewer has gone and when they are due back.

Remote Interviews

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated remote interviewing for research continuity. However online interview platforms provide increased flexibility even under normal conditions.

They enable access to participant groups across geographical distances without travel costs or arrangements. Online interviews can be efficiently scheduled to align with researcher and interviewee availability.

There are practical considerations in setting up remote interviews. Interviewees require access to internet and an online platform such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Skype through which to connect.

Certain modifications help build initial rapport in the remote format. Allowing time at the start of the interview for casual conversation while testing audio/video quality helps participants settle in. Minor delays can disrupt turn-taking flow, so alerting participants to speak slightly slower than usual minimizes accidental interruptions.

Keeping remote interviews under an hour avoids fatigue for stare at a screen. Seeking advanced ethical clearance for verbal consent at the interview start saves participant time. Adapting to the remote context shows care for interviewees and aids rich discussion.

However, it remains important to critically reflect on how removing in-person dynamics may shape the co-created data. Perhaps some nuances of trust and disclosure differ over video.

Vulnerable Groups

The interviewer must ensure that they take special care when interviewing vulnerable groups, such as children. For example, children have a limited attention span, so lengthy interviews should be avoided.

Developing an Interview Schedule

An interview schedule is a list of pre-planned, structured questions that have been prepared, to serve as a guide for interviewers, researchers and investigators in collecting information or data about a specific topic or issue.

• List the key themes or topics that must be covered to address your research questions. This will form the basic content.
• Organize the content logically, such as chronologically following the interviewee’s experiences. Place more sensitive topics later in the interview.
• Develop the list of content into actual questions and prompts. Carefully word each question – keep them open-ended, non-leading, and focused on examples.
• Add prompts to remind you to cover areas of interest.
• Pilot test the interview schedule to check it generates useful data and revise as needed.
• Be prepared to refine the schedule throughout data collection as you learn which questions work better.
• Practice skills like asking follow-up questions to get depth and detail. Stay flexible to depart from the schedule when needed.
• Keep questions brief and clear. Avoid multi-part questions that risk confusing interviewees.
• Listen actively during interviews to determine which pre-planned questions can be skipped based on information the participant has already provided.

The key is balancing preparation with the flexibility to adapt questions based on each interview interaction. With practice, you’ll gain skills to conduct productive interviews that obtain rich qualitative data.

The Power of Silence

Strategic use of silence is a key technique to generate interviewee-led data, but it requires judgment about appropriate timing and duration to maintain mutual understanding.

• Unlike ordinary conversation, the interviewer aims to facilitate the interviewee’s contribution without interrupting. This often means resisting the urge to speak at the end of the interviewee’s turn construction units (TCUs).
• Leaving a silence after a TCU encourages the interviewee to provide more material without being led by the interviewer. However, this simple technique requires confidence, as silence can feel socially awkward.
• Allowing longer silences (e.g. 24 seconds) later in interviews can work well, but early on even short silences may disrupt rapport if they cause misalignment between speakers.
• Silence also allows interviewees time to think before answering. Rushing to re-ask or amend questions can limit responses.
• Blunt backchannels like “mm hm” also avoid interrupting flow. Interruptions, especially to finish an interviewee’s turn, are problematic as they make the ownership of perspectives unclear.
• If interviewers incorrectly complete turns, an upside is it can produce extended interviewee narratives correcting the record. However, silence would have been better to let interviewees shape their own accounts.

Interviewing Children

By understanding the unique challenges and employing these solutions, interviewers can create a more child-friendly and effective interview process, promoting accurate and reliable information gathering from young witnesses.

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Speculation and misinterpretation : Children may misinterpret questions due to immature language and memory skills, leading them to speculate or provide inaccurate information . For example, children might not fully grasp the meaning of words like “before” and “after” .
• Limited information : Directive questions often result in brief answers, restricting the child’s opportunity to provide a full and detailed account of the event.
• Children’s desire to cooperate: Children are generally inclined to answer any question posed by an authority figure, even if they don’t understand the question or know the answer. This can result in inaccurate responses or speculation to please the interviewer.
• Language development : Young children may not understand complex vocabulary, grammatical structures, or abstract concepts . For instance, words like “aunt” and “uncle” can be challenging for children because their meaning shifts depending on the speaker.
• Memory capabilities : Children’s memory abilities are still developing, making them more susceptible to memory errors and suggestibility . Questions that repeatedly cue specific details can inadvertently alter their recollections .
• Attention span and fatigue : Children, especially younger ones, have shorter attention spans and tire more easily than adults.  Lengthy interviews or those with excessive questioning can lead to fatigue and reduce the quality of their responses.
• Reluctance to talk: Children may be hesitant to talk due to various reasons, such as fear of getting into trouble, an inhibited temperament, distrust of unfamiliar adults, or feeling overwhelmed. This can make it challenging to obtain information from them.
• Adopt a child-centered approach: Interviewers prioritize creating a supportive and less intimidating environment by using techniques tailored to the child’s developmental level and cultural background. This includes using developmentally appropriate language, building rapport, and employing a patient and non-judgmental demeanor.
• Emphasize open-ended questions: Instead of relying heavily on focused questions, interviewers prioritize open-ended prompts that encourage children to provide detailed narratives in their own words. They use open-ended invitations like “Tell me everything that happened” or “What happened next?” to elicit more comprehensive and accurate responses.
• Use a questioning cycle: Interviewers combine open-ended invitations with focused prompts to gather specific details while maintaining a conversational flow. This involves cycling back to broader, open-ended prompts after asking focused questions to ensure a thorough understanding of the situation.
• Provide ample time to respond: Recognizing that children may need more time to process information, interviewers provide sufficient wait time, allowing children to respond at their own pace. This patience helps to reduce pressure and encourages more thoughtful responses.
• Build rapport: Establishing rapport is crucial for creating a safe and comfortable space for children to share their experiences. Interviewers achieve this by engaging in neutral conversations, showing genuine interest in the child’s life, and using a calm and reassuring tone.
• Deliver clear interview instructions: Interviewers provide clear and concise instructions, explaining the ground rules of the interview, emphasizing honesty, and encouraging the child to ask for clarification if needed.
• Use interview aids cautiously: While tools like drawings or diagrams can be helpful, interviewers use them with caution, ensuring they don’t lead or suggest information to the child. These aids are primarily used to clarify or elaborate on information the child has already provided verbally.
• Be prepared for multiple interviews: It’s often necessary to conduct multiple interviews to allow children time to process information and recall additional details. Subsequent interviews provide an opportunity to clarify information and explore inconsistencies.

Recording & Transcription

Design choices.

Design choices around recording and engaging closely with transcripts influence analytic insights, as well as practical feasibility. Weighing up relevant tradeoffs is key.

• Audio recording is standard, but video better captures contextual details, which is useful for some topics/analysis approaches. Participants may find video invasive for sensitive research.
• Digital formats enable the sharing of anonymized clips. Additional microphones reduce audio issues.
• Doing all transcription is time-consuming. Outsourcing can save researcher effort but needs confidentiality assurances. Always carefully check outsourced transcripts.
• Online platform auto-captioning can facilitate rapid analysis, but accuracy limitations mean full transcripts remain ideal. Software cleans up caption file formatting.
• Verbatim transcripts best capture nuanced meaning, but the level of detail needed depends on the analysis approach. Referring back to recordings is still advisable during analysis.
• Transcripts versus recordings highlight different interaction elements. Transcripts make overt disagreements clearer through the wording itself. Recordings better convey tone affiliativeness.

Transcribing Interviews & Focus Groups

Here are the steps for transcribing interviews:

• Play back audio/video files to develop an overall understanding of the interview
• Format the transcription document:
• Add line numbers
• Separate interviewer questions and interviewee responses
• Use formatting like bold, italics, etc. to highlight key passages
• Provide sentence-level clarity in the interviewee’s responses while preserving their authentic voice and word choices
• Break longer passages into smaller paragraphs to help with coding
• If translating the interview to another language, use qualified translators and back-translate where possible
• Select a notation system to indicate pauses, emphasis, laughter, interruptions, etc., and adapt it as needed for your data
• Insert screenshots, photos, or documents discussed in the interview at the relevant point in the transcript
• Read through multiple times, revising formatting and notations
• Double-check the accuracy of transcription against audio/videos
• De-identify transcript by removing identifying participant details

The goal is to produce a formatted written record of the verbal interview exchange that captures the meaning and highlights important passages ready for the coding process. Careful transcription is the vital first step in analysis.

Coding Transcripts

The goal of transcription and coding is to systematically transform interview responses into a set of codes and themes that capture key concepts, experiences and beliefs expressed by participants. Taking care with transcription and coding procedures enhances the validity of qualitative analysis .

• Read through the transcript multiple times to become immersed in the details
• Identify manifest/obvious codes and latent/underlying meaning codes
• Highlight insightful participant quotes that capture key concepts (in vivo codes)
• Create a codebook to organize and define codes with examples
• Use an iterative cycle of inductive (data-driven) coding and deductive (theory-driven) coding
• Refine codebook with clear definitions and examples as you code more transcripts
• Collaborate with other coders to establish the reliability of codes

Ethical Issues

Informed consent.

The participant information sheet must give potential interviewees a good idea of what is involved if taking part in the research.

This will include the general topics covered in the interview, where the interview might take place, how long it is expected to last, how it will be recorded, the ways in which participants’ anonymity will be managed, and incentives offered.

It might be considered good practice to consider true informed consent in interview research to require two distinguishable stages:

• Consent to undertake and record the interview and
• Consent to use the material in research after the interview has been conducted and the content known, or even after the interviewee has seen a copy of the transcript and has had a chance to remove sections, if desired.

Power and Vulnerability

• Early feminist views that sensitivity could equalize power differences are likely naive. The interviewer and interviewee inhabit different knowledge spheres and social categories, indicating structural disparities.
• Power fluctuates within interviews. Researchers rely on participation, yet interviewees control openness and can undermine data collection. Assumptions should be avoided.
• Interviews on sensitive topics may feel like quasi-counseling. Interviewers must refrain from dual roles, instead supplying support service details to all participants.
• Interviewees recruited for trauma experiences may reveal more than anticipated. While generating analytic insights, this risks leaving them feeling exposed.
• Ultimately, power balances resist reconciliation. But reflexively analyzing operations of power serves to qualify rather than nullify situtated qualitative accounts.

Some groups, like those with mental health issues, extreme views, or criminal backgrounds, risk being discredited – treated skeptically by researchers.

This creates tensions with qualitative approaches, often having an empathetic ethos seeking to center subjective perspectives. Analysis should balance openness to offered accounts with critically examining stakes and motivations behind them.

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Chapter 10: Qualitative Data Collection & Analysis Methods

10.7 Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative Interviews

As the preceding sections have suggested, qualitative interviews are an excellent way to gather detailed information. Whatever topic is of interest to the researcher can be explored in much more depth by employing this method than with almost any other method. Not only are participants given the opportunity to elaborate in a way that is not possible with other methods, such as survey research, but, in addition, they are able share information with researchers in their own words and from their own perspectives, rather than attempting to fit those perspectives into the perhaps limited response options provided by the researcher. Because qualitative interviews are designed to elicit detailed information, they are especially useful when a researcher’s aim is to study social processes, or the “how” of various phenomena. Yet another, and sometimes overlooked, benefit of qualitative interviews that occurs in person is that researchers can make observations beyond those that a respondent is orally reporting. A respondent’s body language, and even her or his choice of time and location for the interview, might provide a researcher with useful data.

As with quantitative survey research, qualitative interviews rely on respondents’ ability to accurately and honestly recall whatever details about their lives, circumstances, thoughts, opinions, or behaviors are being examined. Qualitative interviewing is also time-intensive and can be quite expensive. Creating an interview guide, identifying a sample, and conducting interviews are just the beginning of the process. Transcribing interviews is labor-intensive, even before coding begins. It is also not uncommon to offer respondents some monetary incentive or thank-you for participating, because you are asking for more of the participants’ time than if you had mailed them a questionnaire containing closed-ended questions. Conducting qualitative interviews is not only labor intensive but also emotionally taxing. Researchers embarking on a qualitative interview project with a subject that is sensitive in nature should keep in mind their own abilities to listen to stories that may be difficult to hear.

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Shopify is one of the most widely used e-commerce platforms globally, known for its ease of use and versatility. It is ideal for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. Shopify provides a user-friendly interface, a variety of customizable templates, and an extensive app marketplace to enhance your store’s functionality. Key features include integrated payment processing, inventory management, SEO optimization, and multichannel selling through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon.

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BigCommerce is a robust e-commerce platform designed to cater to businesses looking for scalability. It offers a range of features like mobile optimization, secure payment gateways, and tools for handling larger product catalogs. BigCommerce’s strong built-in SEO features help businesses rank higher on search engines, making it a great choice for brands looking to grow rapidly. It also supports selling on multiple channels, such as Amazon, eBay, and social media.

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4. Magento (Adobe Commerce)

Magento , now part of Adobe Commerce, is a powerful and flexible open-source e-commerce platform that is popular among large enterprises. It offers extensive customization options, allowing businesses to create unique and tailored shopping experiences. While Magento offers a free community version, the enterprise-level version is designed for companies with high traffic and complex needs. Its strong features include advanced analytics, high scalability, and the ability to handle large volumes of products and transactions.

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Wix eCommerce is an affordable and easy-to-use platform ideal for small businesses or beginners. Wix provides drag-and-drop website building tools, making it accessible even for those without technical knowledge. Its templates are visually appealing, and it includes basic e-commerce functionalities like payment processing, product galleries, and mobile optimization. Wix is great for businesses looking to create a simple and attractive store quickly.

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Squarespace is known for its beautifully designed templates and is often used by creative professionals and businesses that value aesthetics. In addition to its strong visual appeal, Squarespace offers e-commerce functionality, allowing businesses to create an online store, sell products, manage inventory, and track orders. It’s a great platform for small to medium-sized businesses, especially those in design-centric industries.

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Etsy is a marketplace tailored to artisans, crafters, and sellers of handmade or vintage products. Unlike the other platforms, Etsy is not a website builder but an online marketplace that allows small businesses and individuals to sell their products on a global scale. It provides a simple way to reach a large audience, and its built-in search functionality helps sellers connect with potential customers quickly.

• Best for: Artisans, crafters, sellers of handmade or vintage items
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8. Weebly (by Square)

Weebly , now owned by Square, is a simple and affordable e-commerce platform that is ideal for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who need a basic online store. Its drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to design a store without any coding knowledge. Weebly also integrates seamlessly with Square for payment processing, which is perfect for businesses that also operate physical stores.

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Ecwid is a versatile e-commerce platform that allows businesses to add an online store to their existing website or social media pages. It is easy to integrate with platforms like WordPress, Wix, and social media channels, making it ideal for businesses that already have a website or a strong social media presence. Ecwid provides essential e-commerce tools like payment processing, inventory management, and multichannel selling at an affordable price.

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PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that offers flexibility and scalability for businesses with technical expertise. It provides a robust platform for building highly customized stores. PrestaShop is ideal for businesses that want full control over their store’s design and functionality, though it requires more technical knowledge compared to other platforms. It offers a variety of modules and themes to suit various business needs.

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Choosing the right e-commerce platform depends on your business needs, budget, and technical expertise. Whether you’re a small business looking for simplicity and affordability or a large enterprise in need of advanced customization and scalability, there is an e-commerce platform tailored for you. Platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento offer various features that can cater to different types of businesses, ensuring a seamless and successful online selling experience.

The Importance of a Website for an E-commerce Business

In this section, we will discuss the key reasons why a website is crucial for e-commerce businesses, focusing on accessibility, credibility, customer engagement, and business growth.

1. Global Accessibility and Convenience

The most significant advantage of an e-commerce website is the ability to reach customers globally, 24/7. Unlike a physical store that operates within certain hours and serves a limited geographical area, a website is accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This increased accessibility allows businesses to expand their customer base beyond local boundaries and tap into international markets.

For customers, the convenience of shopping anytime, anywhere—whether from a smartphone, tablet, or computer—adds immense value to the shopping experience. They no longer need to visit physical stores or adhere to store hours, making shopping more efficient and enjoyable.

2. Building Credibility and Trust

In today’s market, consumers often expect businesses to have an online presence. A well-structured website is a powerful tool for building credibility. When customers visit a professional-looking website with clear product descriptions, pricing, and contact information, they are more likely to trust the business.

E-commerce websites that feature customer reviews, secure payment methods, and easy return policies further enhance this trust. In contrast, businesses without an online presence may be viewed as outdated or less reliable. Therefore, a website not only serves as a sales platform but also as a credibility booster for the brand.

3. Enhanced Customer Engagement

A website is more than just an online storefront; it is a platform for customer interaction. With features such as chatbots, customer reviews, and personalized product recommendations, businesses can engage with customers in real time and offer a personalized shopping experience.

Moreover, e-commerce websites provide valuable insights into customer behavior through data analytics, helping businesses tailor their offerings to meet customer preferences.

By creating a user-friendly interface and offering excellent customer service, businesses can foster customer loyalty and encourage repeat purchases.

4. Cost-Effective Marketing and Scalability

Traditional brick-and-mortar stores come with high operational costs, including rent, utilities, and staff wages. In contrast, an e-commerce website significantly reduces these expenses while providing an efficient and scalable platform for business growth.

Digital marketing strategies such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media advertising, and email campaigns are more cost-effective than traditional marketing methods.

A website also allows businesses to quickly update product listings, launch new items, and adjust pricing without the need for physical inventory changes.

As the business grows, the website can scale accordingly, handling higher traffic and a larger product catalog without the limitations of a physical store.

5. Increased Sales and Revenue Opportunities

An e-commerce website allows businesses to operate beyond local markets, which in turn increases sales potential. Customers can shop from different time zones, and with targeted marketing efforts, businesses can attract a wider audience. Furthermore, online stores provide opportunities for upselling and cross-selling through personalized product recommendations and promotions.

By offering a variety of payment methods and a streamlined checkout process, businesses can reduce cart abandonment rates and improve their conversion rates, ultimately boosting revenue.

6. Leveraging Data and Analytics

One of the most valuable aspects of an e-commerce website is the ability to collect and analyze customer data. Website analytics provide insights into customer demographics, shopping behavior, and purchasing trends. This data allows businesses to make informed decisions about inventory management, marketing strategies, and product development.

By understanding customer preferences, businesses can optimize their product offerings and enhance the overall shopping experience, leading to increased customer satisfaction and business growth.

In conclusion, a website is indispensable for any e-commerce business in today’s digital economy. It offers global accessibility, builds credibility, enhances customer engagement, and provides cost-effective marketing opportunities. More importantly, it allows businesses to scale, increase sales, and leverage data to make strategic decisions. As more consumers continue to embrace online shopping, e-commerce businesses must invest in creating a robust, user-friendly, and secure website to remain competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers. The future of retail is undoubtedly digital, and having a strong online presence is key to thriving in this new era.

Qualitative Interviewing

• Reference work entry
• First Online: 13 January 2019
• Cite this reference work entry

• Sally Nathan 2 ,
• Christy Newman 3 &
• Kari Lancaster 3  

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Qualitative interviewing is a foundational method in qualitative research and is widely used in health research and the social sciences. Both qualitative semi-structured and in-depth unstructured interviews use verbal communication, mostly in face-to-face interactions, to collect data about the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of participants. Interviews are an accessible, often affordable, and effective method to understand the socially situated world of research participants. The approach is typically informed by an interpretive framework where the data collected is not viewed as evidence of the truth or reality of a situation or experience but rather a context-bound subjective insight from the participants. The researcher needs to be open to new insights and to privilege the participant’s experience in data collection. The data from qualitative interviews is not generalizable, but its exploratory nature permits the collection of rich data which can answer questions about which little is already known. This chapter introduces the reader to qualitative interviewing, the range of traditions within which interviewing is utilized as a method, and highlights the advantages and some of the challenges and misconceptions in its application. The chapter also provides practical guidance on planning and conducting interview studies. Three case examples are presented to highlight the benefits and risks in the use of interviewing with different participants, providing situated insights as well as advice about how to go about learning to interview if you are a novice.

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Nathan, S., Newman, C., Lancaster, K. (2019). Qualitative Interviewing. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_77

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Research Methods Guide: Interview Research

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• Research Design & Method
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Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research

Goals of Interview Research

• Preferences
• They help you explain, better understand, and explore research subjects' opinions, behavior, experiences, phenomenon, etc.
• Interview questions are usually open-ended questions so that in-depth information will be collected.

Mode of Data Collection

There are several types of interviews, including:

• Face-to-Face
• Online (e.g. Skype, Googlehangout, etc)

FAQ: Conducting Interview Research

What are the important steps involved in interviews?

• Think about who you will interview
• Think about what kind of information you want to obtain from interviews
• Think about why you want to pursue in-depth information around your research topic
• Introduce yourself and explain the aim of the interview
• Devise your questions so interviewees can help answer your research question
• Have a sequence to your questions / topics by grouping them in themes
• Make sure you can easily move back and forth between questions / topics
• Make sure your questions are clear and easy to understand
• Do not ask leading questions
• Do you want to bring a second interviewer with you?
• Do you want to bring a notetaker?
• Do you want to record interviews? If so, do you have time to transcribe interview recordings?
• Where will you interview people? Where is the setting with the least distraction?
• How long will each interview take?
• Do you need to address terms of confidentiality?

Do I have to choose either a survey or interviewing method?

No.  In fact, many researchers use a mixed method - interviews can be useful as follow-up to certain respondents to surveys, e.g., to further investigate their responses.

Is training an interviewer important?

Yes, since the interviewer can control the quality of the result, training the interviewer becomes crucial.  If more than one interviewers are involved in your study, it is important to have every interviewer understand the interviewing procedure and rehearse the interviewing process before beginning the formal study.

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• Published: 05 October 2018

Interviews and focus groups in qualitative research: an update for the digital age

• P. Gill 1 &
• J. Baillie 2  

British Dental Journal volume  225 ,  pages 668–672 ( 2018 ) Cite this article

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Highlights that qualitative research is used increasingly in dentistry. Interviews and focus groups remain the most common qualitative methods of data collection.

Suggests the advent of digital technologies has transformed how qualitative research can now be undertaken.

Suggests interviews and focus groups can offer significant, meaningful insight into participants' experiences, beliefs and perspectives, which can help to inform developments in dental practice.

Qualitative research is used increasingly in dentistry, due to its potential to provide meaningful, in-depth insights into participants' experiences, perspectives, beliefs and behaviours. These insights can subsequently help to inform developments in dental practice and further related research. The most common methods of data collection used in qualitative research are interviews and focus groups. While these are primarily conducted face-to-face, the ongoing evolution of digital technologies, such as video chat and online forums, has further transformed these methods of data collection. This paper therefore discusses interviews and focus groups in detail, outlines how they can be used in practice, how digital technologies can further inform the data collection process, and what these methods can offer dentistry.

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Interviews in the social sciences

Professionalism in dentistry: deconstructing common terminology

A review of technical and quality assessment considerations of audio-visual and web-conferencing focus groups in qualitative health research, introduction.

Traditionally, research in dentistry has primarily been quantitative in nature. 1 However, in recent years, there has been a growing interest in qualitative research within the profession, due to its potential to further inform developments in practice, policy, education and training. Consequently, in 2008, the British Dental Journal (BDJ) published a four paper qualitative research series, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 to help increase awareness and understanding of this particular methodological approach.

Since the papers were originally published, two scoping reviews have demonstrated the ongoing proliferation in the use of qualitative research within the field of oral healthcare. 1 , 6 To date, the original four paper series continue to be well cited and two of the main papers remain widely accessed among the BDJ readership. 2 , 3 The potential value of well-conducted qualitative research to evidence-based practice is now also widely recognised by service providers, policy makers, funding bodies and those who commission, support and use healthcare research.

Besides increasing standalone use, qualitative methods are now also routinely incorporated into larger mixed method study designs, such as clinical trials, as they can offer additional, meaningful insights into complex problems that simply could not be provided by quantitative methods alone. Qualitative methods can also be used to further facilitate in-depth understanding of important aspects of clinical trial processes, such as recruitment. For example, Ellis et al . investigated why edentulous older patients, dissatisfied with conventional dentures, decline implant treatment, despite its established efficacy, and frequently refuse to participate in related randomised clinical trials, even when financial constraints are removed. 7 Through the use of focus groups in Canada and the UK, the authors found that fears of pain and potential complications, along with perceived embarrassment, exacerbated by age, are common reasons why older patients typically refuse dental implants. 7

The last decade has also seen further developments in qualitative research, due to the ongoing evolution of digital technologies. These developments have transformed how researchers can access and share information, communicate and collaborate, recruit and engage participants, collect and analyse data and disseminate and translate research findings. 8 Where appropriate, such technologies are therefore capable of extending and enhancing how qualitative research is undertaken. 9 For example, it is now possible to collect qualitative data via instant messaging, email or online/video chat, using appropriate online platforms.

These innovative approaches to research are therefore cost-effective, convenient, reduce geographical constraints and are often useful for accessing 'hard to reach' participants (for example, those who are immobile or socially isolated). 8 , 9 However, digital technologies are still relatively new and constantly evolving and therefore present a variety of pragmatic and methodological challenges. Furthermore, given their very nature, their use in many qualitative studies and/or with certain participant groups may be inappropriate and should therefore always be carefully considered. While it is beyond the scope of this paper to provide a detailed explication regarding the use of digital technologies in qualitative research, insight is provided into how such technologies can be used to facilitate the data collection process in interviews and focus groups.

In light of such developments, it is perhaps therefore timely to update the main paper 3 of the original BDJ series. As with the previous publications, this paper has been purposely written in an accessible style, to enhance readability, particularly for those who are new to qualitative research. While the focus remains on the most common qualitative methods of data collection – interviews and focus groups – appropriate revisions have been made to provide a novel perspective, and should therefore be helpful to those who would like to know more about qualitative research. This paper specifically focuses on undertaking qualitative research with adult participants only.

Overview of qualitative research

Qualitative research is an approach that focuses on people and their experiences, behaviours and opinions. 10 , 11 The qualitative researcher seeks to answer questions of 'how' and 'why', providing detailed insight and understanding, 11 which quantitative methods cannot reach. 12 Within qualitative research, there are distinct methodologies influencing how the researcher approaches the research question, data collection and data analysis. 13 For example, phenomenological studies focus on the lived experience of individuals, explored through their description of the phenomenon. Ethnographic studies explore the culture of a group and typically involve the use of multiple methods to uncover the issues. 14

While methodology is the 'thinking tool', the methods are the 'doing tools'; 13 the ways in which data are collected and analysed. There are multiple qualitative data collection methods, including interviews, focus groups, observations, documentary analysis, participant diaries, photography and videography. Two of the most commonly used qualitative methods are interviews and focus groups, which are explored in this article. The data generated through these methods can be analysed in one of many ways, according to the methodological approach chosen. A common approach is thematic data analysis, involving the identification of themes and subthemes across the data set. Further information on approaches to qualitative data analysis has been discussed elsewhere. 1

Qualitative research is an evolving and adaptable approach, used by different disciplines for different purposes. Traditionally, qualitative data, specifically interviews, focus groups and observations, have been collected face-to-face with participants. In more recent years, digital technologies have contributed to the ongoing evolution of qualitative research. Digital technologies offer researchers different ways of recruiting participants and collecting data, and offer participants opportunities to be involved in research that is not necessarily face-to-face.

Research interviews are a fundamental qualitative research method 15 and are utilised across methodological approaches. Interviews enable the researcher to learn in depth about the perspectives, experiences, beliefs and motivations of the participant. 3 , 16 Examples include, exploring patients' perspectives of fear/anxiety triggers in dental treatment, 17 patients' experiences of oral health and diabetes, 18 and dental students' motivations for their choice of career. 19

Interviews may be structured, semi-structured or unstructured, 3 according to the purpose of the study, with less structured interviews facilitating a more in depth and flexible interviewing approach. 20 Structured interviews are similar to verbal questionnaires and are used if the researcher requires clarification on a topic; however they produce less in-depth data about a participant's experience. 3 Unstructured interviews may be used when little is known about a topic and involves the researcher asking an opening question; 3 the participant then leads the discussion. 20 Semi-structured interviews are commonly used in healthcare research, enabling the researcher to ask predetermined questions, 20 while ensuring the participant discusses issues they feel are important.

Interviews can be undertaken face-to-face or using digital methods when the researcher and participant are in different locations. Audio-recording the interview, with the consent of the participant, is essential for all interviews regardless of the medium as it enables accurate transcription; the process of turning the audio file into a word-for-word transcript. This transcript is the data, which the researcher then analyses according to the chosen approach.

Types of interview

Qualitative studies often utilise one-to-one, face-to-face interviews with research participants. This involves arranging a mutually convenient time and place to meet the participant, signing a consent form and audio-recording the interview. However, digital technologies have expanded the potential for interviews in research, enabling individuals to participate in qualitative research regardless of location.

Telephone interviews can be a useful alternative to face-to-face interviews and are commonly used in qualitative research. They enable participants from different geographical areas to participate and may be less onerous for participants than meeting a researcher in person. 15 A qualitative study explored patients' perspectives of dental implants and utilised telephone interviews due to the quality of the data that could be yielded. 21 The researcher needs to consider how they will audio record the interview, which can be facilitated by purchasing a recorder that connects directly to the telephone. One potential disadvantage of telephone interviews is the inability of the interviewer and researcher to see each other. This is resolved using software for audio and video calls online – such as Skype – to conduct interviews with participants in qualitative studies. Advantages of this approach include being able to see the participant if video calls are used, enabling observation of non-verbal communication, and the software can be free to use. However, participants are required to have a device and internet connection, as well as being computer literate, potentially limiting who can participate in the study. One qualitative study explored the role of dental hygienists in reducing oral health disparities in Canada. 22 The researcher conducted interviews using Skype, which enabled dental hygienists from across Canada to be interviewed within the research budget, accommodating the participants' schedules. 22

A less commonly used approach to qualitative interviews is the use of social virtual worlds. A qualitative study accessed a social virtual world – Second Life – to explore the health literacy skills of individuals who use social virtual worlds to access health information. 23 The researcher created an avatar and interview room, and undertook interviews with participants using voice and text methods. 23 This approach to recruitment and data collection enables individuals from diverse geographical locations to participate, while remaining anonymous if they wish. Furthermore, for interviews conducted using text methods, transcription of the interview is not required as the researcher can save the written conversation with the participant, with the participant's consent. However, the researcher and participant need to be familiar with how the social virtual world works to engage in an interview this way.

Conducting an interview

Ensuring informed consent before any interview is a fundamental aspect of the research process. Participants in research must be afforded autonomy and respect; consent should be informed and voluntary. 24 Individuals should have the opportunity to read an information sheet about the study, ask questions, understand how their data will be stored and used, and know that they are free to withdraw at any point without reprisal. The qualitative researcher should take written consent before undertaking the interview. In a face-to-face interview, this is straightforward: the researcher and participant both sign copies of the consent form, keeping one each. However, this approach is less straightforward when the researcher and participant do not meet in person. A recent protocol paper outlined an approach for taking consent for telephone interviews, which involved: audio recording the participant agreeing to each point on the consent form; the researcher signing the consent form and keeping a copy; and posting a copy to the participant. 25 This process could be replicated in other interview studies using digital methods.

There are advantages and disadvantages of using face-to-face and digital methods for research interviews. Ultimately, for both approaches, the quality of the interview is determined by the researcher. 16 Appropriate training and preparation are thus required. Healthcare professionals can use their interpersonal communication skills when undertaking a research interview, particularly questioning, listening and conversing. 3 However, the purpose of an interview is to gain information about the study topic, 26 rather than offering help and advice. 3 The researcher therefore needs to listen attentively to participants, enabling them to describe their experience without interruption. 3 The use of active listening skills also help to facilitate the interview. 14 Spradley outlined elements and strategies for research interviews, 27 which are a useful guide for qualitative researchers:

Greeting and explaining the project/interview

Asking descriptive (broad), structural (explore response to descriptive) and contrast (difference between) questions

Asymmetry between the researcher and participant talking

Expressing interest and cultural ignorance

Repeating, restating and incorporating the participant's words when asking questions

Creating hypothetical situations

Asking friendly questions

Knowing when to leave.

For semi-structured interviews, a topic guide (also called an interview schedule) is used to guide the content of the interview – an example of a topic guide is outlined in Box 1 . The topic guide, usually based on the research questions, existing literature and, for healthcare professionals, their clinical experience, is developed by the research team. The topic guide should include open ended questions that elicit in-depth information, and offer participants the opportunity to talk about issues important to them. This is vital in qualitative research where the researcher is interested in exploring the experiences and perspectives of participants. It can be useful for qualitative researchers to pilot the topic guide with the first participants, 10 to ensure the questions are relevant and understandable, and amending the questions if required.

Regardless of the medium of interview, the researcher must consider the setting of the interview. For face-to-face interviews, this could be in the participant's home, in an office or another mutually convenient location. A quiet location is preferable to promote confidentiality, enable the researcher and participant to concentrate on the conversation, and to facilitate accurate audio-recording of the interview. For interviews using digital methods the same principles apply: a quiet, private space where the researcher and participant feel comfortable and confident to participate in an interview.

Box 1: Example of a topic guide

Study focus: Parents' experiences of brushing their child's (aged 0–5) teeth

1. Can you tell me about your experience of cleaning your child's teeth?

How old was your child when you started cleaning their teeth?

Why did you start cleaning their teeth at that point?

How often do you brush their teeth?

What do you use to brush their teeth and why?

2. Could you explain how you find cleaning your child's teeth?

Do you find anything difficult?

What makes cleaning their teeth easier for you?

3. How has your experience of cleaning your child's teeth changed over time?

Has it become easier or harder?

Have you changed how often and how you clean their teeth? If so, why?

4. Could you describe how your child finds having their teeth cleaned?

What do they enjoy about having their teeth cleaned?

Is there anything they find upsetting about having their teeth cleaned?

5. Where do you look for information/advice about cleaning your child's teeth?

What did your health visitor tell you about cleaning your child's teeth? (If anything)

What has the dentist told you about caring for your child's teeth? (If visited)

Have any family members given you advice about how to clean your child's teeth? If so, what did they tell you? Did you follow their advice?

6. Is there anything else you would like to discuss about this?

Focus groups

A focus group is a moderated group discussion on a pre-defined topic, for research purposes. 28 , 29 While not aligned to a particular qualitative methodology (for example, grounded theory or phenomenology) as such, focus groups are used increasingly in healthcare research, as they are useful for exploring collective perspectives, attitudes, behaviours and experiences. Consequently, they can yield rich, in-depth data and illuminate agreement and inconsistencies 28 within and, where appropriate, between groups. Examples include public perceptions of dental implants and subsequent impact on help-seeking and decision making, 30 and general dental practitioners' views on patient safety in dentistry. 31

Focus groups can be used alone or in conjunction with other methods, such as interviews or observations, and can therefore help to confirm, extend or enrich understanding and provide alternative insights. 28 The social interaction between participants often results in lively discussion and can therefore facilitate the collection of rich, meaningful data. However, they are complex to organise and manage, due to the number of participants, and may also be inappropriate for exploring particularly sensitive issues that many participants may feel uncomfortable about discussing in a group environment.

Focus groups are primarily undertaken face-to-face but can now also be undertaken online, using appropriate technologies such as email, bulletin boards, online research communities, chat rooms, discussion forums, social media and video conferencing. 32 Using such technologies, data collection can also be synchronous (for example, online discussions in 'real time') or, unlike traditional face-to-face focus groups, asynchronous (for example, online/email discussions in 'non-real time'). While many of the fundamental principles of focus group research are the same, regardless of how they are conducted, a number of subtle nuances are associated with the online medium. 32 Some of which are discussed further in the following sections.

Focus group considerations

Some key considerations associated with face-to-face focus groups are: how many participants are required; should participants within each group know each other (or not) and how many focus groups are needed within a single study? These issues are much debated and there is no definitive answer. However, the number of focus groups required will largely depend on the topic area, the depth and breadth of data needed, the desired level of participation required 29 and the necessity (or not) for data saturation.

The optimum group size is around six to eight participants (excluding researchers) but can work effectively with between three and 14 participants. 3 If the group is too small, it may limit discussion, but if it is too large, it may become disorganised and difficult to manage. It is, however, prudent to over-recruit for a focus group by approximately two to three participants, to allow for potential non-attenders. For many researchers, particularly novice researchers, group size may also be informed by pragmatic considerations, such as the type of study, resources available and moderator experience. 28 Similar size and mix considerations exist for online focus groups. Typically, synchronous online focus groups will have around three to eight participants but, as the discussion does not happen simultaneously, asynchronous groups may have as many as 10–30 participants. 33

The topic area and potential group interaction should guide group composition considerations. Pre-existing groups, where participants know each other (for example, work colleagues) may be easier to recruit, have shared experiences and may enjoy a familiarity, which facilitates discussion and/or the ability to challenge each other courteously. 3 However, if there is a potential power imbalance within the group or if existing group norms and hierarchies may adversely affect the ability of participants to speak freely, then 'stranger groups' (that is, where participants do not already know each other) may be more appropriate. 34 , 35

Focus group management

Face-to-face focus groups should normally be conducted by two researchers; a moderator and an observer. 28 The moderator facilitates group discussion, while the observer typically monitors group dynamics, behaviours, non-verbal cues, seating arrangements and speaking order, which is essential for transcription and analysis. The same principles of informed consent, as discussed in the interview section, also apply to focus groups, regardless of medium. However, the consent process for online discussions will probably be managed somewhat differently. For example, while an appropriate participant information leaflet (and consent form) would still be required, the process is likely to be managed electronically (for example, via email) and would need to specifically address issues relating to technology (for example, anonymity and use, storage and access to online data). 32

The venue in which a face to face focus group is conducted should be of a suitable size, private, quiet, free from distractions and in a collectively convenient location. It should also be conducted at a time appropriate for participants, 28 as this is likely to promote attendance. As with interviews, the same ethical considerations apply (as discussed earlier). However, online focus groups may present additional ethical challenges associated with issues such as informed consent, appropriate access and secure data storage. Further guidance can be found elsewhere. 8 , 32

Before the focus group commences, the researchers should establish rapport with participants, as this will help to put them at ease and result in a more meaningful discussion. Consequently, researchers should introduce themselves, provide further clarity about the study and how the process will work in practice and outline the 'ground rules'. Ground rules are designed to assist, not hinder, group discussion and typically include: 3 , 28 , 29

Discussions within the group are confidential to the group

Only one person can speak at a time

All participants should have sufficient opportunity to contribute

There should be no unnecessary interruptions while someone is speaking

Everyone can be expected to be listened to and their views respected

Challenging contrary opinions is appropriate, but ridiculing is not.

Moderating a focus group requires considered management and good interpersonal skills to help guide the discussion and, where appropriate, keep it sufficiently focused. Avoid, therefore, participating, leading, expressing personal opinions or correcting participants' knowledge 3 , 28 as this may bias the process. A relaxed, interested demeanour will also help participants to feel comfortable and promote candid discourse. Moderators should also prevent the discussion being dominated by any one person, ensure differences of opinions are discussed fairly and, if required, encourage reticent participants to contribute. 3 Asking open questions, reflecting on significant issues, inviting further debate, probing responses accordingly, and seeking further clarification, as and where appropriate, will help to obtain sufficient depth and insight into the topic area.

Moderating online focus groups requires comparable skills, particularly if the discussion is synchronous, as the discussion may be dominated by those who can type proficiently. 36 It is therefore important that sufficient time and respect is accorded to those who may not be able to type as quickly. Asynchronous discussions are usually less problematic in this respect, as interactions are less instant. However, moderating an asynchronous discussion presents additional challenges, particularly if participants are geographically dispersed, as they may be online at different times. Consequently, the moderator will not always be present and the discussion may therefore need to occur over several days, which can be difficult to manage and facilitate and invariably requires considerable flexibility. 32 It is also worth recognising that establishing rapport with participants via online medium is often more challenging than via face-to-face and may therefore require additional time, skills, effort and consideration.

As with research interviews, focus groups should be guided by an appropriate interview schedule, as discussed earlier in the paper. For example, the schedule will usually be informed by the review of the literature and study aims, and will merely provide a topic guide to help inform subsequent discussions. To provide a verbatim account of the discussion, focus groups must be recorded, using an audio-recorder with a good quality multi-directional microphone. While videotaping is possible, some participants may find it obtrusive, 3 which may adversely affect group dynamics. The use (or not) of a video recorder, should therefore be carefully considered.

At the end of the focus group, a few minutes should be spent rounding up and reflecting on the discussion. 28 Depending on the topic area, it is possible that some participants may have revealed deeply personal issues and may therefore require further help and support, such as a constructive debrief or possibly even referral on to a relevant third party. It is also possible that some participants may feel that the discussion did not adequately reflect their views and, consequently, may no longer wish to be associated with the study. 28 Such occurrences are likely to be uncommon, but should they arise, it is important to further discuss any concerns and, if appropriate, offer them the opportunity to withdraw (including any data relating to them) from the study. Immediately after the discussion, researchers should compile notes regarding thoughts and ideas about the focus group, which can assist with data analysis and, if appropriate, any further data collection.

Qualitative research is increasingly being utilised within dental research to explore the experiences, perspectives, motivations and beliefs of participants. The contributions of qualitative research to evidence-based practice are increasingly being recognised, both as standalone research and as part of larger mixed-method studies, including clinical trials. Interviews and focus groups remain commonly used data collection methods in qualitative research, and with the advent of digital technologies, their utilisation continues to evolve. However, digital methods of qualitative data collection present additional methodological, ethical and practical considerations, but also potentially offer considerable flexibility to participants and researchers. Consequently, regardless of format, qualitative methods have significant potential to inform important areas of dental practice, policy and further related research.

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Gill, P., Baillie, J. Interviews and focus groups in qualitative research: an update for the digital age. Br Dent J 225 , 668–672 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.815

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative Interviews

As the preceding sections have suggested, qualitative interviews are an excellent way to gather detailed information. Whatever topic is of interest to the researcher employing this method can be explored in much more depth than with almost any other method. Not only are participants given the opportunity to elaborate in a way that is not possible with other methods such as survey research, but they also are able share information with researchers in their own words and from their own perspectives rather than being asked to fit those perspectives into the perhaps limited response options provided by the researcher. And because qualitative interviews are designed to elicit detailed information, they are especially useful when a researcher’s aim is to study social processes, or the “how” of various phenomena. Yet another, and sometimes overlooked, benefit of qualitative interviews that occurs in person is that researchers can make observations beyond those that a respondent is orally reporting. A respondent’s body language, and even her or his choice of time and location for the interview, might provide a researcher with useful data.

Of course, all these benefits do not come without some drawbacks. As with quantitative survey research, qualitative interviews rely on respondents’ ability to accurately and honestly recall whatever details about their lives, circumstances, thoughts, opinions, or behaviors that are being asked about. As Esterberg (2002) puts it, “If you want to know about what people actually do, rather than what they say they do, you should probably use observation [instead of interviews].” 1 Further, as you may have already guessed, qualitative interviewing is time intensive and can be quite expensive. Creating an interview guide, identifying a sample, and conducting interviews are just the beginning. Transcribing interviews is labor intensive—and that’s before coding even begins. It is also not uncommon to offer respondents some monetary incentive or thank-you for participating. Keep in mind that you are asking for more of participants’ time than if you’d simply mailed them a questionnaire containing closed-ended questions. Conducting qualitative interviews is not only labor intensive but also emotionally taxing. When I interviewed young workers about their sexual harassment experiences, I heard stories that were shocking, infuriating, and sad. Seeing and hearing the impact that harassment had had on respondents was difficult. Researchers embarking on a qualitative interview project should keep in mind their own abilities to hear stories that may be difficult to hear.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In-depth interviews are semi-structured interviews where the researcher has topics and questions in mind to ask, but questions are open ended and flow according to how the participant responds to each.
• Interview guides can vary in format but should contain some outline of the topics you hope to cover during the course of an interview.
• NVivo and Atlasti are computer programs that qualitative researchers use to help them with organizing, sorting, and analyzing their data.
• Qualitative interviews allow respondents to share information in their own words and are useful for gathering detailed information and understanding social processes.
• Drawbacks of qualitative interviews include reliance on respondents’ accuracy and their intensity in terms of time, expense, and possible emotional strain.
• Based on a research question you have identified through earlier exercises in this text, write a few open-ended questions you could ask were you to conduct in-depth interviews on the topic. Now critique your questions. Are any of them yes/no questions? Are any of them leading?
• Read the open-ended questions you just created, and answer them as though you were an interview participant. Were your questions easy to answer or fairly difficult? How did you feel talking about the topics you asked yourself to discuss? How might respondents feel talking about them?
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Qualitative Interview Pros and Cons

Interviews with members and nonmembers can help tell the story behind your quantitative research data, but only if done right. Find out how to make interviews effective and what pitfalls to avoid.

The proliferation of cheap, high-quality online survey tools has revolutionized our ability to conduct surveys to obtain quick snapshots of what our members are thinking. For all but the most complex projects, it is possible to begin and conclude a well-defined study of a subject of interest with the participation of a representative group of members within a 10-day timeframe. Perhaps more than any other development, this technology has made it possible for us to become "data driven" associations, as was put forth in 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't .

At the same time, we need to balance this easy source of quantitative data with a similar easy source of qualitative data. Why? Survey tools do a great job of providing us with definitive numbers and visuals to help tell our story, to ensure that our colleagues or committees understand and buy into our key findings. Databases also provide much better snapshots in the form of statistical reports and charts to help us document usage and sales baselines and trends. But to obtain greater insight into what actually determines these levels and drives changes, we often need to go deeper and directly engage representative members and customers in two-way dialogue. 

Structure and Method for Member Interviews

There are entire books regarding methodology for qualitative interviews, but as associations we often benefit by simplifying them considerably. Here are some suggestions:

Conduct only telephone interviews (rather than face-to-face), prescheduling from a small random sample of the members or other targeted constituency. This allows them to speak at their convenience, although speaking to them at home or on a cellphone undermines the quality of conversation.

Prepare a discussion guide in advance. Rather than treat this as an agenda or survey form, keep it broad and flexible. After all, an interview is two-way communication. The majority of each interview will probably consist of follow-up questions to probe initial responses more deeply.

Use (or be) good interviewers. Effective interviewers (and facilitators) are friendly and open, and they know how to probe effectively. Through active listening, surface level discussions rapidly give way to deeper motivations, and if the interviewer can demonstrate objectivity and candor, he or she can quickly establish a trusting relationship in the interview. You should welcome digressions, and don't worry if every interview is unique. The end product of aggregating all the interviews will be far more robust as a result.

Guarantee confidentiality. Ensure participants that no individual information or attribution will be released to others in transcripts or written reports.

Allow interviews to run long. Even with the shortest guides and most focused of objectives, we often find that interviews run 30 minutes or more. Members rarely get a chance to speak directly with their association. A member who begins an interview emphasizing their time constraints inevitably is the one who will speak the longest.

Don't do too many interviews. Since time is money, structure the interviews as a discrete project, with a limited number of conversations. For any specific topic, we find most issues converge within 10 to 15 interviews—that is, we begin to hear repeated comments and similar thinking so we are not learning much new information from each new conversation. As with all qualitative research, we are generally not trying to establish or force a consensus; instead we want to hear the widest range of perspectives possible and understand why members feel that way.

Strengths of Interviews

Often we think of focus groups when considering qualitative research. Group dynamics are sometimes important to measure, and focus groups have also migrated online to a certain extent, but there are several reasons why in-depth interviews are superior.

Relative absence of bias. Interviews generally have less observer or participant bias. Even a trained moderator will encounter subtle bias in membership focus groups. In associations people often know each other, which can lead to conscious or subconscious posturing or suppression of some comments. Groups may seem to have homogeneous participants, yet some factor differentiates them once they are in the room. For example, we may find while discussing a service with which two people have had negative experiences that they are overly eager to share. If they speak first, it can undermine the perceptions of those who speak later and have had no experiences, or only positive ones. In interviews, the member is rarely trying to impress the interviewer except by trying to be as articulate and well understood as possible.

Built-in flexibility. Although you lose some rapport and communications through phone contact, it is far more cost-effective, allowing you to efficiently conduct interviews back-to-back and to give members who miss an appointment to call back at their convenience. Too often we are constrained in focus groups by having members gathered at a conference or in their local area, which yields a sampling of only our most motivated “super-users” and cognoscenti, or group dynamics reflecting participants who are very familiar with one another.

An interview is two-way communication. The majority of each interview will probably consist of follow-up questions to probe initial responses more deeply.

"Feed" your survey. Often we design surveys based on our assumptions regarding what matters, drawn from internal management perspectives, questions from the last survey, or good ideas a consultant brought in. However, it is harder to get a candid take on current issues that are of greatest concern to members. Conducting interviews as part of the process of designing the survey helps provide timely, titillating observations, unproven hypotheses, and possible hidden connections between attitudes and behavior that you will want to quantify in the survey work.

Enough talk time for members. A 90-minute focus group allows each participant to speak perhaps eight to 10 minutes. Online surveys generally take between five and 15 minutes. Many members may only have only a few minutes of thought to share, but for subjects that do warrant more in-depth discussion and a clear understanding of their background, a 20- to 30-minute period for one person's feedback is more appropriate. Interviews lose a group dynamic, but they also spare interviewees from spending time listening to others—helpful particularly if your members have type A personalities and tend to equate "listening" with "waiting to speak again." (Yes, we all have many of them in our databases!)

Candor and intimacy. Even if you have never spoken to members regarding their inner feelings, don't worry—they will make it easy for you. Often members are flattered to be asked. They make the time to speak with you and they reward you with candor. Sometimes you may not like what you hear, but the more the interviewer plays the role of objective outsider, the better the process will be. As a market research director, I often introduced myself as "acting as an independent researcher today" and that's often all you need in order to pull yourself out of the equation and to put the focus of conversation where it belongs—on the member or customer you're interviewing.

Low-cost and easy interpretation. Even surveys that are easy to administer online require some statistical knowledge to properly interpret. To conduct and analyze, interviews require a finger to dial, an ear to listen, a telephone, and a keyboard or notepad. Like surveys today, interviews can launch in real time, and it is easy to share top-line reports in a day for time-sensitive projects.

Weaknesses of Interviews

Of course, interviews also have inherent weaknesses. These are a few of their  limitations:

Missing objectivity. There is a potential for observer bias in just about all qualitative research. If the people conducting the interviews are staff or service providers who can't maintain a strong sense of objectivity inside and out, the interviewee will pull their punches and not tell the whole truth, or the interpretation of the end results starts to resemble a process of hearing what you want to hear. Be on the lookout for what can be an almost subliminal bias.

Negative reactions. I often found that associations need to be prepared to accept what they hear. Not all of it is pleasant. The kneejerk reaction to negative feedback often can be outright rejection—a belief that the method just wasn't reliable enough. This may be true, but it is important to balance a sudden keen interest in valid methodology with an urgent need to cover one's backside. We are often politically sensitive and very PC, and when interviewees take advantage of glasnost to say exactly what they feel, it can be jarring. Sometimes you will need to smooth off the rough edges and edit the unadulterated stream of feedback, unless you are a big fan of Impromptu Job Loss or like being perceived as a traitor when you're only the messenger.

Open-endedness. Digressions and lack of standardization across interviews can be a good or a bad thing. When you try to make interviews "sum up" to a consensus or quantify them, you'll be disappointed. To push for consensus is to force interviews to do something they don't do well. It is best to accept this limitation, even to the point of managing your interviewee's expectations upfront. Sometimes an interviewee will refer to our "phone survey" and we gently correct them, since survey implies a rigid format. Interviews often yield digressions into arcane specialties, heretical opinions, conspiracy theories, and wildly inventive suggestions that each represent a unique viewpoint.

Subject to these caveats, qualitative interviews can be a valuable tool to help inform most association problems. Like some people we know, the feedback we receive may be amorphous, messy, and sometimes contradictory. However, regular use of the method can improve member and customer relations and provide a critical additional source of intelligence that we rarely obtain otherwise.

Editor’s Note: This article, originally published in 2009, has been updated.

Kevin Whorton is principal of Whorton Marketing & Research in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Email: [email protected]                       

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• Unstructured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples

Unstructured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples

Published on January 27, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

An unstructured interview is a data collection method that relies on asking participants questions to collect data on a topic. Also known as non-directive interviewing , unstructured interviews do not have a set pattern and questions are not arranged in advance.

In research, unstructured interviews are usually qualitative in nature, and can be very helpful for social science or humanities research focusing on personal experiences.

An unstructured interview can be a particularly useful exploratory research tool. Known for being very informal and flexible, they can yield captivating responses from your participants.

• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order.
• Semi-structured interviews : A few questions are predetermined, but other questions aren’t planned.
• Focus group interviews : The questions are presented to a group instead of one individual.

Table of contents

What is an unstructured interview, when to use an unstructured interview, advantages of unstructured interviews, disadvantages of unstructured interviews, unstructured interview questions, how to conduct an unstructured interview, how to analyze an unstructured interview, presenting your results, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about unstructured interviews.

An unstructured interview is the most flexible type of interview, with room for spontaneity. In contrast to a structured interview , the questions and the order in which they are presented are not set. Instead, the interview proceeds based on the participant’s previous answers.

Unstructured interviews are open-ended. This lack of structure can help you gather detailed information on your topic, while still allowing you to observe patterns in the analysis stage.

It can be challenging to know what type of interview best fits your subject matter. Unstructured interviews can be very challenging to conduct, and may not always be the best fit for your research question . Unstructured interviews are best used when:

• You are an experienced interviewer and have a very strong background in your research topic.
• Your research question is exploratory in nature. While you may have developed hypotheses, you are open to discovering new or shifting viewpoints.
• You are seeking descriptive data, and are ready to ask questions that will deepen and contextualize your initial thoughts and hypotheses .
• Your research depends on forming connections with your participants and making them feel comfortable revealing deeper emotions, thoughts, or lived experiences.

Even more so than in structured or semi-structured interviews, it is critical that you remain organized and develop a system for keeping track of participant responses. Since the questions are not set beforehand, the data collection and analysis becomes more complex.

Differences between different types of interviews

Make sure to choose the type of interview that suits your research best. This table shows the most important differences between the four types.

Unstructured interviews have a few advantages compared to other types of interviews.

Very flexible

Respondents are more at ease, reduced risk of bias, more detail and nuance.

Unstructured interviews also have a few downsides compared to other data collection methods.

Low generalizability and reliability

Risk of leading questions, very time-consuming, risk of low internal validity.

It can be challenging to ask unstructured interview questions that get you the information you seek without biasing your responses. You will have to rely on the flow of the conversation and the cues you pick up from your participants.

Here are a few tips:

• Since you won’t be designing set questions ahead of time, it’s important to feel sufficiently comfortable with your topic that you can come up with questions spontaneously.
• Write yourself a guide with notes about your topic and what you’re seeking to investigate or gain from your interviews, so you have notes to refer back to.
• Try to ask questions that encourage your participant to answer at length. Avoid closed-ended questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”
• Relatedly, focus on “how” questions rather than “why” questions to help put your participants at ease and avoid any feelings of defensiveness or anxiety.
• Consider beginning the interview with an icebreaker or a “freebie” question, to start on a relaxed and comfortable note before delving into the more sensitive topics.

Here are a few possibilities for how your conversation could proceed:

Conversation A: 

• Interviewer: Do you go to the gym? How often?
• Participant: I go to the gym 5 times per week.
• Interviewer: What feelings does going to the gym bring out in you?
• Participant: I don’t feel like myself unless I go to the gym.

Since the participant hinted that going to the gym is important for their mental health, proceed with questions in that vein, such as:

• You say you “don’t feel like yourself.” Can you elaborate?
• If you have to skip a gym day, how does that make you feel?
• Is there anything else that makes you feel the way going to the gym does?

Conversation B:

• Participant: No, I hate the gym.

Since the participant seems to have strong feelings against the gym, you can probe deeper.

• What makes you feel this way about the gym?
• What do you like to do instead?
• Do your feelings about the gym reflect on your feelings about exercise in general?

Once you’ve determined that an unstructured interview is the right fit for your research topic , you can proceed with the following steps.

Step 1: Set your goals and foundations

As you conceptualize your research question, consider starting with some guiding questions, such as:

• What are you trying to learn or achieve from an unstructured interview specifically?
• Why is an unstructured interview the best fit for your research, as opposed to a different type of interview or another research method ?
• What is the guiding force behind your research? What topic will serve as the foundation for your unscripted and follow-up questions?

While you do not need to plan your questions ahead of time for an unstructured interview, this does not mean that no advanced planning is needed. Unstructured interviews actually require extensive planning ahead to ensure that the interview stage will be fruitful.

• Perhaps you have been studying it for quite some time, or you have previously conducted another type of research on a similar topic.
• Maybe you are seeking a bit more detail or nuance to confirm or challenge past results, or you are interested in delving deeper into a particular question that arose from past research.

Once you are feeling really solid about your research question, you can start brainstorming categories of questions you may ask. You can start with one broad, overarching question and brainstorm what paths the conversation could take.

Step 2: Assemble your participants

There are a few sampling methods you can use to recruit your interview participants, such as:

• Voluntary response sampling : For example, posting flyers in the dining hall and seeing who answers.
• Stratified sampling of a particular age, race, or gender identity that is relevant to your research.
• Convenience sampling of other students at your university, colleagues or friends.

Step 3: Decide on your setting

You should decide ahead of time whether your interview will be conducted in-person, over the phone, or via video conferencing.

In-person, phone, or video interviews each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

• In general, live interviews can lead to nervousness or interviewer effects, where the respondent feels pressured to respond in a manner they perceive will please you.
• Videoconferencing specifically can feel awkward or stilted, which could affect your results. However, your participant may be more comfortable in their own home.
• Not being face-to-face with respondents, such as in a phone interview, could lead to more honest answers. However, there could be environmental conditions or distractions on the participant side that could affect their responses.
• Consent to video- or audio-recording
• Signature of a confidentiality agreement
• Signature of an agreement to anonymize or pseudonymize data.

Step 4: Conduct your interviews

As you conduct your interviews, pay special attention to any environmental conditions that could bias your responses. This includes noises, temperature, and setting, but also your body language. Be careful to moderate your tone of voice and any responses to avoid interviewer effects.

Remember that one of the biggest challenges with unstructured interviews is to keep your questions neutral and unbiased. Strive for open-ended phrasing, and allow your participants to set the pace, asking follow-up questions that flow naturally from their last answer.

After you’re finished conducting your interviews, you move into the analysis phase. Don’t forget to assign each participant a pseudonym (such as a number or letter) to be sure you stay organized.

First, transcribe your recorded interviews. You can then conduct content or thematic analysis to create your categories, seeking patterns that stand out to you among your responses and testing your hypotheses .

Transcribing interviews

The transcription process can be quite lengthy for unstructured interviews due to their more detailed nature. One decision that can save you quite a bit of time before you get started is whether you will be conducting verbatim transcription or intelligent verbatim transcription.

• If you consider that laughter, hesitations, or filler words like “umm” affect your analysis and research conclusions, you should conduct verbatim transcription and include them.
• If not, intelligent verbatim transcription allows you to exclude fillers and fix any grammar issues in your transcription. Intelligent verbatim transcription can save you some time in this step.

Transcribing has the added benefit of being a great opportunity for cleansing your data . While you listen, you can take notes of questions or inconsistencies that come up.

Note that in some cases, your supervisor may ask you to add the finished transcriptions in the appendix of your research paper .

Coding unstructured interviews

After you’re finished transcribing, you can begin your thematic or content analysis . Here, you separate words, patterns, or recurring responses that stand out to you into labels or categories for later analysis. This process is called “coding.”

Due to the open-ended nature of unstructured interviews, you will most likely proceed with thematic analysis, rather than content analysis. In thematic analysis, you draw preliminary conclusions about your participants through identifying common topics, ideas, or patterns in their responses.

• After you have familiarized yourself sufficiently with your responses, you can separate them into different codes or labels.
• However, codes can be a bit too specific or niche for robust analysis. You can proceed by grouping similar codes into broader themes.
• After identifying your themes, be sure to double-check your responses to ensure that the themes you chose appropriately represent your data.

Analyzing unstructured interviews

Once you’re confident with your preliminary thoughts, you can take either an inductive or a deductive approach in your analysis.

• An inductive approach is more open-ended, allowing your data to then determine your themes.
• A deductive approach is the opposite, and involves investigating whether your data confirm preconceived themes or ideas.

Thematic analysis is quite subjective, which can lead to issues with the reliability of your results. The unstructured nature of this type of interview leads to greater dependence on your judgment and interpretations. Be extra vigilant about remaining objective here.

After your data analysis, you’re ready to combine your findings into a research paper .

• Your methodology section describes your data collection process (in this case, describing your unstructured interview process) and explains how you justified and conceptualized your analysis.
• Your discussion and results sections usually describe each of your coded categories, and give you the opportunity to showcase your argument.
• You can then conclude with your main takeaways and avenues for further study.
• Since unstructured interviews are predominantly exploratory in nature, you can add suggestions for future research in the discussion section .

Example of interview methodology for a research paper

Let’s say you are a history student particularly interested in the history of the town around your campus. The town has a long history dating back to the early 1600s, but town census data shows that many long-term residents have been moving away in recent years.

You identify a few potential reasons for this shift:

• People are moving away because there are better opportunities in the closest big city
• The university has been aggressively purchasing real estate to build more student housing
• The university has long been the main source of jobs for the town, and education budget cuts have led to a hiring freeze
• The cost of living in the area has skyrocketed in recent years, and long-time residents can no longer afford their property taxes

Anecdotally, you hypothesize that the increased cost of living is the predominant factor in driving away long-time residents. However, you cannot rule out the possibility of the other options, specifically the lack of job options coupled with the university’s expansionist aims.

You feel very comfortable with this topic and oral histories in general. Since it is exploratory in nature but has the potential to become sensitive or emotional, you decide to conduct unstructured interviews with long-term residents of your town. Multi-generational residents are of particular interest.

To find the right mix of participants, you post in the Facebook group for town residents, as well as in the town’s NextDoor forum. You also post flyers in local coffee shops and even some mailboxes.

Once you’ve assembled your participants, it’s time to proceed with your interviews. Consider starting out with an icebreaker, such as:

• What is your favorite thing about this town?
• Tell me about a memory of the town that you have that’s particularly special.

You can then proceed with the interview, asking follow-up questions relevant to your participants’ responses, probing their family history, ties to the community, or any stories they have to share– whether funny, touching, or sentimental.

Establishing rapport with your participants helps you delve into the reasoning behind the choice to stay or leave, and competing thoughts and feelings they may have as the interview goes on. Remember to try to structure it like a conversation, to put them more at ease with the emotional topics.

• Has increased cost of living led to you considering leaving the area? → The phrasing implies that you, the interviewer, think this is the case. This could bias your respondents, incentivizing them to answer affirmatively as well.
• Are there any factors that would lead to you considering leaving the area? → This phrasing ensures the participant is giving their own opinion, and may even yield some surprising responses that enrich your analysis.

After conducting your interviews and transcribing your data, you can then conduct thematic analysis, coding responses into different categories. Since you began your research with several theories for why residents may be leaving that all seemed plausible, you would use the inductive approach.

After identifying the relevant themes from your data, you can draw inferences and conclusions. Your results section usually addresses each theme or pattern you found, describing each in turn, as well as how often you came across them in your analysis.

Perhaps one reason in particular really jumped out from responses, or maybe it was more of a mixed bag. Explain why you think this could be the case, and feel free to include lots of (properly anonymized) examples from the data to better illustrate your points.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Student’s  t -distribution
• Normal distribution
• Null and Alternative Hypotheses
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Data cleansing
• Reproducibility vs Replicability
• Peer review
• Prospective cohort study

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Placebo effect
• Hawthorne effect
• Hindsight bias
• Affect heuristic
• Social desirability bias

An unstructured interview is the most flexible type of interview, but it is not always the best fit for your research topic.

Unstructured interviews are best used when:

• You are an experienced interviewer and have a very strong background in your research topic, since it is challenging to ask spontaneous, colloquial questions.
• Your research question is exploratory in nature. While you may have developed hypotheses, you are open to discovering new or shifting viewpoints through the interview process.
• You are seeking descriptive data, and are ready to ask questions that will deepen and contextualize your initial thoughts and hypotheses.
• Your research depends on forming connections with your participants and making them feel comfortable revealing deeper emotions, lived experiences, or thoughts.

The four most common types of interviews are:

• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order. 
• Unstructured interviews : None of the questions are predetermined.

There are various approaches to qualitative data analysis , but they all share five steps in common:

• Prepare and organize your data.
• Review and explore your data.
• Develop a data coding system.
• Assign codes to the data.
• Identify recurring themes.

The specifics of each step depend on the focus of the analysis. Some common approaches include textual analysis , thematic analysis , and discourse analysis .

The interviewer effect is a type of bias that emerges when a characteristic of an interviewer (race, age, gender identity, etc.) influences the responses given by the interviewee.

There is a risk of an interviewer effect in all types of interviews , but it can be mitigated by writing really high-quality interview questions.

Social desirability bias is the tendency for interview participants to give responses that will be viewed favorably by the interviewer or other participants. It occurs in all types of interviews and surveys , but is most common in semi-structured interviews , unstructured interviews , and focus groups .

Social desirability bias can be mitigated by ensuring participants feel at ease and comfortable sharing their views. Make sure to pay attention to your own body language and any physical or verbal cues, such as nodding or widening your eyes.

This type of bias can also occur in observations if the participants know they’re being observed. They might alter their behavior accordingly.

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Conducting a Research Interview

Affiliation.

• 1 British Columbia Cancer Agency, Surrey, British Columbia.
• PMID: 31052024
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmir.2011.12.002

Interviews are a cornerstone of modern health care research and can be used by both experienced and novice researchers to gather data for projects. For qualitative research, the semistructured or unstructured interview is often used and this can be carried out in various ways. Methods discussed in this directed reading include the face-to-face interview, group interviews such as focus groups, and remote interview conducted by telephone or using the computer. These methods are discussed in detail including advantages and disadvantages of each as well as accompanying practical considerations. Regardless of the method used, there are several matters to be considered in the process of planning, conducting, and analyzing interviews. These consist of initially selecting appropriate participants for the study, preparing a research protocol, and writing useful interview questions designed to capture the information required. It is also important for the researcher to be able to develop and demonstrate rapport with the participant and use attentive listening. Ethical issues relating to the conduct of interviews are also considered, including consent, privacy, and confidentiality. Finally, there is a discussion on the method of analyzing qualitative interview data to prepare for its dissemination in the form of an article or presentation.

Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Research Design Review

A discussion of qualitative & quantitative research design, strengths & limitations of the in-depth interview method: an overview.

The following is a modified excerpt from Applied Qualitative Research Design: A Total Quality Framework Approach (Roller & Lavrakas, 2015, pp. 56-57).

An additional strength of the IDI method is the flexibility of the interview format, which allows the interviewer to tailor the order in which questions are asked, modify the question wording as appropriate, ask follow-up questions to clarify interviewees’ responses, and use indirect questions (e.g., the use of projective techniques ) to stimulate subconscious opinions or recall. It should be noted, however, that “flexibility” does not mean a willy-nilly approach to interviewing, and, indeed, the interviewer should employ quality measures such as those outlined in “Applying a Quality Framework to the In-depth Interview Method.”

A third key strength of the IDI method—analyzability of the data—is a byproduct of the interviewer–interviewee relationship and the depth of interviewing techniques, which produce a granularity in the IDI data that is rich in fine details and serves as the basis for deciphering the narrative within each interview. These details also enable researchers to readily identify where they agree or disagree with the meanings of codes and themes associated with specific responses, which ultimately leads to the identification of themes and connections across interview participants.

Limitations

The IDI method also presents challenges and limitations that deserve the researcher’s attention. The most important, from a Total Quality Framework standpoint, has to do with what is also considered a key strength of the IDI method: the interviewer–interviewee relationship. There are two key aspects of the relationship that can potentially limit (or even undermine) the effectiveness of the IDI method: the interviewer and the social context. The main issue with respect to the interviewer is his/her potential for biasing the information that is gathered. This can happen due to  (a) personal characteristics such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, and education (e.g., a 60-year-old Caucasian male interviewer may stifle or skew responses from young, female, African American participants); (b) personal values or beliefs (e.g., an interviewer with strongly held beliefs about global warming and its damaging impact on the environment may “tune out” or misconstrue the comments from interviewees who believe global warming is a myth); and/or (c) other factors (e.g., an interviewer’s stereotyping, misinterpreting, and/or presumptions about the interviewee based solely on the interviewee’s outward appearance). Any of these characteristics may negatively influence an interviewee’s responses to the researcher’s questions and/or the accuracy of the interviewer’s data gathering. A result of these interviewer effects may be the “difficulty of seeing the people as complex, and . . . a reduction of their humanity to a stereotypical, flat, one-dimensional paradigm” (Krumer-Nevo, 2002, p. 315).

The second key area of concern with the IDI method is related to the broader social context of the relationship, particularly what Kvale (2006) calls the “power dynamics” within the interview environment, characterized by the possibility of “a one-way dialogue” whereby “the interviewer rules the interview” (p. 484). It is important, therefore, for the researcher to carefully consider the social interactions that are integral to the interviewing process and the possible impact these interactions may have on the credibility of an IDI study. For example, the trained interviewer will maximize the social interaction by utilizing positive engagement techniques such as establishing rapport (i.e., being approachable), asking thoughtful questions that indicate the interviewer is listening carefully to the interviewee, and knowing when to stay silent and let the interviewee talk freely.

Krumer-Nevo, M. (2002). The arena of othering: A life-story study with women living in poverty and social marginality. Qualitative Social Work , 1 (3), 303–318.

Kvale, S. (2006). Dominance through interviews and dialogues. Qualitative Inquiry , 12 (3), 480–500.

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14 Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews

Interviews are a commonly utilized method in the hiring process between interviewer and interviewee.

They offer several advantages and disadvantages for both the interviewer and the interviewee.

This article will explore the different types of interviews, their advantages and disadvantages, and the potential biases that can arise during the interview process.

• Redaction Team
• September 2, 2023
• Professional Development

Advantages of Interviews

• Rich Data Collection : Interviews allow for in-depth and rich data collection. They provide an opportunity to gather detailed information, insights, and nuances that may not be captured through other data collection methods.
• Personal Connection : Interviews create a personal connection between the interviewer and the interviewee, which can foster trust and open communication. This can lead to more honest and candid responses.
• Flexibility : Interviews can be structured or unstructured, allowing for flexibility in the questioning approach. Researchers or interviewers can adapt their questions based on the interviewee's responses, enabling a deeper exploration of topics.
• Clarification : Interviews provide an opportunity to seek clarification on unclear or ambiguous responses. Follow-up questions can help ensure that the interviewer fully understands the interviewee's perspective.
• Contextual Understanding : Interviews are useful for gaining a deeper understanding of the interviewee's context, experiences, and motivations. This is particularly valuable in research or investigative settings.
• Immediate Feedback : In employment interviews, immediate feedback can be provided to candidates, helping them understand their performance and areas for improvement.

Disadvantages of Interviews

• Subjectivity : Interviews can be subject to bias, both on the part of the interviewer and the interviewee. This can lead to skewed or inaccurate information.
• Limited Sample Size : Interviews are time-consuming and resource-intensive, making it challenging to conduct them with a large sample size. This limits the generalizability of the findings.
• Social Desirability Bias : Interviewees may provide responses that they believe are socially acceptable or that align with the interviewer's expectations, rather than their true opinions or experiences.
• Interviewer Effect : The skills and demeanor of the interviewer can impact the interviewee's responses. Some interviewees may feel more comfortable with certain interviewers, leading to variations in data.
• Time-Consuming : Conducting interviews can be time-consuming, both in terms of preparation and the actual interview process. This may not be practical for large-scale data collection.
• Resource Intensive : Interviews require resources such as trained interviewers, facilities, and equipment. This can make them costly compared to other data collection methods.
• Interviewee Discomfort : Some interviewees may feel uncomfortable or anxious during interviews, which can affect the quality and honesty of their responses.
• Limited Reproducibility : In research settings, interviews may be challenging to reproduce exactly, making it difficult to validate findings through replication.

Types of Interviews

Structured interviews.

Structured interviews are the most common type of interview. In this type of interview, the interviewer follows a predetermined set of questions and evaluates the responses based on a standardized scoring system. One of the advantages of a structured interview is that it allows for consistent evaluation of candidates, ensuring that each candidate is assessed on the same criteria. This makes it easier to compare candidates and make informed hiring decisions. Some interviews can be held online, which is an advantage of video conferencing .

However, structured interviews can also have disadvantages. Some candidates may feel that the interview is too rigid and does not allow them to fully showcase their skills and abilities. Additionally, the structured format may not provide enough room for the interviewee to ask questions or engage in a meaningful conversation with the interviewer.

Unstructured Interviews

Unstructured interviews are the opposite of structured interviews. In this type of interview, the interviewer does not follow a specific set of questions. Instead, they have a general topic or theme and engage in a more conversational style of interviewing. Unstructured interviews allow for a more relaxed atmosphere and give the interviewee the opportunity to express themselves more freely.

However, unstructured interviews can also have disadvantages. Since there is no set structure or scoring system, it can be difficult to compare candidates objectively. The lack of structure can also lead to personal biases on the part of the interviewer, as their own preferences and opinions can influence the evaluation process. Additionally, unstructured interviews can be more time-consuming for both the interviewer and the interviewee.

Panel Interview

A panel interview involves multiple interviewers and one interviewee. This type of interview allows for different perspectives and opinions to be considered when evaluating a candidate. Panel interviews can be particularly useful when hiring for a position that requires teamwork or collaboration.

However, panel interviews may also have disadvantages. The presence of multiple interviewers can be intimidating for the interviewee, which may affect their performance. Additionally, panel interviews can be more difficult to coordinate and schedule, especially if the panel members have conflicting schedules.

Overall, interviews are a great way to gather information about potential candidates for a position. They allow for a more personal interaction between the interviewer and the respondent, and they provide an opportunity for the applicant to showcase their skills and qualifications.

However, it is important to recognize the potential disadvantages of interviews. Personal biases on the part of the interviewer can impact the evaluation process, leading to a less objective assessment of candidates. Additionally, interviews can be time-consuming and may not always provide an accurate representation of a candidate’s abilities.

When conducting interviews, it is crucial to develop a structured and standardized approach to minimize personal bias and ensure fair evaluation of candidates. This can involve using a standardized set of questions, developing a scoring system, and involving multiple interviewers to provide different perspectives.

In conclusion, interviews are an important part of the recruitment process and offer several advantages and disadvantages. It is essential to understand the different types of interviews, their strengths and weaknesses, and the potential biases that can arise during the interview process. By acknowledging and addressing these factors, organizations can make more informed hiring decisions and find the right fit for their team.

Conclusion of Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews

In conclusion, to transcribe interviews are a valuable tool for collecting qualitative data and gaining insights into individuals’ thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. 

However, they have limitations related to subjectivity, bias, resource requirements, and potential issues with sample size and generalizability. Researchers and interviewers should carefully consider these advantages and disadvantages when choosing interviews as a data collection method and take steps to mitigate potential biases and limitations.

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• DOI: 10.17169/FQS-7.4.175
• Corpus ID: 4208625

Advantages and disadvantages of four interview techniques in qualitative research

• Rjg Raymond Opdenakker
• Published 30 September 2006
• Forum Qualitative Social Research

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research

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