Advantages and Disadvantages of Structured Interviews

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Structured Interviews

Advantages

  • Practical Issues - training relatively easy and inexpensive as only have to ask fixed set of questions -however questionnaires cheaper - good way to collect factual data that's easily quantified
  • Response Rate - can be representative as large numbers can be surveyed - Young and Willmott only 54 out of 987 people they tried to research refused - however response rate less than questionnaires . interviewer can follow up those who dont respond
  • Reliability - easy for researcher to control and standardise so all completed in the same way - should get similar/easily comparible answers.

Disadvantages

  • Validity - structured interviews produce false image or subjects meaning - use close ended questions with pre-set answers if no answers fit what they want too say it will be invalid - structured interviews leave little room for explaining questions - if interviewee doesnt understand question have to move on - peole may lie/ exaggerate
  • inflexibility - draw up questions in advance - researcher and interviewee may not coincide with what they see as important - affect validity. Only a snapshot of current time - don't show change
  • Feminist criticisms - Graham (1983) - survey methods patriarchal and give distorted, invalid view on womens experience: researcher not female interviewee in control - mirrors womens subordination in society, surveys treat women as isolated rather than seeing them in the context of the power relationships that oppress them

Evaluation

Positivists favour structured interviews as the achieve main goal of reliability, generalisability and representativeness. Interpretivists similarly to feminists reject them for imposing researchers framework of ideas on interviewees 

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