Group Interviews

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Group Interviews

Advantages

  • Less time consuming than individual interviews.
  • High in validity - detailed answers can be given.
  • High in validity if people give honest answers - may feel more relaxed if surrounded by friends (especially children).
  • Can get a fairly representative sample if people of difficult genders, ethnicities, etc. are used.
  • EDUCATION ADVANTAGES:
  • Representativeness - may be higher than using other interview types, as they are less disruptive (can interview several students at once) - so schools are more likely to allow them to take place.
  • Validity - may be increased, students may feel more comfortable when surrounded by friends & so give more honest answers.

Disadvantages

  • Low in reliability - difficult to repeat exactly.
  • Low in validity if people lie & give the same answers as rest of the group (conformity).
  • Representativeness - lowered if only a few people dominate the conversation.
  • Differences between the interviewer & participants (e.g. class, gender, ethnicity) may affect the honesty of interviewees - could lower validity.
  • EDUCATION DISADVANTAGES:
  • Validity - lowered if students copy answers from each other.
  • Access - finding a time/space to interview a group of parents/teachers may be difficult.
  • Representativeness - low if a school doesn't contain a range of ethnicities/both genders.

Evaluation

Involves interviewing several people at once. Normally semi-structured (with some set questions) or unstructured (with no set questions), e.g. focus groups, which schools/colleges often do to ask students about their experiences of lessons.

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