Unstructured interview

Unstructured interview

Unstructured Interviews are a method of interviews where questions can be changed or adapted to meet the respondent's intelligence, understanding or belief. Unlike a structured interview they do not offer a limited, pre-set range of answers for a respondent to choose, but instead advocate listening to how each individual person responds to the question.

The method to gather information using this technique is fairly limited, for example most surveys that are carried out via telephone or even in person tend to follow a structured method. Outside of sociology the use of such interviews is very limited.

Examples in Sociology

Aaron Cicourel and John Kitsuse used the method in 1963 for their interviews. It enabled them to ask further questions beyond what they already had planned, in addition, it enabled them to clarify meaning of the responses they received. There are both advantages and disadvantages of unstructured interviews. The advantages are that the data collect is said to be valid as it is an exact account of what the interviewee has said. The researcher can also find out important information which didn't seem relevant before the interview and ask the interviewee to go further into the new topic. Unstructured interviews are also more suitable for sensitive subjects such as "domestic violence" as many people would lie in a more formal interview and also their response may not be on the preset question list. The disadvantages of interviews in general is the "interviewer effect". This is when the interviewee response is effected by the presence of the researcher due to either his/her race, ethnicity, colour, or response to certain answers. Unstructured interviews can also be very time consuming as the conversation can go on and on. The data collected is prone to digression and much of the data collected could be worthless. The data is also not reliable as it can not be done again with the same results due to a number of factors. Unstructured interviews are usually small scale so it is hard to generalise with the results as only a small number of the population can be interviewed. Also Data collection is hard to categorise as there is likely to be a variety of different answers. Coding will require more work when choosing categories for the respondents. The researcher Dr.Ali Arshad has done much coding on unstructured interviews


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • unstructured interview — /ʌnˌstrʌktʃəd ɪntəvju:/ noun an interview which is not based on a series of fixed questions and which encourages open discussion ● Unstructured interviews are effective in eliciting original suggestions for product improvement. ● Shy respondents… …   Marketing dictionary in english

  • unstructured interview — See interview …   Dictionary of sociology

  • interview — A social interaction which results in a transfer of information from the interviewee to an interviewer or researcher. Interviews may be personal, conducted face to face, or by telephone (which has certain advantages for more sensitive topics), or …   Dictionary of sociology

  • unstructured — [[t]ʌ̱nstrʌ̱ktʃə(r)d[/t]] ADJ GRADED Something such as a meeting, interview, or activity that is unstructured is not organized in a complete or detailed way. Our aim was that these meetings be unstructured and informal... As seminars go, these… …   English dictionary

  • Job interview — Oakland, California. Hanging Around. The total time spent in actual interviews while hunting a job takes only a small part of the day; unwilling to go home these youths spend most of their day hanging around and talking with other job hunters.… …   Wikipedia

  • depth interview — An unstructured interview that explores a marketing issue for purposes of marketing research The interviewer, a specialist acting on behalf of a client, will have previously compiled a topic guide that identifies the points to be explored; the… …   Big dictionary of business and management

  • structured interview — /ˌstrʌktʃəd ɪntəvju:/ noun an interview using preset questions and following a fixed pattern. Compare unstructured interview …   Marketing dictionary in english

  • Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV — The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV Axis I Disorders (SCID I) is a semistuctured interview for making most of the major DSM IV Axis I psychiatric diagnoses. The SCID II is a semi structured interview for making DSM IV Axis II… …   Wikipedia

  • selection interview — job interview An interview with a candidate for a job in which a manager or personnel worker attempts to form a judgement of the applicant s suitability for the position in question. As basic biographical information about the candidate will… …   Big dictionary of business and management

  • Неформализованное (неструктурированное) интервью — (unstructured interview) форма интервью, при котором клиницист спонтанно задает вопросы, основанные на темах, которые возникают в процессе беседы …   Общая психология: глоссарий

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”