Non-directive

In this type of interview the interviewee is allowed to talk about anything they wish. The interviewer merely facilitates the discussion. This approach is often used in case studies to gather rich qualitative data. Counsellors and Therapists use this technique; however, in this case it is not strictly a research method.

Informal

In an informal interview the aim is to gather information of a particular nature. However, the interview is not structured, therefore the data gathered can be rich and full. The interviewee is relatively relaxed and does not feel as though they are being assessed, hence they may be more willing to divulge information.

Structured but open ended

Because of the diverse nature of the information gathered from informal interviews the data can be difficult to analyse. One method of overcoming this limitation is to use a structured, but open ended interview. In this type of interview a standardised procedure is used, where all interviewees are asked the same questions in a predetermined sequence. It is open ended in that the interviewee is free to answer in any way they wish. Thus, the answers must be coded by the interviewer after the interview.

Fully structured

In a fully structured interview the questions are fixed and asked in the same order for each interviewee. The interviewee makes a response to each question from a fixed set.

This is similar to a questionnaire; however, it is conducted on a face to face basis with the interviewer recording the responses.

One problem with this approach is that respondents often wish to answer, “yes, because…”, or, “I strongly agree, but only if…” therefore a great deal of important information can be lost. However, the data is relatively easy to analyse.

Questionnaires

A questionnaire involves asking a large number of people questions which are presented and answered on a form. The questions are structured and can be closed or open ended.

Closed Questions V Open Ended Questions

Closed

Open ended

Attitudes questionnaires often use closed ended questions in the form of a “Likert scale” e.g.:

Attitude questionnaires are often used by social psychologists. For example, attitudes towards minority groups, drugs or contraception.

Using the Likert scale has the advantage that the data can be analysed quantitatively. A large number of questions can be included and the responses scored to give an index of the positive or negative attitudes towards the target.

Open Ended Questions

Open ended questions are used to obtain qualitative data. Qualitative data is richer than quantitative data, giving a more thorough description of an individual’s attitudes.

However, qualitative data is more difficult to analyse and it is difficult to generalise the findings to other situations.

Evaluation of Questionnaires

Advantages of Questionnaires

• Can be administered to a large number of participants. This increases the generalisability of the results
• A great deal of rich information can be obtained from open ended questions.
  
• Qualitative and / or quantitative data can be gathered. Moreover, it is often advantageous to obtain both types of data.
  
• Another advantage of questionnaires is that they are relatively inexpensive to administer.

Disadvantages of Questionnaires

• Respondents may not answer the questions truthfully: they may give socially desirable responses. E.g., on a survey on attitudes to different racial groups they may be unwilling to divulge negative attitudes.
  
• If the questions are too difficult they may guess at the answer.
  • E.g., How often do you visit the doctor?
• Qualitative data can be difficult to analyse and generalise to the target population.