Interview
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- Date Submitted: 04/05/2011 08:28 AM
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Assess the usefulness of different types of
interview in sociological research
There are many different types of interviews that sociologists use in there day to day working lives. Interviews can consist of either just 2 people (interviewer and the interviewee.) or a number of people; group interview.
Interviews can be used for many reasons; but they are mostly used for obtaining information about the interviewee.
For sociologists, the most important thing is to use a method which is closer to the truth and more reliable, so in order to do this they need to assess the possible outcomes they may receive at the interview and also think about the different types of interviews in which they can use. Interviews are qualitative, as the answers from the interview aren’t in the form of numbers, as they give a more in depth answer. This gives a clearer answer for the interviewer. Interviews are primary data, as the interviewer gets the first look into the information, they are receiving it first hand. However they are on a small scale; (micro) if it a conversation based interview, as they want to understand the individual more, so it is time consuming.
As I said briefly before, they are many types of interviews. One being structured interviews. Structured interviews are interviews which are planned out before hand and the interviewer has the questions ready written down to ask before the interview. This means that the questions can be asked to a number of people (interview repeated), meaning the interview follows the same format each time. The data is usually quantitative meaning the interview is reliable. Structured interviews can be a positive way, as the information can be easily compared as the same questions have been asked at each interview. They are mainly used by Positivists and have similar advantages and disadvantages to structures questionnaires. Structured interviews controls the flow of the interview, it will make...
interview in sociological research
There are many different types of interviews that sociologists use in there day to day working lives. Interviews can consist of either just 2 people (interviewer and the interviewee.) or a number of people; group interview.
Interviews can be used for many reasons; but they are mostly used for obtaining information about the interviewee.
For sociologists, the most important thing is to use a method which is closer to the truth and more reliable, so in order to do this they need to assess the possible outcomes they may receive at the interview and also think about the different types of interviews in which they can use. Interviews are qualitative, as the answers from the interview aren’t in the form of numbers, as they give a more in depth answer. This gives a clearer answer for the interviewer. Interviews are primary data, as the interviewer gets the first look into the information, they are receiving it first hand. However they are on a small scale; (micro) if it a conversation based interview, as they want to understand the individual more, so it is time consuming.
As I said briefly before, they are many types of interviews. One being structured interviews. Structured interviews are interviews which are planned out before hand and the interviewer has the questions ready written down to ask before the interview. This means that the questions can be asked to a number of people (interview repeated), meaning the interview follows the same format each time. The data is usually quantitative meaning the interview is reliable. Structured interviews can be a positive way, as the information can be easily compared as the same questions have been asked at each interview. They are mainly used by Positivists and have similar advantages and disadvantages to structures questionnaires. Structured interviews controls the flow of the interview, it will make...