In the process of an investigation and when applying the scientific method It is normal to have to carry out certain data collection techniques and instruments. In today’s post we tell you what an interview is and what are the steps to carry it out.
We will make clear the concept of what an interview is: it is a qualitative research technique. It is useful to deepen some aspects such as beliefs, feelings, motivations, values and possible ways of acting. Unlike observation, which allows describing behaviors as they occur at the time of application of the technique.
The interview provides information on the states of opinion of the different audiences on current or past events. In it, the amounts or statistical figures of these opinions are not important, but the explanation of them.
It is a flexible, dynamic technique that focuses on developing questions and then interpreting and analyzing them. D.It is very useful in qualitative research since this technique obtains information from a conversation that occurs for another specific purpose. Despite being a formal conversation, it is a very important information gathering tool.
It is defined as “the interpersonal communication established between the researcher and the study subject, in order to obtain verbal answers to the questions raised about the proposed problem” (Canale).
What is the objective of the interview?
As a historical background, the interview is located in the practice of the confession made by the courts and religious institutions. Since by means of questions and answers the information was reached.
Parallel to the interview is the questionnaire, another data collection technique that, although it sounds similar to the interview, is very different from each other. In the first place, because the interview turns out to be deeper in terms of clarifying doubts that arise in the conversation process.
This advantage and many others place it as one of the main techniques in descriptive studies and exploration phases. Next, we will detail the elements that make up the interview:
Its purpose is to obtain information on a specific topic
The information is intended to be as detailed as possible.
The interviewer must achieve a deep understanding of the interviewee’s speech.
As a research technique is one of the best for obtaining information on subjective aspects of people and always involves social interaction. It is often associated with the survey and it is important to understand that they are two completely different techniques.
So… What is an interview?
It is a relationship mediated by information since it is a dialogue between a person who seeks the information (interviewer) and another person or group of people (interviewees) who must have the possibility of providing the information.
Different authors link it to interpersonal relationships, taking into account conversation in everyday life as a reference for the interview. Therefore, for this technique the expression «conversational interview» is used and it is recommended to recover some of the properties of the conversation.
“If we want to know what people think, what are their experiences, what are their emotions, motives and reasons for acting the way they do, why not ask them.” G. Allport.
Interview classification
There are different types of interviews and various classifications. For example, job interviews or personnel selection, journalistic interviews and investigation. The latter is what we are interested in delving into in this post since, as a data collection instrument, it provides relevant qualitative information to address a problem and to meet the objectives of a study.
As for their classifications, they must be understood in a flexible way, taking into account that for many investigations what is appropriate is a combination of them. The most common classification is the following:
structured
They are structured when there is a rigid, scheduled or standardized questionnaire, they are also known as programmed standardized. This classification corresponds to the most rigid level. All questions must be comparable, so that when variations appear between interviewees they can be attributed to real differences in response and not to the questionnaire.
semi-structured
These are those that are developed from a script of open questions that are asked of the interviewees, but leaving free expression. It is important to have the script of questions, for an orientation of all the topics that must necessarily be covered, but it must not be rigid.
unstructured
It is the occasion when there is no questionnaire, it develops from an open situation where there is greater flexibility and freedom. There is no predetermined list of questions to be used with all interviewees. Standardization is not sought.
They are classified in:
to. Focused: allow obtaining in-depth qualitative data on a specific topic.
b. Not directed or in depth: It develops in an open situation, where there must be greater flexibility and freedom.
c. The clinics: It is the most open of all and is used for therapeutic purposes by psychoanalysis.
Advantages of interviews
The wealth of information obtained. It is a technique that enables interaction. The facility to generate new hypotheses, to enrich different theoretical approaches and provide useful information for the use of other quantitative and qualitative techniques. Provides greater compression of the data obtained.
limitations
It is more time consuming than other types of data collection instruments. It presents more risks to the validity and reliability of the data. The interviewee responds based on their representations or memories of certain events.
Good, but… How do you conduct an interview?
The application of this technique is planned taking into account a series of important aspects or steps that are related to each other in a logical sequence…
First of all we must be clear about what to investigate, the definition of the problem and the purpose. Know who to investigate, analyze the most appropriate people to provide the information needed. Solve how to do it, build the question guide. Get the data. Process the data, analyze and interpret it. Write the conclusions and the final report.
What are the means and instruments of the interviews?
Unlike the survey, the interview data collection instruments are not so rigid or patterned. To use this technique, you work with guides or scripts of questions in semi-structured, semi-directed or in-depth interviews, there is no standardized instrument.
BONUSES: The interviewer must have a thorough knowledge of the interviewee and the topic to be dealt with in such a way that he can freely delve into the aspects that arise. The most common instrument for conducting interviews is the recorder.
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