The document discusses different types of interviews used in research. It defines structured and unstructured interviews, as well as standardized and unstandardized interviews. It also describes individual versus group interviews, self-administered versus other-administered interviews, and unique versus panel interviews. Additionally, it covers soft versus hard interviews and personal versus non-personal interviews. The document provides examples and characteristics of each type of interview.

1. INTERVIEW
Suresh Kumar,
Ph.D. Research Scholar,
Aryabhatta Knowledge University, Patna

2. • “If we want to know how people feel what
they experience and what they remember,
what their emotions and motives are alike,
and the reasons for acting as they do – why
not ask them”
-G.W.Allport

3. • According to witles
“face to face conversation”
• According to Bingham and Moore (1924)
“A conversation with a purpose”

4. • According to Lindzey Gardner (1968)
A two-person conversation initiated by the
interviewer for the specific purpose of
obtaining research-relevant information and
focused by him on the content specified by
the research objective of description and
explanation.

5. Function of interview
• Description
provides insight into the nature of social reality.
due to spending time with the respondents,
interviewer understand their feelings and attitude
more clearly.
• Exploration
provides insight into unexplored dimension of
the problem. Effective exploratory device for
identifying new variables can prove to be .

6. Characteristic of interview
According to black and Champion :
• Personal communication: face to face contact,
conversational exchange and verbal interaction.
• Equal status
• Question are asked and responses received
verbally.
• Information is recorded by the interviewer
• The relationship between them is transitory
• The interview is not necessarily limited to two
persons.
• Flexibility in the format of the interview.

7. Types of interview

8. Unstructured v/s structured
interview

9. Unstructured interview
• The nature of question is their in the mind of
the interviewer and it is ask in
unsystematically order.
• It is Flexible in nature ,being presented in the
form of guide.

10. The interviewer has :
• Only general nature of the questions in mind
• Has no prior indication of the specific issue On
which the questions are to be asked
• Has not ordered questions
• Has no time limit

11. Advantages
• Interview conducted in the form of natural
conversation
• Great possibility of exploring in an
unrestricted manner
• Interview can focus his attention on
respondents area of interest.

12. limitations
• The data obtained from different respondents
cannot be compared with each other
• Reliability of the data becomes doubtful
• The obtained data cannot be quantified
• Time wasted
• Some aspects may be left out in discussions

13. Structured interview
• The questions as well as their sequence is
fixed
• It allows little freedom to make adjustments
to any of its elements
• The interviewer is expected to act in a neutral
manner
• This form is employed in quantitative research

14. In this interview following dimensions
are regulated:
• Specifying the setting of the interview
• Regulating questions and the range of
responses
• Controlling interviewer-interviewee
characteristic
• Limiting the facets of the problem

15. Standardized v/s
unstandardized interview

16. Standardised interview
In standardized interviews, answer to each
question is standardised as it is determined by
a set of response categories given one of the
given for this purpose
Mainly used in quantitative research

17. Unstandardised interview
• In Unstandardised interview responses are left
open to the respondent.
• Mainly used for qualitative research.

18. Individual v/s group
interviews

19. • In individual interview the interviewer
interviews only one respondent at a time
• In group interview ,more than one respondant
are interviewed simultaneously.

20. Self –administered v/s other-
administered interview

21. Self-administered interview
• The respondent is supplied a list of questions
along with instructions for writing answers in the
appropriate place on the interview form.

22. Other – Administered interview
• The interviewer himself writes answers to
questions on the response sheet

23. Unique v/s panel interview

24. Unique interview
• the interviewer collects entire information in
one interview. He not barred for approaching
the interview for the second time for seeking
additional information.

25. Panel interview
• The interviewer collects information from the
same group of respondents two or more times
at regular intervals.

26. Soft v/s hard interview

27. Soft interview
• Interviewer holds a secondary position in the
process of data collection but he guides the
respondants without putting any pressure on
them.

28. Hard interview
• The interviewer question the validity and the
completeness of the answer obtained, often
warning the respondent not to lie .
• This type of interview appears more in
quantitative than in qualitative form.

29. Personal v/s Non-personal
interviews

30. Personal interview
There is a face to face contact between the
interviewer and the interviewee.
Non-personal interview
No face to face relationship but information is
collected through telephone , computer or
some other medium.

31. Other types

32. Focused interview
• It is focused on a specific topic .
• In this all respondents are subjected to same
experience .
• Similar to semi-structured interview

33. According to Sarantakos (1998) it has
following advantages
1. The respondants gets relatively more
freedom of responding to questions
2. Interviewer’s role is mild
3. Information is more specific
4. Opportunities for increased information are
greater

34. Telephone interview
• More common in western societies, but it is
now being used in urban areas.
• News papers, radio and T.V personnel use this
method more to asses public opinion on
important issues

35. advantages
• It is fast
• Can be recorded on machine
• It is cheep as not many investigators need to
be appointed .It cost one –fourth or one –fifth
of the cost of personal interview
• Respondants can be contacted at their
convient time even in the evening
• Respondants remain more anonymous than in
the personal interview

36. Disadvantages
• Each selected respondant in the sample may
not own the telephone (i.e. he may be talking
on family telephone) and therefore may not
feel free in answering .
• Respondants are often less motivated over the
telephone because the respondant can
terminate the interview at his will.

37. • Sometimes, the respondants can be
distrustful, particularly when they believe that
the interviewer is playing prank on them.
• Since respondant has to give quick answers on
telephone, he may not be able to think much
on his answers.

38. In India this method cannot be much vogue
• Number of telephone is very small .
• The cost is comparatively high .
• Inclusion of poor people in sample is
prevented.
• Information received is not adequate.
• The response rate for telephone survey is
very much lower that achieved in personal
interview.

39. Computer interview
• This interview is conducted with the help of
computers.
• In India this method is not popular.

40. Condition for a successful interview
Gardner (1956) has pointed out three condition,
for successful interviewing…
Accessibility
For giving information important that the
respondant understands what is required of
him and he is also willing to provide
information he possesses.

41. Understanding
The respondant sometimes is not able to
understand what is expected of him.
Unless he understands the significance of the
research/survey the extent of interview
demands, the concepts and the terms used , the
nature of answers which the interviewer expects
from him, his answers might be off the point.

42. Motivation
The respondant needs to be motivated not only for
giving information but also for giving accurate
information. The fear of consequences,
embarrassment at ignorance, being suspicious
about the interviewer, and dislike of the subject are
some of the factors which decrease the level of
respondent's motivation .The interviewer,
therefore, has to try to reduce the effect of these
factors.

43. Merits of interview
Gordon (1969)has listed five major advantages of
the interview technique as under
Quick information
Proper interpretation: respondants interprete the
questions properly.
Flexibility
Checking validity
Control: exercising control on the context of
questions and answers is possible.

44. ………Besides this
 The response rate is high
 In-depth probing is possible
 respondent's confidence can be sought
through personal rapport
 Interviewer can explain difficult terms and
remove confusion and misunderstandings

45.  Administration is easy because respondants
are not required to be educated or handle
long questionnaires
 Interviewer gets opportunity to observe
respondants’ non-verbal behaviour
Identity of the respondant is known and
Since all questions asked by the interviewers
are answered by the respondants,
completeness of the interview is guaranteed.

46. limitations
Limitations
 The interviewees can hide information or give
wrong information because of fear of identity.
 Interviews are more costly and time-consuming
than questionnaires.
 The nature and extent of responses demands
upon interviewee’s mood. If he is tired, he will
be distracted. If he is in hurry, he will try to
dispose off the interviewer quickly.

47. There could be variability in responses with
different interviewers, particularly when
interview is unstructured.
The interviewer may record the responses
differently, depending upon his own
interpretations sometimes.
It offers less anonymity than other methods.
It is less effective for sensitive questions.