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Introduction To Interviews

Introduction to interviews

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Nadia Jasmine
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24 views13 pages

Introduction To Interviews

Introduction to interviews

Uploaded by

Nadia Jasmine
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Introduction To

Interviews
The Pervasive Nature Of Interviews
Interviews seem central to making sense of our modern
lives:
• Online, TV and radio news
• Talk shows & magazines
• Documentaries
• Job seeking

Interviews were once the domain of professional practice


• But we live in an “Interview Society” [David
Silverman, 1993]
The Pervasive Nature Of Interviews Cont’d…
“Interviews pervade and produce our
contemporary cultural experiences and
knowledge of our authentic personal, private
selves” [David Silverman, 1993]
Research interviews leverage the fact we know
how to ‘play the game’ (of presenting ourselves
through interviews)
Can You Not Know How To Be Interviewed?
Pause this video

Watch the following video (link in Moodle)

https://youtu.be/DKVbs7LL8I0

Come back and continue…


Before Deciding On Research Interviews…
What is your research topic? What do you wish to explore or explain?
What are your research questions?
What is the purpose of your research?
What might represent knowledge or evidence?
Before You Interview?
What is your epistemological position?
Epistemology: the study of what does
and does not constitute your
knowledge.
Before You Interview?
The nature of the phenomena, or
entities, to be investigated?
Ontology: concepts and categories in a
subject area that shows their properties
and the relations between them
Questions connect to our ontological
position, e.g. sexism
• As a study of attitudes
• As a study of discourse
• As a study of institutions
Advantages Of Interviews
Flexible, in that the line of inquiry is • Can be used with relatively little
modifiable prior knowledge of a situation
Conduct benefits from non-verbal • - Typical survey method uses
communication exploratory qualitative research
Gets “behind” the immediate level of • Situational, gets the participants
response view of the world
• - Why something is said • Engaging, often viewed positively
by participants
• Contrast with questionnaire based
approaches
Disadvantages Of Interviews
Not standardised Recruitment can be challenging
- For semi-structured and - Time commitment on the part of
unstructured interviews participants
Not replicable Analysis take time and effort
- any form of interview - Transcription / Qualitative analysis
Time consuming (therefore expensive) / Disseminating
- Typically requires face-to-face
meeting
Types Of Interview…
Respondent interviews (e.g. with Many other configurations:
participant) • Debate-based interview (i.e.
• Structured interview adversarial)
• Semi-structured interview • Group-based interviews (e.g.
Informer interviews (e.g. with key focus group)
informant) • Multiple interviewers
• Unstructured interview
Structured Interview
Rigid interview style
Good when researcher has comprehensive list of questions
No need for follow-up interviews
Semi-structured Interviews
Researcher uses interview protocol to “guide” the interview
Can incorporate conversational aspects
Offers a lot of flexibility to the researcher
Unstructured Interviews
Few if any interview questions are used
Progress like a normal conversation, however, interested in research topic under
review
Helpful when researchers discussing sensitive topics
Participant’s narratives may redirect conversation away from other aspects of the
research topic

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