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Briefly |
The interview is a relatively informal "free-form" method of data capture, often used for collecting qualitative, unstructured information. It's a lightly structured conversation, to all intends and purposes. |
Characteristics |
The characteristics of an interview are informality and free flow; the use of unobtrusive audio (and perhaps video) recording; lack of formal structuring; and the goal of qualitative data capture. An interview can be conducted either as:
- One to one - involving a single interviewer or facilitator and respondent, and structured around a small number of questions or observations
- Paired-depth - involving a single interviewer and two "paired" (i.e. diversity is not optimal here) respondents, where issues are explored in greater depth than a one to one interview, perhaps with visual devices to aid dialogue and discussion
- One to many - also called a focus group. Structured around clearly articulated (and potentially "difficult" or morally ambiguous) issues. Diversity is good, as discussion is key and consensus is not the goal.
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What's it for? |
Interviews are primarily for:
- Collecting qualitative data - which includes perceptions, feelings, attitudes and ideas
- Polling the "emotional depth" of issues and questions
Interviews can also have a "meta" purpose of (depending upon the situation) either fostering or deliberately breaking cohesion or consensus amongst group.
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