An interview is a qualitative research method that is based on asking questions to collect data. Interviews involve two or more people, one of whom is the interviewer asking the questions. Interviews are different from questionnaires because they involve social interaction. Unlike questionnaire methods, researchers need training on how to interview (which costs money).
It should be noted that interviews may not be the best method for investigating sensitive topics (for example, group interviews are less reliable, since they use open-ended questions and may deviate from the interview schedule, making them difficult to repeat). The job of the interview moderator is to ensure that the group interacts with each other and doesn't get off topic. Smaller sample sizes can affect their validity and reliability, and there is an inherent risk of the interviewer effect if questions are accidentally generated. A researcher should conduct interviews with a group of participants at a time during the research when information can only be obtained by meeting and connecting personally with a sector of their target audience.
Structured interviews are defined as research tools that are extremely rigid in their operations and allow little or no scope to encourage participants to obtain and analyze the results. Unstructured interviews are sometimes called “discovery interviews” and are more like “guided conservation” than a strict structured interview. Semi-structured interviews offer the researcher considerable leeway to investigate the respondents, in addition to maintaining a basic structure of the interview. Employing and training interviewers is expensive and not as cheap as collecting data through questionnaires.
The main objective of most researchers who use unstructured interviews is to create a link with the respondents, so there are high chances that the respondents will be 100% honest with their answers. There is a risk of an interviewing effect in all types of interviews, but it can be mitigated by writing very high-quality interview questions. A researcher can be sure that several rounds of interviews will not be required in the presence of a structure in this type of research interview. Interviews offer researchers a platform to encourage their participants and obtain information in the desired detail.
The social desirability bias is the tendency of interview participants to give answers that will be viewed favorably by the interviewer or other participants. Interviews are similar to focus groups and surveys when it comes to gathering information from the target market, but how they work is completely different: focus groups are restricted to a small group of 6 to 10 people, while surveys are quantitative in nature.
