Types of Interviews

There are many kinds of interviews, each of which is different from the structure, purpose, interviewer's role, the number of respondents involved in each interview, and the form and frequency of supervision.

    1.      Structured interview

A structured interview is sometimes referred to as a standardized interview. The same questions are requested by all respondents. Structured interviews are "interviews where all respondents are asking the same questions with the same words and the same questions with the same words and the same order." The goal is that all interviewees will receive the exact same context of the inquiry. The strengths of structured interviews are that intermediaries have control over topics and interview formats. Conversely, the disadvantages of structured interviews are very close to the interview guide and may result in inactivity of relevant information.

    2.      Semi-structured Interviews

       In this semi-structured interviewer, the researcher has a list of important themes, issues and questions to be addressed. Here the order of questions can be changed, depending on the direction of the interview. Corbetta (2003) explains semi-structured interviews as follows:

The order in which the different topics are dealt with and the words of the question are left to the discretion of the interviewer. Within each subject, the interviewer is free to conduct the interview at his own discretion, additional questions can be asked and at the beginning of the interview there may be unexpected questions. The strengths of semi-structured interviews is that the researcher can intervene faster and study more deeply in the given situation. For example, the interviewer asks for the use of computers in the library. Some respondents are more computer-educated than others. The shortcomings are inexperienced by interviewers who cannot ask questions. If this is the case, some relevant data cannot be collected.

   3.      Unstructured Interviews

This type of interview is not targeted and is a flexible method. It is more casual than the above mentioned interviews. No need to follow a detailed interview guide. Interviews are encouraged to speak openly and faithfully and provide as much detail as possible. The strengths of unstructured interviews have no restrictions on the questions. It is useful if there is little or no knowledge about a subject. So background data can be retrieved. Unstructured interviews are flexible. The disadvantages of unstructured interviews may be unsuitable for inexperienced interviewees. The interviewers can be biased and ask for inappropriate questions.

    4.      Non-directive Interviews               

Non- directive interviews are their source of dynamic psychology and psychotherapy with the aim of helping patients expresses their deep and unconscious feelings. The questions are often not planned in advance. The audience listens and does not continue. The interviewer tells what the interviewer will say. The interviewer leads the conversation. The interviewer has goals for research in mind and which issues need to be addressed during the interview. The interviewer can talk freely about the subject. The job interview is to examine the unclear points and re-formulate the answer to check the accuracy and understanding. The strengths of non-directive interviews are finding deep-seated problems and unconscious feelings. On the other hand, the disadvantages are that there are no indications or problems to investigate that can cause coding problems and data analysis.

     5.      Analytical interviews

     These types of interviews are based on a theoretical basis and serve to study concepts, theories, social relations and events.

     6.      Diagnostic interviews

       Diagnostic interviews are intended to identify the specific characteristics of respondents, who provide a diagnosis of respondents that are expected to help achieve goals.

     7.      Structure or dilemma interviews 

In the interviews the interview guide and the order of questions are pretty well, but give them the freedom to add additional questions.

     8.      Ethnographic interviews

In its general form it aims to study cultures and their appearance on people. It is aimed at exploring cultural definitions such as conceptualized by individuals, finding cultural symbols and establishing relationships between cultural symbols and in general to explain the meaning of culture for people.

9.      Delphi interviews

The interviewer refers to the experts in the field of study. Experts are asked to provide information, make judgments about the problem in question and make relevant predictions. After the first report discussions were included, they were again offered to experts for further comments and discussions. The method of interviews, discussions and considerations continues until the firm conviction is reached.

10.  Clinical interviews

More used in the field of psychology, social activity and social welfare, this form of interview is mainly used to diagnose and explain a certain disease. However, it is also used outside these areas, such as in sociology. (Family in personal development, deviant behavior, children are brought up).

11.  Biographical interviews

A biographical interview is an interview form used to study the life history of an answering person. Usually perform by document analysis.

12.  Focused interviews

It was developed by R K Merton in 1940 in the context of propaganda research and mass communication analysis. It focuses on a specific topic, where respondents have to discuss, and give their opinion and opinions on research questions.

13.  Elite interviews

It is about elite, well-known personalities, well-known and influential people as respondents. It is therefore aimed at collecting information that is exclusive and unique to informants. This information is very important because of the special position of the respondents. These respondents are quite familiar, not just about the interview, but also about research problems.

14.  Soft interview

Here is the interviewer's guide to the answers without putting pressure on them.

15.  Hard interview

The interviewer asks the accuracy and completeness of the answers taken, often warning the respondents who do not lie, and are compelled to give a reply if they are skeptical.

16.  In-depth Interview 

An in-depth interview is a conversation between an experienced interviewer and an interviewer. The goal is to get the rich, detailed material that can be used in the study. It is more formal than semi-structured interviews. While you are organizing a number of questions about a standard paper, the discussion about this is freer. When you want to collect complex information that contains a large number of opinions, attitudes and personal experiences of respondents, you go for an in-depth interview. The sample is kept small for an in-depth interview. Only a few of the selected persons are subject to a detailed interview.

17.  Focus Groups

Focus groups integrate elements of both interviews and observation of participants. Use this group's data-generating relationship. The technique naturally allows the observation of group dynamics, discussion and perspective on the first part of the behavior, attitude, language, and others of the respondents. Focus groups are a meeting of 8 to 12 people with some characteristics related to the problem. Focus groups, conducted by experts, will be held at a focus group facility that includes recording equipment (audio and / or visuals).  

18.  Telephone interviews

The telephone interview has the same structural characteristics as the usual interview methods, except when it is done by telephone. They work when interviews are simple and short, when they look at quick results, when it is not necessary to approach the face of the responding face and when the examples are not valid (eg No subscribers and unlisted number) is not important. 

19.  Interviewing in the computer age

The development of computers affects many aspects of the life of each individual and therefore the researcher, the interviewer and the interviewee. Below are some examples of computer packages related to interviews.

·         Computer-aided personal interview (CAPI)

With this program, interviews can be conducted using computers, whereby the computer is used to an extent as an interviewer. The answers to questions and controls are done via the computer.

·         Computer-driven self – completion interview (CODSCI)

The interview is conducted at a computer session where the respondent reads questions from the computer screen on direct computer communication. After completing the interview, the answers are automatically stored in memory and added further to the previous interview data. 

·         Computer-aided telephone interview (CATI)

Here, the computer is used by the interviewer, who reads the questions of the interviewee by telephone while it appears on the screen and records the computer response. It can take an example, select the telephone number, call the respondent via the self-selection system and connect the interviewer with the interviewee.