ABSTRACT
Interviews are widely used in communication, the social sciences, the humanities, business, and other areas of research to gain an understanding of cultural, sociological, psychological, linguistic, and consumer behaviors. The purpose of interviewing is to ask questions and get answers from the participants involved in a study to gather data. Interviewing has three traditional approaches: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. A structured interview prepares all components ahead of time including the questions asked, asking in the same order, avoid open-ended questions, and does not include the researcher’s personal opinion. A semi-structured interview includes a flexible interview guide and includes closed-ended and open-ended questions. An unstructured interview is the most flexible approach relying on open-ended interviews and a very broad agenda to guide the interview. Setting up interviews can be complex. The interviewer will reply on gatekeepers to provide access and exclude those who should not be participating. The interviewer must also determine their sampling approach for the interviewees. Finally, the interviewer must consider notetaking. The interviewer must decide if the notes will be handwritten, audio recorded, video recorded, or a combination.
