ABSTRACT
Interviews are a research technique which can be used in investigating a wide variety of research problems and projects. In certain circumstances they may be the sole method employed in generating data and information or they may be used as part of a battery of methods in the investigation of selected aspects of a common problem. Interviewing is rarely a spontaneous activity for the researcher. Prior to any research involving interviewing careful planning and thoughtful preparation are essential. Productive interviews are usually the result of careful, pre-interview research. It is useful to think of research interviews as ranging along a scale or continuum which encompasses a number of possibilities: from the formal survey interview to interviews which may be much less formal in style. A consistent theme in the literature of research interviewing concerns the basic point that if you want to know something about people's activities, the best way of finding out is to ask them.
