Semi-structured interview

A semi-structured interview is a method of research used most often in the social sciences. While a structured interview has a rigorous set of questions which does not allow one to divert, a semi-structured interview is open, allowing new ideas to be brought up during the interview as a result of what the interviewee says. The interviewer in a semi-structured interview generally has a framework of themes to be explored. Semi-structured interviews are widely used in qualitative research; for example in household research, such as couple interviews. A semi-structured interview involving, for example, two spouses can result in "the production of rich data, including observational data." An unstructured interview is the opposite of structured interview, because it tends to be more informal and free flowing and it is more like an everyday conversation. A structured interview is a type of interview that is completely planned, which means every interviewee gets the same interview questions. A semi-structured interview is the one in between. The questions are loosely structured and give interviewees more opportunities to fully express themselves. However, semi-structured interviews are less objective and legally harder to defend when compared with structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews somewhat restrict the interviewee's free flow of thoughts which limited the potential possibility of the interview as a whole. Because semi-structured interview is a combination of both structured interviewing and unstructured interviewing, it has both of their advantages. For interviewers, the constructed part of semi-structured interview gives them a general overview of the interviewees. It helps them draw an objective comparison from the interviewees, which is helpful for either qualitative research study or job interview. For interviewees, because the unstructured part of semi-structured interview gives them more space to ask for clarification on answers and to express free flow of thoughts, the interviewees normally feel less stress during the interview.