Slide 10.

Chapter 10
Collecting primary data using semi-
structured, in-depth and group interviews

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.2

Research interviews
Definition

‘An interview is a purposeful discussion

between two or more people’
Kahn and Cannell (1957)

Types of interview used in research

Semi-structured Structured
In-depth Group

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.3

Research purpose and strategy (1)

Forms of interview

Saunders et al. (2009)

Figure 10.1 Forms of interview
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.4

Types of interview
• Structured interviews: use questionnaire based on a
predetermined and ‘standardized’ or identical set of
questions and we refer to them as interviewer administered
questionnaires.
• Semi-structure interviews: the researcher will have a list of
themes and questions to be covered, although these may
vary from interview to interview. This means that you may
omit some questions in particular interviews, given a
specific organizational context that is encountered in
relation to the research topic. The order of questions also
be varied depending on the flow of conversation.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.5

Continued
• On the other hand, additional questions may be required to
explore your research question and objectives given the
nature of events within particular organizations.
• Unstructured interviews: are informal. You would use
these to explore in-depth a general area in which you are
interested . We therefore, refer to these as in-depth
interviews. There is no predetermined list of questions to
work through in this situation, although you need to have a
clear idea about the aspect or aspects that you want to
explore. The interviewee is given the opportunity to talk
freely about events behavior and beliefs in relation to topic
area.
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.6

Continued
• So that this type of interaction is sometimes called
‘nondirective’. It has been labeled as informant interview
since it is the interviewees perceptions that guide the
conduct of the interview. In comparison, a participant (or
respondent) interview is one where the interviewer directs
the interview and the interviewee responds to the questions
of the researcher.
• We can also differentiate between types of interview
related to the nature of interaction between the researcher
and those who participate in this process. Interview may be
conducted one to one basis, between you and single
participant(face to face)(telephone)(internet) (intranet)
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.7

Continued
• There may be other situation where you
conduct a number of participants to explore
an aspect of your research through a group
of discussion that you facilitate.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.8

Interview and type of research

• In an exploratory research study, in-depth interviews can
be very helpful to find out what is happening and to seek
new insight. Semi stretchered interviews may be used in
relation to an exploratory study.
• In descriptive studies structured interviews can be used as
a means to identify general patterns.
• In an explanatory study, semi structured interviews can be
used in order to understand the relationships between
variables, such as those revealed from a descriptive study,
structured interview may also be used in relation to an
explanatory study, in statistical sense.
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.9

Research purpose and strategy (2)

Uses of different types of interview in each of

the main research categories

Saunders et al. (2009)

Table 10.1 Uses of different types of interview in each of the main research
categories
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.10

Non-standardised (qualitative)
interviews
Four key aspects

• Purpose of the research

• Significance of establishing personal contact

• Nature of the data collection questions

• Time required and completeness of process

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.11

Data quality (1)

Issues to consider

• Reliability

• Forms of bias

• Validity and generalisability

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.12

Data quality (2)

The importance of preparation – the 5 Ps

‘prior planning prevents poor performance’

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.13

Interview preparation (1)

Associated issues

• Interviewer’s level of knowledge

• Level of information supplied to interviewees

• Creating an interview guide

• Appropriateness of location

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.14

Interview preparation (2)

Associated issues

• Researcher’s appearance – dress code

• Shaping the interview - opening comments

• Approach to questioning – clarity and reducing bias

• Use of critical incident technique

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.15

Interview preparation (3)

Associated issues

• Appropriate interviewer behaviour- verbal and non-

verbal

• Attentive listening skills and testing understanding

• Approaches to data recording - notes and tape-

recording

• Cultural differences and bias

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.16

Interviewing competence
• There are several areas where you need to develop and demonstrate
competence in relation to conduct of semi structured and in-depth
research interview . These areas are:
• Opening the interview;
• Using appropriate language;
• Questioning;
• Listening;
• Testing and summarizing understanding;
• Recording and dealing with difficult participants;
• recording data.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.17

Interview preparation (4)

Checklist Box 10.12

Complete the Checklist in Box 10.12

to help you prepare for your semi-structured or
in-depth interview

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.18

Interviewing competence (1)

Approaches to questioning

Open questions Probing questions

Specific and closed questions

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.19

Open questions
• The use of open question will allow participants
to define and describe the situation or event. An
open is designed to encourage the interviewee to
provide an extensive and developmental answer
and may be used to reveal attitudes or obtain facts.
It encourage s the interviewee to reply as they
wish. An open question is likely to start with or
include, one of the following words: ‘what’, or
‘how’, or ‘why’,.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.20

Propping questions
• Can be used to explore responses that are of
significance to the research topic. They may
be worded like open questions but request a
particular focus or direction.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.21

Specific and closed questions

• These types of questions are simpler to
those used in structured interviews. They
can be used to obtain specific information
or to confirm a fact or opinion.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.22

Interviewing competence (2)

Advantages and disadvantages of audio-
recording interviews

Saunders et al. (2009)

Table 10.3 Advantages and disadvantages of audio-recording the interview

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.23

Interviewing competence (3)

Other issues to consider

• Dealing with difficult participants –Table 10.2

• Managing resources – logistics and time

• Obtaining participants’ permission for interview

records (written and taped)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.24

Interviewing competence (4)

Additional forms of interviews:

• Group interviews

• Focus groups

• Telephone interviews

• Internet and intra-net mediated interviews

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.25

Interviewing competence (5)

Forms of electronic interviews

Saunders et al. (2009)

Figure 10.2 Forms of electronic interviews

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.26

Summary: Chapter 10

• Use of non-standard (qualitative) interviews

should generate rich and detailed data

• Different types of interview are useful for different

research purposes

• Qualitative interviews are generally categorised

as in-depth (structured) and semi-structured

• Research design may incorporate more than one

type of interview

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 10.27

Summary: Chapter 10

• Using qualitative interviews is related to the

research strategy and data collection questions

• Establishing personal contact with subjects and the

length of time required are significant factors

• Data quality issues, interviewer competence and

resource management are important considerations

• Face-to-face (individual, group and focus group)

and electronic interviews can all be advantageous

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009