Unstructured interviews

A topic in research methodology

Interviews are sometimes classed as structured, unstructured or semi-structured.

The amount of structure appropriate depends upon the research questions being asked, and the methodology selected for the study.

The term 'unstructured interview' may be something of an oxymoron (i.e., by the nature of being an interview, an interview is never completely unstructured):

"No interview can truly be considered unstructured; however, some are relatively unstructured and are more or less equivalent to guided conversations."

DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006: 315

The researcher always has a purpose in mind in requesting an interview, so the conversation always needs to be directed towards ground which is relevant to the study research questions. However there may situations where the researcher feels it is appropriate to turn over the major responsibility for shaping the conversation to the participant (who has been selected as an informer because of their special knowledge, experience, viewpoint, etc.)

Perhaps the most unstructured types of interviews are akin to life history interviews where the researcher may ask a very general question such as "tell me about your teaching career" and leave the participant to form and develop an answer as she sees fit.

A nondirective approach

Merton and colleagues talk about taking a 'nondirective' approach in interviewing, and the use of unstructured questions.

"…a nondirective approach to interviewing…gives the interviewee an opportunity to express herself or himself about matters of central significance to her or him rather than those presumed to be important by the interviewer."

Merton, Fiske & Kendall, 1990 (inclusivity added)

An unstructuctured question may be considered an 'open' rather than a 'closed' question,

"Unstructured questions are intentionally couched in such terms that they invite subjects to refer to virtually any of a range of responses…an unstructured question is one which does not fix attention on any specific aspect of the stimulus situation or of the response…"

Merton, Fiske & Kendall, 1990

A 'closed' question closes down the range of options open to a respondent. A directive approach may lead the respondent towards a specific approach:

closed question: do you prefer practical laboratory activities or theory lesson in your science classes?	"My favourite activity is when we have to research topics on the internet"	open question: what aspects of science lessons do you prefer?
leading question: are experiments on animals justified by medical advances that prevent human suffering and save human lives? [or: can medical experiments that cause pain and stress to animals, and may need them to be killed be justified?]	"I think decisions about using animals in research have to be made on a case by case basis – considering which animals, what procedures are carried out, and what are the immediate and and indirect goals of the research?"	nondirective question: how do you feel about experiments on animals that are carried out as part of medical research?

Read more about question types in research

Sources cited:

• DiCicco-Bloom, B., & Crabtree, B. F. (2006). The qualitative research interview. Medical Education, 40, 314-321.
• Merton, R. K., Fiske, M., & Kendall, P. L. (1990). The Focused Interview. A manual of problems and procedures (2nd ed.). New York: The Free Press.