Semi-structured 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.

Semi-structured interviews:

“…are generally organised around a set of predetermined open-ended questions, with other questions emerging from the dialogue between interviewer and interviewee ⁄ s. Semi-structured in-depth interviews are the most widely used interviewing format for qualitative research and can occur either with an individual or in groups. Most commonly they are only conducted once for an individual or group and take between 30 minutes to several hours to complete.”

DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006: 315

The term semi-structured interview is often used for interviews where there is a predetermined interview schedule, but the interviewer is free to make modifications to this in the interview context. This sometimes seems to mean anything from a very rigid interview schedule with a tiny amount of discretion for the interviewer, to entering the interview with a few vague topics in mind!

Many student theses simply report “I carried out semi-structured interviews…” ‘Semi-’ is a dishonest descriptor here – by itself it offers a lazy and limited description! It is important to offer sufficient detail of the level of structure used in the interviews:

Source cited:

• DiCicco-Bloom, B., & Crabtree, B. F. (2006). The qualitative research interview. Medical Education, 40, 314-321.