University of Applied Sciences, Fulda

Interview as a Method for Data Collection

Quinn Patton summarises the purpose of interviewing in qualitative research:
The purpose of interview is to find out what is in and on someone else’s mind. The purpose of open-ended interviewing is . . . to access the perspective of the person being interviewed. We interview people to find out from them those things we can not directly observe. The issue is not whether observational data is more desirable, valid, or meaningful than self-report data. The fact of the matter is that we cannot observe everything. We cannot observe feelings, thoughts, and intentions. . . . Qualitative interviewing begins with the assumption that the perspective of others is meaningful, knowable, and able to be made explicit. [1990:278]
Interviews allow the researcher to find out what the participants think about the content of a program, staff and others associated with it. What does the program feel like and look like to the people involved? What are the experiences of program participants? What do they think about its processes, operation and outcomes? What are their expectations? What are the most salient features, from their point of view? What can be done to address the shortcomings of the program, and enhance its strong points?
There are three different types of interviews:

1. 
   the informal conversational interview,
   
2. 
   the general interview guide approach, and
   
3. 
   the standardised open-ended interview (Quinn Patton, 1990).
   

These three approaches to interviewing differ in the extent to which interview questions are pre-determined and designed before the interview.
The informal interview relies entirely on the spontaneous generation of questions. The general interview guide approach involves outlining a set of themes and issues that are to be explored with the interviewees before the actual interview. The wording of the questions is not decided upon and the issues in the outline need not be in any special order.