22.2 The structured interview

In this type of interview the questions have been formulated carefully and will be asked in a strict order. The questions are always asked exactly the same and in the same order. But the answers are open, since the participants are allowed to elaborate on their replies. The structured interview is not just the equivalent of someone reading a questionnaire and recording the result. That actually is a different kind of research, but we would not call it an interview. So instead of

How often do you go to church?

• Every sunday
• Twice a month
• Once a month
• Never

a structured interview would have on its list the question "How often do you go to church?" and the respondent will be allowed to determine the correct frequency. In the multiple-choice, questionnaire method, for example, the respondent was forced to choose between "once a month and never". In a structured interview, the question will be asked, but now the respondent is able to say "every three months" or even "daily"!

This type of interview allows the information to be gathered in a very systematic manner and the interviewers will not have to be as skilled as for the other types of interviews.

The great weakness of this method is that you will not really get to know the world of your participant because you cannot follow up interesting leads and ask more questions. In this way valuable information will not be gathered.

Example