Unstructured Interview Sociology

The CSWE and the NASW view research as important to our profession because social workers must use research to advise and support their interventions, thus social workers are held accountable to acquire the knowledge and skills to help all our clients. In regards to research, the CSWE has two policy statements that social worker must adhere by: “applying critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgement and engage in research-informed practice and practice informed research”. These policies ensure that social workers have a basic understanding of research, and how we as social workers can apply research to our

Furthermore, the researchers have obviously stated and justified that data was meaningfully gathered using a semi-structured interview where prompts and probing questions techniques were used to guide the participants. According to Wilson (2012) that 'semi-structured interviews allow for more flexibility. They involve having a set of guiding questions that

An advantage of unstructured interviews would be that it is very informal; therefore, the respondent is more likely to be relaxed. This would be useful when asking them about material deprivation, as it could be quite a sensitive topic to some. Using the unstructured method is good for researching sensitive topics as empathy and trust can be built easier, just

For this mini-project, I interviewed my 72-year-old grandmother. My grandmother, Dominga, was born and raised in the Agua Caliente, El Salvador. She lived in a poor rural area where her parents owned a strip of land where they were able to own animals. She was born to parents who were Mestizo, of mixed European and indigenous descent. My grandmother was around my age in the 1960s, so I wanted to know what her everyday life as a woman was during that time.

It has also been stated that even though these are the preferred methods, if the research is not done correctly, there will not be much value in the data. For example when doing a verbal interview such as I did when going shop to shop and asking my questions. Once the verbal information is obtained, it will need to be placed into a word for and document to be analyzed (Remenyi, 2011). It is also mentioned that it is very important, what questions are asked and how they are asked. The directness of the questions, the exact wording and the order in which they are put. This is all most critical to the way the information is later interpreted and used. It is also important to choose the wording correctly. If the interviewee did not understand the word or words in the question your information will not be correct or usable (Remenyi,

Being able to pick the right family was more difficult to do than I had originally thought it would be. I reflected on the readings from Leigh and one important thing that is said reminded me that during the interview, I needed to make sure that I was going to be able to not only understand what they are saying, but really hear their points of view without losing a sense of who I am as well as the beliefs that I have. In being able to hear and understand what is being said, I also needed to make sure that I was not passing judgement or categorizing them while they spoke. (Leigh, chapter 3, pgs 17-18). I feel that emotions can be raw without even starting the interview. I had no idea what their situation consists of, what some hidden struggles were, and to be

In my interview I chose my girlfriend's neighbor. Hector is of Mexican decent and he is here because in Meigs county the produce fields hire Mexican laborers on worker permits. Hector started out doing this then he became the boss about five years ago and received his green card and now is an American and can speak very good English. He explained to me that in Mexico there is no age when you can start working so there are young boys working at six to ten years old to help support his needy family. He also stated that women do not usually work they are only aloud to go to the village markets and get goods for their family's and raise there many children. I asked about minimum wage and he kinda laughed and said some teens and men who work

“Problems researched with the use of appropriate methods greatly enhance the value of the research.” (Sekaran, 2003) Data can be collected through interviews, questionnaires, observations, and through other techniques, like projective tests. In even more detail, interviews can be conducted in a variety of different ways such as over the phone, through the computer, interviews through the electronic media, and face-to-face. Questionnaires can be conducted personally or administered electronically. “Interviewing, administering questionnaires, and observing people and phenomena are the three main data collection methods in survey research.” (Sekaran, 2003) As stated before, data can be collected in many different ways; however the value of the research is only greatly enhanced when personal opinions and bias is left out of the collection of data.

A way for professional social work culture and institutional structure to further the cause of practice-research integration would be for them to embrace the contributions of both academic and practitioner-researchers alike. Then collaborations such as these would incorporate projects that are research-driven, where practitioners assist the work of researchers and practice-driven projects in which researchers act as consultants to practitioners. Institutional arrangements such as these would have the effect of empowering practitioners as “co-creators of social work knowledge rather than disempowering them by emphasizing their knowledge-building incapacities or treating them merely as guideline implementers” (Epstein, 2009 p. 227).

Faulkner, C. A., & Faulkner, S. S. (2014). Research methods for social workers: A practice-based approach. Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

The procedure used to collect information for the research study is a survey and the techniques used were interview and questionnaire. An interview is when questions are posed to an individual to obtain information (What Is Survey Research? - Definition, Methods & Types, n.d.). A questionnaire is a series of written questions a participant answers (What Is Survey Research? - Definition, Methods & Types, n.d.). Follow- up questionnaires were administered to participant face- to- face and participants who were living long distance were interviewed by telephone.

For me, I do not have enough knowledge about this project and there are so many topics that I do not have an enough in depth knowledge.And I am serious about the part of doing a questionnaire survey.

One reason why researchers choose to use structured interviews is because they are cheap, quick and easy to do. This is because by going out and actually trying to interview the public it is quicker to get a response from the participants and also its quicker to find out whether or not someone is willing to take the time and answer the participants questions. It is also cheaper as you don’t

Unlike questionnaires, structured interviews allow the researcher to read and adapt to the body language of the respondent to get the most accurate answer from them. For example, the researcher might be able to tell if the respondent is being truthful or not. This could be particularly useful as Item C states that many homeless people are involved with crime and are therefore perhaps more likely to lie as it has become part of their social identity.

Whereas a structured interview follows a standardised format, in an unstructured interview the interviewer has complete freedom to vary the interview. Supporters argue that this brings a number of important advantages. Such as, rapport and sensitivity, the interviewee's views are clearer, the ability to check understanding, flexibility and the ability for the interviewer to explore unfamiliar topics. However, there are multiple disadvantages to using unstructured interviews in sociological research. Such as, practical problems, which include, time and sample size, training, and interpersonal skills, there are also issues with representativeness, reliability, quantification and validity.