Debating Structured vs. Unstructured Methods for Qualitative Research Assignment

Debating Structured vs. Unstructured Methods for Qualitative Research - Assignment Example 50). Goodwin and Goodwin (1996, p. 136) categorized interview in to different four categories based on literatures. They identified structured, semi-structured, informal and retrospective interviews. Structured interview is one that uses preset and preplanned questions whereas unstructured interview is one that doesn’t use predetermined questions except at the very beginning. In qualitative study, structured interview focuses on open-ended questions on response categories that are probably more complex than worded-rating scales such as likert scale used in questionnaire method. Since each respondent is asked the same set of pre-set and pre-established questions in the same order in a structured interview, most researchers avoid this method because of that it tends to stifle the flexibility (Daymon and Holloway, 2010, p. 224). Researchers usually avoid structured interview in qualitative research because they find it most useful as a pilot tool for writing an effective survey instrument and surveys have the advantage of being easily distributed to several people at the same time (Shank, 2006, p. 50). Structured interview is more or less a kind of survey instrument and this is evident from Maxwell’s (2012, p. 88) point that structured interview is equated with quantitative research.... They stressed that structure interviews provide clarity and focus for those researchers who are new in the field and are quite worried about diffusions or overload. Though both structured and unstructured have merits and demerits and are fit for certain various different research purposes, unstructured method is more equated to qualitative research and is more flexible since it allows the researcher use dynamic, deviated and wise questions according to varying circumstances. Most literatures including Maxwell (2012, p. 89) and Miles and Huberman (1994, p. 18) emphasized that unstructured interview provided more economical, comparable and potentially generalized findings. Conducting an unstructured interview perhaps requires a great deal of skills and talents, but still, it has the virtue of being guided by the interviewee. In this discussion form, I strongly recommend that an unstructured interview is always better as the researcher is allowed to focus on particular phenomena and to follow the interests of informants when they relate to their own thought process. References Daymon, C & Holloway, I. 2010, Qualitative Research Methods in Public Relations and Marketing Communications, Second edition, Routledge Goodwin, W. L & Goodwin, L.D. 1996, Understanding Quantitative and Qualitative Research in Early Childhood Education, Teachers College Press Shank, G.D. 2006, Qualitative Research: A Personal Skills Approach, Second Edition, Merrill Prentice Hall, Pearson Education Inc Maxwell, J.A. 2012, Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach: An Interactive Approach, SAGE Miles, M. B., & Huberman , A.M. 1994, Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, SAGE Assignment: 2, Week 5 Application Position paper on sample size In sampling, one of the