Structured interviews ask the same questions of all participants. This means that the interviewer sticks to the same wording and sequence for each individual they interview, even asking predetermined follow-up questions. The questions in a structured interview should still be open-ended, even if they are predetermined. This allows participants to still freely articulate their answers based on personal experiences and beliefs. Structured interviews make use of an “interview guide” in which all the questions are written out in advance. You can learn how to do so in the “Creating an Interview Guide” section.
The primary advantage of structured interviews is that they allow the interview analysis process to move a lot faster. Having predetermined questions means you can gather data that is easily comparable across different participants. It is also useful for reducing bias when several interviewers are involved since each researcher is asking the exact same questions worded in the same way.
However, because of their rigid nature, structured interviews might not give you the entire picture. Pre-determined questions can prevent the interviewer from fully exploring a new topic as it comes up. Keep in mind that although all the questions are the same, all participants are not the same. This may cause different participants to interpret each question differently, which could therefore produce inconsistent data.
For Example …
Elite universities are launching points for a wide variety of meaningful careers. Yet, year after year at the most selective universities, nearly half of graduating seniors head to a surprisingly narrow band of professional options. To understand why graduates “funnel” into the same consulting, finance, and tech fields, Amy Binder and colleagues interviewed more than 50 students and recent alumni from Harvard and Stanford Universities. Choosing structured interviews made sense to make sure the researchers asked each participant the same questions about their family background, choosing a college, academic major, careers, and help from their university in thinking about careers. This spectrum of questions gave Professor Binder coverage of students at all points in the job search process and helped identify how students developed their career aspirations (Binder et al., 2015)
The pros and cons of structured interviews are laid out in the chart below:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easier to conduct if you have limited time and resources | Little flexibility |
| Can use a larger sample | May leave out important personal components |
| Reduce bias when working with multiple interviewers | Interview is guided by the researcher, not the participant |
| Easily comparable data | Participants may interpret questions differently than each other |
| Interview and analysis processes are quicker | |
| Interviewer can be novice |
