Qualitative + Mixed methods/ Data collection
Semi-structured interviews
A guide with room to follow meaning
Semi-structured interviews combine a topic guide with open questions and responsive follow-up. The researcher maintains coverage of the research question while allowing participants to explain relevant experiences in their own terms. The interview is a situated interaction, so prompting, rapport and researcher assumptions contribute to the account that is produced.
WHEN IT FITS
Use when participants can describe relevant experience and both cross-case coverage and unexpected insights matter. Allow time for piloting, transcription, iterative guide revision and interpretative analysis.
Strengths
- Probes reveal context behind short answers
- A shared guide supports comparison without fixing every response
Limitations
- Rapport and researcher positioning shape answers
- Transcription and analysis often exceed interview time
Know the boundary
Interviews establish reported accounts, not direct observation of behaviour or population prevalence.
USED ACROSS
Banking & financeBusiness & MBAPsychologyComputer scienceEducation