In-depth Interviews

In-depth Interviews: In-depth interviews are open-ended interviews, often conducted in person. Although the researcher may have a line of questioning, the researcher may move beyond it to probe deeper into the subject’s comments. In-depth interviews last from 45 minutes to several hours. They are useful at the formative stages of research (Broom & Dozier, 1990). Two types of in-depth interviews are the structured and unstructured interviews. In the structured interview, the researcher uses a detailed interview schedule with open and closed questions, and knows in advance what questions to cover. The unstructured interview is more informal, where the respondent is encouraged to talk freely; the respondent rather than the interviewer guides the course of the interview. Face-to-face in-depth interviews yield a high percentage of returns, but are expensive to administer. Also, lower response rates are being reported in high-crime areas, which may bias the findings. In-depth interviews also enable interviewers to clarify questions if necessary and present visual materials (Miller & Salkind, 2002).