Interviews

Interviews are used prominently in naturalistic and qualitative research because they offer opportunities to collect data that are contextualized and individualized. Although interviews are often considered a hallmark of qualitative methods, it is important to note that they are also used in quantitative and mixed-methods research approaches. Depending on the study’s research questions and focus, the goals of interviews vary. Interviews can be used to understand individuals’ personal experiences, opinions, and perspectives related to an event or phenomenon. Researchers may examine how individuals’ experiences compare and contrast to other participants’ perspectives and/or prior research. In this regard, a researcher may use interviews to explore what is shared between participants and what may account for similarities in experiences as well as what is unique and different ...