An interview is a conversation between two or more people (the interviewer and the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.
Guided Interview:
When the aim of an enquiry is to gather information about the opinions of a particular person (an expert, a representative member of a group) in order to gain qualitative insights into a problem, guided interviews are used. Guided interviews contain only open-ended questions, and the questionnaire is only used as a guideline for the interview, the conversation between interviewer and interviewee does not have to follow it strictly. Guided interviews generate qualitative data, which is why the number of interviews usually is limited, and quantitative conclusions cannot be drawn. Interviewing key individuals in one of the main technique used in the development studies. Participatory methods have contributed to adjusting the interview to make it more conversational while still controlled and structured, resulting in semi-structured interview. In this interview, some of the questions are pre-determined, whilst majority of the questions are formulated in the interview. Questions asked according to the checklist and not from a formal questionnaire.
| Types of Interview | Characteristics | Strengths | Weakness |
| A. Informal Conversational Interview | Questions emerge from the immediate context and are asked in the immediate course of natural things. There is no predetermination of questions wordings. | Increases the salience and relevance of questions. Interviews are building on and emerge from observations. The interviews can be matched to individuals and circumstances. | Different responses collected from different people with different questions. Less comprehensive if certain questions don’t arise naturally. Data analysis and organization can be quite difficult. Requires maximum attentions by the interviewer. |
| B. Interview Guide Approach | Topics and issues to be covered are asked in advance. Interviewer decide the working of the questions in the interview itself. | The outline increases n comprehensiveness of the data and makes the data collections systematic for each respondent. Interviews remain fairly conversational and situational | Important and salient topics may be inadvertently omitted. Interviewer flexibility in asking questions resulting in invariability of responses. |
| C. Standardized Open Ended Interview | The exact wording and sequence are determined in advance. All interviewers ask the same basic questions in the same order. | Respondents answers the same questions thus increase the comparability of responses. Reduce interviewer bias when several interviewers are used. | Little flexibility in relating the interview to particular individuals and circumstances. |
| D. Close Quantitative Interview | Questions and response categories are determined in advance. Responses are fixed; Respondent chooses from these responses | Data analysis is simple. Responses can be directly aggregated and compared. Many questions can be asked in a short time. | Respondents must fill their experience and feelings into the researcher’s categories; may be perceived as impersonal, mechanistic and irrelevant. Can distort what respondent really men or experienced. |
The Unguided Interview is not planned or structured. The applicant determines the process of the interview by controlling the conversation and doing the most talking. Questions asked by the interviewer will usually follow on from the applicant’s own statements