Interviews and interviewing

This article begins with a broad discussion of interviewing as a data-collection technique. It then offers a more theoretically nuanced understanding of how interviews and interviewing are conceptualized and used by quantitative and qualitative researchers. The remainder of the article focuses on three qualitative interview techniques: in-depth, ethnographic, and focus group interviews. It is suggested that these three styles are similar in that they all involve asking questions and receiving responses from research participants; however, they vary in terms of their emphasis on the inner self, social context, and group dynamics.