AQA GCSE · Question 18 · Sociological Research Methods
Identify and explain one advantage of using structured interviews to investigate working-class students' experiences of school.
How to approach this question
First, identify a known advantage of structured interviews (e.g., reliable, easy to analyse, quick to conduct). This will get you 1-2 marks. Then, explain *why* this is an advantage specifically for investigating the experiences of a group like working-class students. This explanation will get you the remaining marks.
Full Answer
Structured interviews are a quantitative research method that involves asking pre-determined questions in a fixed order. Their main advantages are linked to their standardisation.
1. **Reliability:** The process is easily replicable by other researchers, which is a key feature of scientific research.
2. **Comparability:** As all respondents answer the same questions, their answers can be easily compared and quantified, allowing the researcher to identify trends and patterns.
3. **Practicality:** They are relatively quick to conduct compared to unstructured interviews, allowing for larger sample sizes.
Common mistakes
A common error is to confuse structured interviews with unstructured interviews and describe the advantages of the latter (e.g., high validity, in-depth data). It is crucial to focus on the 'structured' aspect.
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