An interview with standardized questions and fixed order, producing quantitative data.

An interview with standardized questions and fixed order, producing quantitative data.

• A. Semi-structured interview
• B. Telephone questionnaire
• C. Structured interview
• D. Unstructured interview

Answer: (C)

Standardization and a fixed sequence of questions create data that can be counted and compared across respondents, which is the hallmark of producing quantitative results. This is achieved by a structured interview, where every participant is asked the exact same set of closed questions in the same order, often with predefined response options. Because the questions are closed and the process is uniform, the data are easily coded and analyzed statistically. In contrast, semi-structured interviews allow flexibility and probing, yielding more qualitative information; unstructured interviews are even more open-ended and less easily comparable. A telephone questionnaire can be standardized too, but the description given aligns most directly with a structured interview, designed to generate numerical data from fixed, comparable questions.

Standardization and a fixed sequence of questions create data that can be counted and compared across respondents, which is the hallmark of producing quantitative results. This is achieved by a structured interview, where every participant is asked the exact same set of closed questions in the same order, often with predefined response options. Because the questions are closed and the process is uniform, the data are easily coded and analyzed statistically. In contrast, semi-structured interviews allow flexibility and probing, yielding more qualitative information; unstructured interviews are even more open-ended and less easily comparable. A telephone questionnaire can be standardized too, but the description given aligns most directly with a structured interview, designed to generate numerical data from fixed, comparable questions.