Which interview type involves a mix of standard questions and flexibility in delivery?

Which interview type involves a mix of standard questions and flexibility in delivery?

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

Answer: (A)

Semi-structured interviews blend a set of standard questions with flexibility in how they’re asked and in the follow‑up probes. This means the interviewer has a guide of core questions to cover across all interviews, but can adapt the delivery, ask extra questions, and explore unexpected topics based on the respondent’s responses. The result is enough consistency to compare across interviews while still allowing depth and nuance. This differs from a fully structured approach, where every question and its order are fixed and probing is minimal, and from an unstructured approach, which has no predetermined questions and is more like an informal conversation. A telephone questionnaire tends to be more fixed and survey-like, with little opportunity for probing.

Semi-structured interviews blend a set of standard questions with flexibility in how they’re asked and in the follow‑up probes. This means the interviewer has a guide of core questions to cover across all interviews, but can adapt the delivery, ask extra questions, and explore unexpected topics based on the respondent’s responses. The result is enough consistency to compare across interviews while still allowing depth and nuance.

This differs from a fully structured approach, where every question and its order are fixed and probing is minimal, and from an unstructured approach, which has no predetermined questions and is more like an informal conversation. A telephone questionnaire tends to be more fixed and survey-like, with little opportunity for probing.