Structured Interview

About Oliver Parks
Oliver Parks Consulting offers search-based recruitment solutions to the technology sector, specialising in the ERP, CRM, CMS, ECM, BI and Open Source Technology spaces. The firm’s multilingual consultants operate in narrowly-defined niche market segments, enabling them to gain extensive knowledge of the people and companies operating in each technology. Oliver Parks has a proven track-record with more than 100,000 candidates worldwide and more than 300 clients globally. 

Semi-Structured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples

A semi-structured interview is a data collection method that relies on asking questions within a predetermined thematic framework. However, the questions are not set in order or in phrasing.

In research, semi-structured interviews are often qualitative in nature. They are generally used as an exploratory tool in marketing, social science, survey methodology, and other research fields.
They are also common in field research with many interviewers, giving everyone the same theoretical framework, but allowing them to investigate different facets of the research question.
NoteSemi-structured interviews are a mix of structured and unstructured interviews. While a few questions are predetermined, the others aren’t planned. The other three most common types of interviews are:

• 
  Structured interviews: The questions are predetermined in both topic and order.
  
• 
  Unstructured interviews: None of the questions are predetermined.
  
• 
  Focus group interviews: The questions are presented to a group instead of one individual.
  

What is a semi-structured interview?

Semi-structured interviews are a blend of structured and unstructured types of interviews.

• 
  Unlike in an unstructured interview, the interviewer has an idea of what questions they will ask.
  
• 
  Unlike in a structured interview, the phrasing and order of the questions is not set.
  

Semi-structured interviews are often open-ended, allowing for flexibility. Asking set questions in a set order allows for easy comparison between respondents, but it can be limiting. Having less structure can help you see patterns, while still allowing for comparisons between respondents.