IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE

MERITS AND DRAWBACKS

Seminar Paper

Presented to the

IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems

Degree Programme:

Tourism and Leisure Studies

Course:

Introduction to Research

By

Manuel KAAR

Submitted:

June 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction

1

2

The benefits of individual in-depth interviews 2

2.1 General

aspects

2

2.2

The depth of data and the focus on perceptions 2

2.3

Individuality of in-depth interviews 3

2.4

Involvement of the researcher 3

3

Possible drawbacks of in-depth interviewing 4

3.1

Costs and time 4

3.2

Interviewer bias and interpretation 4

3.3

Simplification of complexity through themes 5

3.4

Limitation of cases and lack of interaction with peers 5

4

Excursion: The application of in-depth interviews in tourism research 6

5

Conclusions / Recommendations: When to use or avoid in-depth

interviews 7

Reference List 9

Bibliography 9

II

1 Introduction

When commencing to plan a study, researchers face the oftentimes challenging

task to decide on the adequate research method for their investigation problem

at hand. Since the appropriateness of a study, as well as its ability to be

accepted as scientific research, depend very much on the correct choice of the

applied research method(s), the decision process for the latter constitutes a

crucial phase of the overall research operation.

As many researchers encounter ambiguities when it comes to selecting the

suitable research technique, this paper provides a critical reflection on several

arguments for and against the employment of in-depth interviews, one of the

most common tools used in qualitative research.

The aim of this paper is, therefore, to consider the strengths and weaknesses of

in-depth interviews from various angles, in order to advance the perspicuity of

the question in which situations it is apt to use interviews as a research tool and

when to better search for alternative methods.

To arrive at this objective, four main issues have been explored through a

review of already existing literature. First, the merits of individual in-depth

interviews are examined. Then the paper addresses the question of what

possible drawbacks one may come across when selecting in-depth interviewing

as a research method. Furthermore, a short comment on the application of in-

depth interviews in qualitative tourism research is given. Finally, in the

conclusions/recommendations section it is explained for which types of

investigations the in-depth interview is the appropriate research technique.

As indicated above, the main focus of this paper is not on providing a guide for

the general set-up and implication process of an in-depth interview. The main

spotlight is rather on the enhancement of the detailed knowledge of researchers

on in-depth interviews, with the ultimate goal to make a contribution to increase

the number of cases where research methods have been appropriately chosen.

Hence, a certain level of previous knowledge about in-depth interviewing is

expected from the reader in order to be able to follow the content of this paper.

1