I am currently writing my undergrad thesis and part of the research I am conducting requires that I carry out interviews with relevant stakeholders and professionals. These individuals will vary in profession and I am wondering as to if the questions I ask them should vary also, or should they be standardised?
The research topic is on alternative methods of producing social housing in Ireland and the professionals to be interviewed will be a mixture of professors, policymakers, local government representatives and planners.
Any suggestions and recommendations are welcomed, thanks.
If you are doing survey research with questionnaires, then you should keep the questions the same throughout. If you are doing qualitative interviews with open ended questions, then you have more options. In particular, you might consider starting each of the interviews with the same 1 or 2 broad questions that you could compare across all the interviews, and then after that ask questions that are more targeted to the specific expertise of a given participant.
If it is essential for you to vary your questions in relationship to the person interviewed, you must opt for a qualitative analysis. If you want to do a quantitative survey study, your questions cannot change. These are two fundamental options, take your decision on substantial grounds. Refer to what you want to find out. You must make up your mind and decide in what direction you want to go. A mixed method approach is possible, but under a methodological angle it is slightly more complex.
Thank you Charles Berg for clarifying this. The interviews are indeed to be used for qualitative analysis and so I will employ your suggested methodology. Thanks.
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