Semi-Structured Interview Theories

Methodology

This grounded theory study (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) explored the teachers’ and learners’ agency in the classroom and how their agencies affect the learning processes. The root of Grounded theory was back to the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism (Mead, 1934) in an interpretive philosophical paradigm (Hughes, 1990). The key assumption was that reality was located in the meanings that individual actors (in this case the teachers and learners) derived from their social interactions (their agency role), in the context in which they occur (Blumer, 1969). In order to generate theory and disclose social processes inherent in the context that can explain the phenomenon being studied, in this case the teachers’ and learners’

The theoretical sampling, data collection and analysis in the constant comparative analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) were developed at once by continuous expansion and validation of the parameters of emerging data

The most common type of interview for qualitative research is the in-depth semi-structured interview. As Dornyei (2007) argued a semi-structured interview is a balance between a structured interview in which the interview protocol is strictly attached to and an open interview that is guided by broad topics. A semi-structured interview permits both the researcher and the participant to explore specific topics in greater depth. Furthermore, it allows for flexibility in the manner and sequence of the questions. Dornyei (2007) stated that a semi-structured interview is apt when the researcher has sufficient knowledge of the phenomenon to develop questions in advance. Semi-structured in-depth interviews also allowed the researchers to have a more direct contact with the participants and it is through this interaction between interviewer and interviewee that knowledge is produced (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p.