Final answer:
Interview responses show variations influenced by social factors and nonverbal behaviors. Creating a comfortable environment and gaining the informant's trust are vital for reliable and nuanced insights. Formality, recording permissions, and reflection on interviews are key aspects to consider for effective research.
Step-by-step explanation:
Research concerning interview responses has revealed variations between informants in different situations or different relations with the interviewer. Interviews, as dynamic sources of information, are influenced by social factors and nonverbal behaviours such as hand gestures, head nodding, and smiling, which can affect the outcomes and insights gained from the interview process. It is also important that the interviewer creates a comfortable environment, often by conducting interviews in a space familiar to the informant, and by following cultural protocols to ease the informant into the conversation.
The informant's trust is critical; researchers aim to empathize, commiserate, and listen without judgment to avoid unduly influencing responses. Interviews can delve into complex topics that are difficult to categorize due to the myriad of factors involved. Therefore, researchers must avoid leading questions that could render the data unreliable. The results from interviews can reflect intersubjective variations and lend insight into cultural phenomena such as perceptions on alcohol consumption or social stigmas associated with bankruptcy.
Recordings of interviews, both audio and video, can be invaluable resources for research but also may be perceived as intrusive. If used, they require explicit permission from informants. Reflecting on interviews helps researchers determine the effectiveness of the interview style and the richness of information obtained. A more relaxed conversational interview may yield different insights than a formal process and can highlight societal differences such as gender, marital status, and social acceptance.