Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

we can really understand how they think and feel" (Terre Blanche and Kelly 2002: 128).
Interviewers have to be mindful ofthe need to show understanding, respect, interest and
attention during interviews (Woods 1996).
In this research study, use was made ofsemi-structured interviews. Hitchcock and
Hughes note that a semi-structured interview
... allows depth to be achieved by providing the opportunity on the part ofthe
interviewer to probe and expand the interviewee's responses.... Some kind ofbalance
between the interviewer and the interviewee can develop which can provide room for
negotiation, discussion, and expansion ofthe interviewee's responses. (Hitchcock and
Hughes 1989:83).
The advantage ofthe semi-structured interview is that the interviewer is in control ofthe
process ofobtaining information from the interviewee, but is free to follow new leads as
they arise. It allows the researcher flexibility and freedom to probe issues that surface in
the interview. To facilitate such a process, use was made of 'open-ended' questions that
do not place restrictions on either the content or the manner ofthe interviewee's
responses. Cohen and Manion summarise the advantages ofopen-ended questions as
follows:
Open-ended questions are. " are flexible; they allow the interviewer to probe; so that she
may go into more depth ifshe chooses, or clear up any misunderstandings; they enable
the researcher to test the limits ofthe respondent's knowledge; they encourage co­
operation and help to establish rapport; and they help the interviewer to make a truer
assessment of what the respondent really believes. Open-ended questions can also result
in unexpected or unanticipated answers which may suggest hitherto unthought-of
relationships or hypothesis (Cohen and Manion 1997:277).
In adopting the above conception ofthe research interview, the issues ofreliability and
validity become 'redundant' as "... every interpersonal situation may be said to be valid,
as such, whether it conforms to expectation, whether or not it involves a high degree of
communication, and whether or not the participants emerge exhilarated or depressed"
(Cohen and Manion 1994:282). The problem ofpartial or inaccurate information
generated in interviews, may be at least partially dealt with through the process of
triangulation. Walford (2001) questions the use ofinterviews as a sole method ofdata
125