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Chapter 3. Research Methodology Adoption, Diffusion and Use of E-government
Hassan Al-Zaabi Services in Abu Dhabi Police Force
argued that “if you stick religiously to your prepared set of questions you are unable to pursue new
lines of enquiry that might emerge during the interview”.
In unstructured interviews, the interviewee has the opportunity to speak freely about the topic
discussed. The questions prepared by the interviewer are very few. New questions are created in the
interview itself (Myers, 2009). However, replies might go beyond research scope and gather irrelevant
data (Myers, 2009).
Semi-structured interviews come between structured and unstructured interviews. The interviewer will
have a list of questions to ask the interviewee, however, the interviewee will still have the chance to
speak freely.
After comparing and examining the three types of interviews, it was concluded that semi-structured
interviews is the most appropriate for this research. The semi-structured interview “tries to take the
best of all approaches, while minimising the risk, and is commonly used in business and management
research” (Myers, 2009: 125). In this research, the researcher wanted to get the most out of the
interviews by encouraging interviewees to speak freely, however, the researcher also wanted to focus
on the prepared questions, therefore, not go beyond the research scope.
It is also possible to record the interview, such as, using Dictaphone or Audiotapes (Walsham, 1995;
Darke et al., 1998; Yin, 2009), however, the interviewer should not record if “(i) an interviewee refuses
(ii) recording device is considered as a substitute for listening (iii) interviewee is distracted from the
recording device” (Yin, 2009: 109). Therefore in certain instances, the recording device was not
allowed.
3.6.2 Direct Observations
Observations occur when certain behaviours are viewed in the field. For example, during meetings and
in offices, or even observing the tidiness in offices can also be considered important for the observer
(Yin, 2009). Direct observation is “when you are watching other people from the outside, but not
taking any part in their activities” (Myers, 2009: 138).
Yin (2009: 110) had also added that “observation may provide additional information about the topic
being studied”. Furthermore, observations and interviews techniques are usually used when examining
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