What is the difference between qualitative interviews and surveys?

• A. Qualitative interviews explore depth and meaning with flexible questions; surveys collect standardized responses for quantitative analysis.
• B. Qualitative interviews use fixed questions; surveys are unstructured.
• C. Surveys require interviews to be conducted verbally.
• D. Qualitative interviews are less ethical.

Answer: (A)

Qualitative interviews and surveys differ in how they gather data. Qualitative interviews aim to explore depth and meaning by using open-ended, flexible questions and allowing the interviewer to probe and adapt based on responses. This produces rich, detailed information about personal experiences, views, and contexts that researchers interpret for patterns and themes. Surveys, in contrast, are designed to collect standardized responses from many people so the data can be analyzed quantitatively. Questions are fixed in advance and responses are usually predefined options or scales, making it easy to compare results and run statistical analyses. That combination—depth and flexible questioning for qualitative interviews, versus standardized, quantifiable responses for surveys—best describes the difference.

Note that surveys can be online or self-administered and don’t always require a live interview; and qualitative interviews aren’t necessarily unstructured or unethical, but focus on depth with flexible questioning rather than fixed formats.