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Depending on the level of formality and structure, interviews can either be: structured interviews; semi-structured interviews; and unstructured or in-depth interviews (Saunders et

al. 2007). A structured interview employs a standardised set of questions that have an

emphasis on fixed response categories. It uses systematic sampling and loading procedures combined with quantitative measures and statistical methods (Ghauri and Grønhaug, 2002). This method is highly likely to be straightforward and provides precise and reliable data. Unlike the other two qualitative interview techniques (i.e. the semi-structured interview and unstructured interview) which rely on the use of a questionnaire. The interviewer for structured interviews should be neutral and should ask identical questions in the same way to

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avoid any variations. Since the same questions are asked to all interviewees, the interview can be replicated and standardised. Most of all, this will allow the interviewer to contact a large number of people in an economical way. Nonetheless, if the sample size is too large it can become time consuming and the quality of data will depend highly upon the questions. Consequently, a considerable amount of time is required to prepare the questions. In addition, the interviewer cannot supplement additional questions, which makes it difficult to examine more complex issues further. However, there is a natural limit to answering questions in any depth.

In a semi-structured interview the interviewer generally has a framework of theme to be explored and prepares a formalised and limited set of questions on specific topics, which are often referred to as an interview guide (Bryman, 2008). This method is more flexible and conversational than a structured interview in that it allows new questions to be brought up as a result of the interviewee‟s response during the interview (Saunders et al. 2007). The questions may not follow on exactly in the way outlined on the guide and the interviewer can ask them in different ways from interviewee to interviewee; however, a similar wording will be used throughout all of the interviews (Ghauri and Grønhaug, 2002). Although the interviewer may encourage and facilitate the interviewees to discuss their own points of view and experiences, they would not personally become involved. The context of the interview is a key aspect of the process in comparison to a structured interview, which is assumed to elicit information untainted by the context of the interview (May, 1993). The interviewer is able to gain both factual information and the personal experiences of a particular domain from the interviewees‟ perspective and, therefore, this will produce rich and detailed data. The prepared themes and questions will make the interviews with a number of different persons more systematic and comprehensive, and they will also make the data more comparable. However, this technique can be time consuming, not only in terms of collecting the data but also in analysing it. The flexible wording and order of questions may result in substantial differences between different interviewees; consequently, making comparison difficult. In addition, the interviewer could influence the interviewee by suggesting leading questions. In order to prevent these problems, the interviewer needs to be trained to avoid asking leading or perspective questions.

An unstructured interview is a method of interview where the respondent is given almost full liberty to discuss behaviours, opinions and reactions on particular topics (Ghauri and

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Grønhaug, 2002). This method aims to investigate the subjective interpretations and understanding of social phenomena in an exploratory manner and also seeks to generate data which probes deeper into the lives of the interviewees. It emphasises the interviewees‟ world- view and its process tends to be more flexible than a structured interview. Although there is no need to prepare specific questions, the interviewer should have a clear idea about the aspects that they wish to explore. In this case, the interviewer‟s ontological assumption is that people‟s knowledge, views and understandings are meaningful properties of the social reality that the research questions are designed to explore. The epistemological assumption is that it is important to have a conversation interactively with interviewees and to analyse their use of language and construction of discourse (Rubin and Rubin, 2005). This philosophical perspective will guide the way that the interview is conducted and how the data is analysed. In structured interviews, the interviewer can elicit a more accurate and clear picture from an interviewee‟s position because the questions to be asked are not leading questions. Unlike structured interviews, the questions of unstructured interviews can give valuable information which had not been discovered before the interview. Consequently, the interviewer could go further into a new topic and enrich the data beyond the answers alone. However, it should be noted that these questions can take much more time and the interviewee response could be affected by the interviewer. In order to overcome these weaknesses, leading questions and any non-verbal gestures which indicate any bias should be avoided. The findings from these questions may not be generalised because usually only a small number of people can be interviewed in a specific context; however, the results are not necessarily intended to be generalised since they reflect the reality and may be subject to change (Saunders et al. 2000). To analyse the data from unstructured interviews, grounded analysis which tends to offer a more open approach and is closely linked to the concept of grounded theory (Easterby-Smith

et al. 2002).

By considering the characteristics of each interview type, as well as the purpose of the interview, the semi-structured interview technique was selected for use in the current study. The qualitative interview is more flexible and conversational than quantitative methods in that it allows new questions to be brought up as a result of the interviewee‟s response during the interview. A semi-structured interview may be used in relation to both an exploratory and explanatory study. In the current study, it was used in order to explore the research issues from the managerial level of decision making process from the humanitarian relief organisations because of the lack of previous studies on this topic. Specifically, the objectives

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of the interviews are: firstly, to better understand the application of the pre-positioning strategy for the humanitarian relief organisation broadly; secondly, to verify the attributes of determining factors for the pre-positioning warehouse location selection problem and their priorities; and thirdly, to identify the unforeseen issues and opinions of operating or planning the pre-positioning warehouse strategy for humanitarian relief supply chain. In the interviews the logistics officers and managers (who actually have the influence in decision making process of the pre-positioning warehouse location selection problem) participated to give the opinion of the different pre-positioning supply chain strategies, the determining factors for location selection, and their priorities of the factors.