Explain the purpose of using interviews in qualitative research.

Interviews are a fundamental tool in qualitative research primarily because they allow researchers to obtain rich, detailed insights into participants' thoughts, feelings, and personal experiences. This method encourages open-ended communication, enabling participants to express themselves in their own words and share nuanced perspectives that might not be captured through other quantitative methods. The purpose of using interviews is to delve deeply into a topic, exploring the meanings and interpretations that individuals assign to their experiences.

By fostering a dialogue, researchers can uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, and emotions, leading to a broader understanding of the research topic. Additionally, interviews can adapt to the flow of conversation, allowing for probing questions that can lead to unexpected but valuable information. This focus on in-depth qualitative data is what distinguishes interviews from other methods that may prioritize structured or numeric data collection.