An in-depth interview aims at taking a deeper look at the attitudes, motivations and needs of those interviewed. To make it possible, in-depth interviews are conducted as partially structured individual interviews. The interviewer follows a guideline that defines certain issues for the interview. This structuring makes the interviews comparable to each other. The layout of the interview is very lax for the interviewer and he or she can flexibly adjust to the interviewee and his/her specific situation and can adjust requests organically as the conversation evolves. This proximity to a natural dialog results in the interviewee feeling comfortable and taken seriously, thus providing authentic information. A catalog of questions that would have to be stiffly complied with would make this significantly more difficult.  The openness for the individuality of the person questioned and the personal contact in the in-depth interview create a space for the exciting and frequently also surprising findings.

Classic applications include: