unstructured interview
an interview that is highly flexible in terms of the questions asked, the kinds of responses sought, and the ways in which the answers are evaluated across interviewers or across interviewees. For example, a human resource staff member conducting an unstructured interview with a candidate for employment may ask open-ended questions so as to allow the spontaneity of the discussion to reveal more of the applicant’s traits, interests, priorities, and interpersonal and verbal skills than a standard predetermined question set would. Also called nondirective interview. Compare patterned interview; structured interview.