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Most of the methods in ssss1 involve collecting data through interviews. The unstructured–structured continuum is a useful way to organize the diversity of interview methods. Bernard (2018) identifies three types of interviews: unstructured, semistructured, and structured. Each type of interview, in turn, includes a diverse array of techniques. Structured interviews, for example, are used in survey research, in the collection of social network data, and in tandem with formal elicitation techniques such as free-listing and pile-sorting. Semistructured interviews and focus group discussions are likewise similar in level of structure and purpose.

Many medical anthropologists recognize the complementary value of different methods and often combine them in a single study. For example, Singer et al. (2006) designed a five-year study on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies among low-income, inner-city African-American and Puerto Rican youth in Philadelphia and Hartford. They used a wide range of methods: focus groups, formal elicitation (e.g., free-listing), in-depth individual sexual and romantic life histories, sexual behavior diaries, and structured interviews. This strategy paid off, because different methods yielded different insights. Focus groups helped to identify the range of relevant sexual behaviors and relationship types that people recognized, while in-depth individual interviews revealed the personal, emotional meaning of particular experiences. These complementary findings illustrate the benefit of creating redundancy, or triangulation, by using different types of methods (LeCompte and Schensul 2010, p. 174).