THE INTERVIEW

(cont.)

Reasons for Interview Studies

                                                           

1. reducing refusal rate
2. recording information missed on questionnaires

 

Selecting Questions

 

Structured Interviews – uses a specific list of questions

Unstructured Interviews - permit respondents to indicate their reactions to general issues without guidance from highly detailed questions

 

Gallup’s six recommendations for interviewers:

 

1. brief and direct questions
2. simple and common words and phrases
3. avoid words with strong emotional content
4. avoid all possible biases
5. include all important alternatives
6. give the choice of alternatives as early in the interview as possible

 

Determining Validity and Reliability

 

            *makes notes, look for additional clues (nature of the interview, ie., distracted respondent, difficulty in understanding questions)

            *or use check questions to check for consistency

            *validity claims are a natural counterpart of sound interview methods

 

Sampling Subjects

 

            *samples subjects that represent the whole population

            *contact the individuals beforehand to get their permission to be interviewed

 

Analyzing and Interpreting Results

 

-         using special tools to analyze data

-         interpret results to reveal relationships among variables

-         you can probe for reasons behind the answers

 

*Whether a particular study should use questionnaires or interviews must be decided by considering the purpose of the research and the degree of maturity of the research area.

 

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