McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 8

Collecting Interview Data

8-2

Data Collection Agency Pros and Cons

Advantages• Less Costly• Time Savings• Greater Expertise• Special Facilities• No Special Staffing• No Special Training

Disadvantages• Lack of Direct Control• Uncertain Quality

8-3

Agency Data Collection Process

1. Initial Contact and Cost Estimate2. Selection, Notification, and Alert3. Delivery and Acknowledgment of Receipt4. Training, Instruction and Initiation5. Monitoring, Control, and Supervision 6. Receipt, Verification, and Payment

8-4

Agency Interviewer Training Procedure

1. Train both supervisors and interviewers2. Provide an overview of the whole project3. Distribute copies of all materials4. Do a "walk-through" describing each element5. Do a "trial run" with a mock interview6. Answer questions and solve problems7. Question them to be sure they understand8. Distribute complete sets of materials to each

8-5

Disadvantages of Using In-House Interviewers

• Usually Much More Costly and Certainly More Time-consuming• Requires Larger Research Staff With Greater Experience and Expertise• Difficult to Recruit Quality Interviewers for Temporary, Part-time Work• Interviewers Must Be Trained in Both Interviewing and in This Particular

Project• Ordinarily Feasible for Individual Surveys If They Are of Very Limited

Scope

8-6

In-House Interviewer Management Process

• Recruitment• Selection• Training• Supervision• Compensation• Release

8-7

In-House Interviewers Must Know How To . . .

• Locate• Identify• Contact• Greet• Qualify• Interrogate• Record• Terminate

8-8

Interviewer Recruitment

• Recruit those similar to respondents• Recruit many more than will be needed• Have them visit to complete an application• Check former employment and references• Look for responsibility and honesty first• Seek outgoing, gregarious personalities• Experience is good only if they're flexible

8-9

Supervising Interviewers

1. Monitor both the process and the results2. The supervisor should be there for the first few interviews3. The supervisors should visit periodically and unexpectedly4. Use covert monitoring but advise interviewers so initially5. Have completed work submitted daily and personally6. Check, count, and record finished work in the daylog

8-10

Supervising Interviewers

7. Check the daylog against the the schedule daily8. Supervisors must sight-edit forms in interviewers presence9. Provide coaching and direction when forms are submitted10. Treat errors as routine — don't blame or scold interviewers11. Use lavish praise to enhance confidence and motivation

8-11

Compensating In-house Interviewers

• Pay Them for Direct Expenses• May Be Paid by the Interview

• Tasks Must Be Roughly Equal• From Interview to Interview• Among Interviewers

• May Result in Problems• Might Encourage Cheating• May Hurry Respondents• May Avoid Slow or Difficult Interviews

• May Be Paid by the Hour• Requires More Supervision• May Take More Time to Complete

8-12

Types of Interviewing Error

• Instruction Error• Deviating from the way instructions are written

• Interrogation Error• Expressing questions differently from one person to the next

• Response Option Error• Reading options when they shouldn’t be read or vice versa

8-13

Types of Interviewing Error

• Scale Interpretation Error• Recording the wrong code for rating card scale categories

• Recording Error• Recording verbatim responses incorrectly or incompletely

• Interpretation Error• Making incorrect interpretations of unstructured responses

8-14

Controlling Interviewer Error

• Monitor the interview process to detect instruction, interrogation, and response option error

• List both the scale card numbers and the words on the questionnaire to avoid scale interpretation error

• Use structured questions and avoid recording verbatim answers to control recording error

• Don't require interviewers to select response options based on verbatim answers to avoid interpretation error

8-15

Personal Interviewing Locations

• In-Home Interviews• Job Site Interviews• In-Store Interviews• Traffic Intercepts• Mall Intercepts• Stationary Groups

8-16

Personal Interviewing Greetings

• Keep it very brief and simple

• Ask a question very quickly

• Never ask for permission

• Ask qualification questions

• Anyone has the right to refuse

• Once started they rarely quit

8-17

Independent Quotas

• There must be a certain number of each type of respondent for each variable, regardless of their status on any other quota variable

Dwelling Type

House Condo

50 50

100

Home Ownership

Owner Renter

50 50

100

8-18

Interdependent Quotas

• A certain number of each type of respondent for each variable, of whom there must be a certain number of each type for the next quota variable, etc.

Howe OwnershipDwelling Own Rent TotalHouse 25 25 50Condo 25 25 50Total 50 50 100

8-19

Possible Call Results

1. Call answered by a qualified respondent2. Call answered by an unqualified person3. Number is the wrong location or subscriber4. Call isn't answered after six to ten rings5. Busy signal is received for the number called6. Call answered by an answering service or device7. Call answered by a fax or computer modem8. Number has changed and new number is listed9. Number not in service, no new number is listed

8-20

Telephone Interviewer Options

• Interview respondent and place next call

• Ask if a qualified respondent is present

• Terminate and place call to next number

• Terminate and call back in a few minutes

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

End of Chapter 8