Information from Respondents:
Issues in Data Collection
Widely used media for collecting primary data
• Questionnaires
• Observation
• Combining methods in data collection
– E.g. Brand preferences influenced by advertising. How
will you combine an experiment with an observation?
– Gerald Gorn’s experiment
Interviewee Issues: Non-response
• Refusals
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Due to ambiguous, hard-to-understand questionnaires
Due to respondent characteristics
Invasion of privacy
Time pressure and fatigue
• Inability to respond
– Genuine forgetting
– Ignorance
• How will you minimize non-response issues?
Interviewee Issues: Inaccurate Response
• Concern about invasion of privacy
• Time pressure and fatigue
• Prestige seeking and social desirability bias
• Courtesy bias
• Telescoping
• Averaging
Interviewer Issues
• Fraud and deceit
– Submitting fabricated responses
• Probing questions
– Steer responses to acceptable one
• Interviewer attitudes and interest
– Do you appear disinterested in the survey or have a
bad attitude about it?
• How will you minimize interviewer issues?
Widely used methods of Data Collection
• Personal Interview
• Telephone Interview
• Mail Survey
• Web-based Survey
Personal Interviews
Four Entities Involved
• Researcher–Questionnaire design and procedure
• Interviewer-attitudes & procedure
• Interviewee-respondent characteristics
• The Interview Environment-where? How much
time? Home? Office? Etc.
• Interaction between any or all of these entities
influences responses
Personal Interviews
Methods
• Door to Door Interviewing
– Costliest, influenced by environment, ability to explain
complicated procedures and show & demonstrate
product
• Executive Interviewing
– Similar to door-to-door but in the industrial context
• Mall Intercept Surveys
– Cheaper, requires mall management cooperation
Personal Interviews
• Purchase Intercept Technique (PIT)
– Observation + interview in store
– E.g. to understand the amount of information search
conducted by the shopper just prior to choosing the
product in store.
• Self-administered questionnaire
– Respondent may misunderstand questions, no
interviewer bias
Telephone Interviewing - issues
• Selecting telephone numbers
– Pre specified list (membership rosters, customer
lists, etc.)
– A directory (telephone, etc. problem – unlisted
numbers)
– Random dialing procedure
• Random digit dialing – out of service numbers, no
geographical focus possible
• Systematic random digit dialing (SRDD) –
geographical focus possible
• Cost – cheaper and faster than personal
interviews
Telephone interviews - issues
• The introduction
– Establish rapport immediately
– Short, succint but brief introduction
• When to call
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Varies according to the respondent
Housewives: between 9 am and 4.30 pm
Generally a good time is 6.30 pm to 9 pm
Weekends: 10 am to 8 pm
• Call reports
– Records the date, time and outcomes of the call
Mail Surveys
Decisions to Be Made
• Postage pre-paid return envelope
• Method of Addressing (first name/last name/Sir, etc.)
• Cover Letter
• The Questionnaire Length, Layout, Color, Format, Etc
• Method of Notification (pre-recruitment)
• Reminders
• Incentive to Be Given
Mail surveys – possible problems
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Who answers – respondent or somebody else
Did the respondent get help in answering?
Speed of response (time lag delays the study)
Order of questions is compromised (no funnel
effect)
Not understanding the questions
Opportunity to probe for more information not
present
Obsolete, inaccurate mailing list
Low response rates
Factors Affecting Response Rates
• Perceived amount of work required, and the
length of the questionnaire
• Intrinsic interest in the topic
• Characteristics of the sample
• Credibility of the sponsoring organization
• Level of induced motivation
How to reduce non-response possibilities
• Anonymity, confidentiality
• Appeals (e.g. students doing survey to get
grades)
• Obtain permission to do survey
• Follow ups
• Incentives
• Personalize
• Questionnaire length and design
• Reply-paid enclosed envelope
Factors Affecting the Choice of a Survey
Method
• Sampling (local, regional, national, etc.)
• Type of Population (e.g. illiterate, challenged)
• Question Form – close-ended questions
• Question Content – sensitive issues
• Response Rate required
• Costs
• Available Facilities
• Length of Data Collection period
Ethical Issues in Data Collection
Rights of the Respondents Violated if:
• Purpose of a particular measurement disguised
• True duration of the interview not revealed
• Compensation is misrepresented
• Intended follow-up interview not mentioned
• Hidden tape recorders used
• Respondents not briefed
• Interview is guise for selling or fund raising
Cover Letter
• Purpose of the questionnaire should be stated
• Researcher’s contact information
• “Response is voluntary” & “you are free to pull
out at any time”
– “your filling up and sending the survey is indicative of
your voluntary participation in the study”
• Responses will be kept confidential / anonymous
(you should know how)
Cover letter (continued)
• Sponsoring organization name
• Reviewed by Human Subjects Committee
• “Take all reasonable steps to protect your
identity”
• How long will the participation last