Data Collection Tools
Interview and Questionnaire
By
Mahadeva Prasad M S
Data Collection Tool
The various method of data gathering
involve the use of appropriate recording
forms. These are called tools or
instruments of data collection, they
consists of observation schedule or
interview guide, interview schedule,
questionnaire, rating scale, check list
etc.,
Interview
It may be defined as a two way
systematic conversation between
an investigator and an informant,
initiated for obtaining information
relevant to a specific study
Characteristics of Interview
1. The participants - the interviewer and the
respondent - are strangers. Hence, the
investigator has to get himself introduced
to the respondent in an appropriate
manner
2. The relationship between the participants
and the interviewer is a transitory one. It
has a fixed beginning and termination
points.
3. Interview is not a mere casual
conversational
exchange,
but
a
conversation with a specific purpose, viz.,
obtaining information relevant to a study.
4. Interview is a mode of obtaining verbal answers
to questions put verbally.
5. The interaction between the interviewer and the
respondent need not necessarily be on a faceto-face basis, because interview can be
conducted over the telephone also.
6.Although interview is usually a conversation
between two persons, it need not be limited to a
single respondent. It can also be conducted with
a group of persons
7. Interviewing is a flexible psychological process.
Advantages of Interview
1.
2.
In this data tool the depth and detail of information can be
secured.
The interviewer can do more to improve the percentage of
responses and the quality of information received than other
method
3. The interviewer can gather other supplemental
information like economic level, living conditions
etc.
4. The accuracy and dependability of the answers
given by the respondent can be checked by
observation and probing.
5. Interview is flexible and adaptable to individual
situations. Even more control can be exercised over
the interview situation.
Disadvantage of Interview
1. The interview results are often adversely affected
2.
3.
4.
5.
by interviewer's mode of asking questions and
interactions
Certain types of personal and financial information
may be refused in face-to-face interview
Interview poses the problem of recording
information obtained from the respondents
Lack of training for the person who conduct
interview.
Interview is costly both in terms of money and
time.
Requirement for Successful Interview
1. Data availability: The needed- information should
2.
3.
4.
be available with the respondent.
Role
perception:
The
respondent
should
understand his role and know what is required of
him.
Role of Interviewer: The interviewer should also
know his role. He should establish a permissive
atmosphere and encourage frank and free
conversation.
Respondent's motivation: The respondent should
be willing to respond and give accurate answer.
This depends partly on the interviewer's approach
and skill
Types of Interview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Structured or directive interview
Unstructured or non-directive interview
Focused interview
Clinical interview
Depth interview
Structured or Directive Interview
This is an interview made with a
detailed standardized schedule. The
same questions are put to all the
respondents and in the same order.
Each question is asked in the same way
in each interviews. This type of
interview is used for large-scale
formalized surveys.
Unstructured or Non-directive Interview
The interviewer encourages the respondent
to talk freely about a given topic with a
minimum of prompting or guidance. In this
type of interview, a detailed pre-planned
schedule is not used. Only a broad interview
guide is used. The interviewer avoids
channeling the interview directions. This
interviewing is more useful in case studies
rather than in surveys.
Focused interview
This is a semi-structured interview where the
investigator attempts to focus the discussion
on the actual effects of a given experience to
which the respondents have been exposed.
The interview is focused on the subjective
experiences of the respondent, i.e., his
attitudes, and emotional responses regarding
the situation under study.
Clinical interview
This is similar to the focused interview but
with a subtle difference. While the focused
interview is concerned with the effects of a
specific experience, clinical interview is
concerned with broad underlying feelings or
motivations or with the course of the
individual's life experiences.
Depth interview
This is an intensive and searching interview
aiming at studying the respondent's opinion,
emotions or convictions on the basis of an
interview guide. This is generally a lengthy
procedure designed to encourage free
expression of his/her feeling, emotion, his
knowledge about particular area of study.
Interview Process
1. Preparation – The first step in interviewing
process is preparation and preplanning. The
interviewer should keep the copies of interview
schedule/guide (as the case may be) ready for
use. He should also have the list of names and
addresses of respondents
2. Introduction - The investigator is a stranger to
the respondents. Therefore he should be
properly introduced to each of the respondents.
3. Developing rapport - Before starting the research
interview, the interviewer should establish a friendly
relationship with the respondent. This is described as
"rapport“. It means establishing a relationship of
confidence and understanding between the interviewer and
the respondent
4. Carrying the interview forward: After establishing
rapport, the technical task of asking questions from the
interview schedule starts.
5. Recording the interview: It is essential to record responses
as they take place in the interview.
6. Closing the interview: After the interview is over, take
leave off the respondent, thanking him with a friendly
smile.
Interview Problems
1. Inadequate response – in the interview
the respondent gives a relevant but
incomplete answer. when the respondent
remains silent or refuses to answer the
question, irrelevant response, in which the
repondent’s answer is not relevant to the
question asked etc.,
2.Interviewer's bias: The interviewer is an important cause
of response bias. He may resort to cheating by 'cooking up'
data without actually interviewing. The interviewers can
influence the responses by inappropriate suggestions, word
emphasis, tone of voice and question rephrasing.
3.Non-response Non-response refers to failure to obtain
responses from some sample respondents. There are many
sources of non-response; non-availability, refusal,
incapacity, inaccessibility.
4. Non-availability: Some respondents may not be available
at home at the time of call. This depends upon the nature of
the respondent and the time of calls. For example
employed persons may at be available during working
hours. Farmers may not be available at home during
cultivation season.
5. Refusal: Some persons may refuse to furnish
information because they are approached at the
wrong hour and so on.
6. Incapacity or inability may refer to illness which
prevents a response during the entire survey
period. This may also arise on account of language
barrier.
Questionnaire
•
•
•
•
List of a research or survey questions asked to
respondents, and designed to extract specific
information from the respondents is called as
Questionnaire. It serves four basic purposes:
Collect the appropriate data
Make data comparable and amenable to analysis
Minimize bias in formulating and asking
question.
To make questions engaging and varied.
Steps in Questionnaire Construction
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preparation
Constructing the first draft
Self-evaluation
External evaluation
Revision
Pre-test or Pilot study
Revision
Second Pre-test if necessary
Preparing final Copy
Advantages of Questionnaire
1. Allows a wider range and distribution of the sample than
the interview method
2. Provides greater access to more educated respondents and
to persons in higher income brackets
3. Provides an opportunity for respondents to give frank.
Anonymous answers
4. Allows greater economy of effort (i.e.. a single instrument.
duplicated and distributed to numerous respondents. can
produce a large amount of data)
5. Can be constructed so that quantitative data are relatively
easy to collect and analyze
6. Can be designed to gather background information about
respondents as well as original hard-to-obtain data
7. facilitates the collection of large amount of data in a short
period of time
8. Allows the corrections in exploratory studies, of
insightful information about a relatively unexplored
problem area or subject.
9. Can be completed at the leisure of respondents-within
time limits set by the surveyor-without imposing on
research subjects
10. Because of its fixed format, helps to eliminate
variation in the questioning process
Disadvantages of the Questionnaire
1.Precludes personal contact with respondents, perhaps causing
the investigator to gain insufficient knowledge about
participants in a study.
2. Does not allow respondents to qualify ambiguous questions
3. If the prepared instrument does not arouse respondent
emotions (i.e., when the questionnaire is too impersonal) valid
responses might not be elicited.
4. Poorly worded or direct questions might arouse antagonism or
inhibitions on the part of respondents
5. Difficulty in obtaining responses from a representative cross
section of the target population
6. Because opinionated respondents might be more likely than
other subjects to complete and return it, use of a
questionnaire might lead to non response bias
Types of Question
1.Factual questions normally pertain to respondents ages,
education, library experience, memberships in professional
organizations, or any other pertinent personal data needed in
the study.
2. Opinion and Attitude Question - When the purpose of a
survey is to obtain information about respondents beliefs.
feelings, values, and related concepts, opinion and attitude
questions can be used
3. Information question - In some types of survey research,
investigators might attempt to determine how respondents
know about a given topic and how or when their research
subjects gained certain knowledge
4. Self – perception question – These questions is
about the self-perceptions of respondents in a given
topic or area.
5. Standard of action question - In some types of
surveys, investigators might attempt to determine
how respondents will act in certain circumstances or
how subjects feel about a new development or
forthcoming event.
6. Projective questions - At times, questions are used
that allow respondents to answer inquiries in an
indirect manner by imposing their personal feelings,
attitudes, or beliefs on another person or group of
persons.
Unstructured and Structured Questions
Questions can also be classified, on the basis of
form and method of response, into two major
categories: Unstructured and structured.
Unstructured Question - allow respondents to
reply freely without having to select one of several
provided responses
Structured Question – It specifies the
respondents answer in a several provided options
in a question.
Ways of Administering a Questionnaire
1. Collective Administration - One of the best
way of administering a questionnaire is to obtain
a captive audience such as students in classroom,
people attending a function
2. Administration in a public places - Sometimes
you can administer a questionnaire in a public
place such as a shopping Center, health center,
hospital, school or pub, it is dependent upon the
type of study population
3. The mailed questionnaire - The most common
approach to collecting information is to send the
questionnaire to prospective respondents by mail