SURVEY RESEARCH:CHOOSING A COMMUNICATION MEDIA

<< RESEARCH DESIGN:Purpose of the Study, Steps in Conducting a Survey

INTERCEPT INTERVIEWS IN MALLS AND OTHER HIGH-TRAFFIC AREAS >>

Research Methods STA630

Lesson 20

SURVEY RESEARCH

Research Design can be classified by the approach used to gather primary data. There are really two

alternatives. We can observe conditions, behavior, events, people, or processes. Or we can

communicate with people about various topics, including participants' attitudes, motivations, intentions,

and expectations.

The communication approach involves surveying people and recording their responses for analysis.

The great strength of the survey as a primary data collecting approach is its versatility. What media do

we use for communicating with people? The traditional face to face communication (interview) for

conducting surveys is still in vogue. Nevertheless, the digital technology is having a profound impact

on the society as well as on research. Its greatest impact is on the creation of new forms of

communication media.

Human Interactive Media and Electronic Interactive Media

When two people engage in conversation, human interaction takes place. Human interactive media

are personal forms of communication. One human being directs a message to and interacts with another

individual (or a small group). When they think of interviewing, most people envision this type of face-

to-face dialogue or a conversation on telephone.

Electronic interactive media allows researchers to reach a large audience, to personalize individual

messages, and to interact with members of the audience using digital technology. To a large extent

electronic interactive media users are controlled by the users themselves. In the context of surveys,

respondents are not passive audience members. They are actively involved in a two-way

communication when electronic interactive media are utilized.

The Internet, the medium that is radically altering many organizations' research strategies, provides a

prominent example of the new electronic interactive media.

Non-Interactive Media

The traditional questionnaire received by mail and completed by the respondent does not allow a

dialogue or exchange of information for immediate feedback. Self-administered questionnaires printed

on paper are also non-interactive.

CHOOSING A COMMUNICATION MEDIA

Once the researcher has determined that surveying is the appropriate data collection approach, various

means may be used to secure information from individual. A research can conduct a survey by personal

interview, telephone, mail, computer, or a combination of these media.

Personal Interviewing

A personal interview (i.e. face to face communication) is a two way conversation initiated by an

interviewer to obtain information from a respondent. The differences in the roles of the interviewer and

the respondent are pronounced. They are typically strangers, and the interviewer generally controls the

topics and patterns of discussion. The consequences of the event are usually insignificant for the

respondent. The respondent is asked to provide information and has little hope of receiving any

immediate or direct benefit from this cooperation.

Personal interviews may take place in a factory, in a homeowner's doorway, in an executive's office, in

a shopping mall, or in other settings.

Research Methods STA630

Advantages of Personal Interviewing:

The face-to-face interaction between interviewer and respondent has several characteristics that help

researchers obtain complete and precise information. Personal interviews offer many advantages.

1. The Opportunity for Feedback

Personal interviews allow for feedback. For example, an employee who is reluctant to provide sensitive

information about his workplace may be reassured by the interviewer that his answers will be strictly

confidential. The interviewer may also provide feedback in clarifying any questions an employee or any

other respondent has about the instructions or questions. Circumstances may dictate that at the

conclusion of the interview, the respondent be given additional information concerning the purpose of

the study (part of debriefing). This is easily accomplished in personal interview.

2. Probing Complex Questions

An important characteristic of personal interview is the opportunity to follow up, by probing. If a

respondent's answer is brief or unclear, the researcher may ask for a clearer or more comprehensive

explanation. Probing implies the verbal prompts made by the interviewer when the respondent must be

motivated to communicate his or her answer more fully. Probing encourages respondents to enlarge on,

clarify, or explain answers. Probing becomes all the more important when the questions don't have

structured response categories. The complex question that cannot easily be asked in telephone or mail

surveys can be handled by skillful interviewers.

3. Length of Interview

If the research objective requires an extremely lengthy questionnaire, personal interviews may be the

only alternative. Generally, telephone interviews last fewer than 10 minutes, whereas a personal

interview can be much longer, perhaps more than an hour. A rule of thumb for mail questionnaire is

that it should not be more than six pages.

4. High Completion Rate

The social interaction between a well-trained interviewer and a respondent in personal interview

increases the likelihood that the respondent will answer all items on the questionnaire. The respondent

who grows bored with a telephone interview may terminate the interview at his or her discretion simply

by hanging up the phone. A respondent's self administration of a mail questionnaire requires more

effort. Rather than writing a long explanation, the respondent may fail to complete some of the

questions on the self administered questionnaire. This will be an item non-response that is, failure to

provide an answer to a question. It is less likely to happen with an experienced interviewer and in a face

to face situation.

5. Props and Visual Aids

Interviewing respondents face to face allows an investigator to show them a new product sample, a

sketch of proposed office, or some other visual aid. The respondents can even taste samples of different

products and can give their evaluations. Such an evaluation cannot be done in telephone interview or

mail survey.

6. High Participation Rate

While some people are reluctant to participate in a survey, the presence of an interviewer generally

increases the percentages of people willing to complete the interview. Respondents are not required to

do any reading or writing all they have to do is to talk. Most people enjoy sharing information and

Research Methods STA630

insights with friendly and sympathetic interviewers. Certainly, in personal interviews there is a higher

rate of participation rate of the respondents compared with mail surveys and telephone interviews.

7. Observation of the Non-Verbal Behavior

In a personal interview, the interviewer can catch the facial expressions, body movements, and,

depending upon the goals of the study, the environment of the respondent. Such observations may

supplement the verbal information.

8. Non-Literates can participate in Study

Since the respondent has neither to read nor to write, therefore, an illiterate or a functionally illiterate

person can also take part in the survey study.

9. Interviewer can Prescreen Respondent

In order to ensure that the respondent fits the sampling criteria, the interviewer can do some

prescreening of the respondent. In personal interview the interviewer makes it sure that only the relevant

respondent provides the information. In case of mail survey we are not sure who actually filled out the

questionnaire, but in personal interview, the interview may be able to have some control over the

environment of the information providers. In case there are other people around, he may make an

excuse from other because he is interested in the true opinion of the sampled person.

10. CAPI Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing

With the use of such modern technology the responses of the respondents can be entered into a portable

microcomputer to reduce error and cost.

Disadvantages of Personal Interviewing:

1. High Cost

Personal interviews are generally more expensive than mail, internet, and telephone surveys. The

geographic proximity of respondents, the length of the questionnaire, and the number of people who are

non-respondents because they could not be contacted all influence the cost of the personal interviews.

The training of the field interviewers, supervision, and other logistical support cost may add up the total

cost of the study. People usually estimate the cost of personal interviews is usually 15 times higher than

the mail survey

2. Scarcity of Highly Trained Interviewers

In case of a big study (especially a sponsored study) there shall be a need of highly trained interviewers,

who are not easily available. Using unqualified and untrained interviewers are likely to have a negative

effect on the quality of the data and the subsequent generalizations.

3. Lack of Anonymity of Respondent

Because the respondent in a personal interview is not anonymous therefore he/she may be reluctant to

provide confidential information to another person. Though the interviewer provides all the assurance

for the confidentiality of the information (by not asking the name or address) but the mere fact the

respondent has been located, therefore he/she may not trust.

4. Callbacks a Labor Intensive Work

When the person selected to be in the sample cannot be contacted on the first visit, a systematic

procedure is normally initiated to call back at another time. Callbacks or attempts to re-contact

individuals selected for the sample are the major means to reducing non-response error. It is a labor

intensive work and definitely increases the cost.

Research Methods STA630

5. Interviewer Influence

There is some evidence that the demographic characteristics of the interviewer influence respondents'

answers. Respondent's sex, age, and physical appearance can have an effect on the responses of the

respondent.

6. Interviewer Bias

Interviewer's personal likings and dis-likings, the environment, and cultural biases can affect the

understanding of the responses, its recording, and its interpretation.

7. No Opportunity to Consult

The interview may take place anywhere place of work, in the shopping mall, at home the respondent

may be unable to consult record, incase he/she has to do so for any specific question.

8. Less Standardized Wording

Despite the fact that the questions have been printed and have a specified order, these questions are read

by the interviewer. The interviewers intentionally or unintentionally may not be able to use the

standardized wording which may bias the data. Similarly the order of the questions may be altered.

9. Limitations in Respondents' Availability and Accessibility

Some executive officers or VIPs may not be available or accessible to interviewers. Some of them may

not be willing to talk to strangers for security reasons.

10. Some Neighborhoods are Difficult to Visit

Just for security reasons some neighborhoods may not allow outsiders to enter the premises. Even the

formal permission may be denied because thee residents don't want to contact any strangers.

Door to Door Interviews

These are the personal interviews conducted at respondent's home or place of work. It is likely to

provide more representative sample of the population than mail questionnaire. Some people may prefer

to give a verbal response rather than in writing. People who do not have telephones, who have unlisted

numbers, or who are otherwise difficult to contact may be reached through door to door interviews.

Door to door interview may exclude individuals living in multiple dwelling units with security systems,

such as high rise apartment dwellers, or executives who are too busy to grant a personal interview

during business hours.

People, who are at home and willing to participate, especially if interviews are conducted in the day

time, are somewhat more likely to be stay-at-home "moms" or retired people. These and other variables

related to respondents' tendencies to stay at home may affect participation.

Intercept Interviews in Malls and Other High-Traffic Areas

Personal interviews conducted in shopping malls are referred to as mall intercept interviews.

Interviewers generally stop and attempt to question shoppers at a central point within the mall or at the

entrance. These are low cost. No travel is required to the respondent's home instead the respondent

Research Methods STA630

comes to the interviewer, and thus many interviews can be conducted quickly. The incidence of refusal

is high, however, because individuals may be in a hurry.

In mall intercept interviews the researcher must recognize that he or she should not be looking for

representative sample of the total population. Each mall will have its own customer characteristics of

customers.

Personal interviews in the shopping mall may be appropriate when demographic factors are not likely to

influence the survey's findings or when target group is a special population segment, such as the parents

of children of bike-riding age.

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