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INTERCEPT INTERVIEWS IN MALLS AND OTHER HIGH-TRAFFIC AREAS

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Research Methods ­STA630
VU
Lesson 21
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
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.
Telephone Interviewing
Telephone interviewing has been a mainstay of commercial survey research. The quality of data
obtained by telephone may be comparable to that collected in personal interviews. Respondents may
even be more willing to provide detailed and reliable information on a variety of personal topics over
the telephone than in personal interviews. Telephone surveys can provide representative samples of
general population in most industrialized countries.
Central Location Interviewing
Research agencies and interviewing services typically conduct all telephone interviews from central
location. WATS (Wide-Area Telecommunications Service) lines, provided by long distance telephone
service at fixed rates, allow interviewers to make unlimited telephone calls throughout the entire country
or within a specific geographic area. Such central location interviewing allows firms to hire staffs of
professional interviewers and to supervise and control the quality of interviewing more effectively.
When telephone interviews are centralized and computerized, the research becomes even more cost-
effective.
Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)
Advances in computer technology allow responses to telephone interviews to be entered directly into a
computer in a process known as computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).Telephone
interviewers are seated at computer terminals. A monitor displays the questionnaire, one question at a
time, along with pre-coded possible responses to each question. The interviewer reads each question as
it is shown on the screen. When the respondent answers, the interviewer enters the response into the
computer, and it is automatically stored in the computer's memory when the computer displays the next
question on the screen.  A computer assisted telephone interviewing requires that answers to the
questions be highly structured. A lot of computer programming facilitates telephone interviewing.
The Strengths of Telephone Interviewing:
1. High Speed
The speed of data collection is a major advantage of telephone interviewing. For example, union
officials who wish to survey members' attitudes toward a strike may conduct a telephone survey during
the last few days of the bargaining process. Whereas data collection with mail or personal interviews
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can take several weeks, hundreds of interviews can be conducted literally overnight.  When the
interviewer enters the respondents' answers directly into a computerized system, data processing can be
done even faster.
2. Saves Cost
As the cost of personal interviews continues to increase, telephone interviews are becoming relatively
inexpensive. It is estimated the cost of telephone interviewing is less than 25% of the door to door
personal interviews.
3. Callbacks
An unanswered call, a busy signal, or a respondent who is not at home requires a callback. Telephone
callbacks are substantially easier and less expensive than personal interview callbacks.
4. Can Use Computerized Random Digit Dialing
Use of
5. Expanded Geographic Area Coverage without Increasing the Cost
6. uses fewer but highly Skilled Interviewers
7. Reduced Interviewer Bias
8. Better Access to hard-to-reach respondents through repeated callbacks
In some neighborhoods, people are reluctant to allow stranger to come inside their house, or even stop
on the doorstep. The same people, however, may be preferably willing to cooperate with a telephone
survey request. Likewise, interviewers may be somewhat reluctant to conduct face-to-face interviews in
certain neighborhoods, especially during the evening hours.  Telephone interviewing avoids these
problems.
9. Use Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)
Responses can be directly entered into computer file to reduce error and cost.
Weaknesses of Telephone Interviewing
1. Absence of Face-to-Face Contact
Telephone interviews are more impersonal than face-to-face interviews. Respondents may answer
embarrassing or confidential questions more willingly in a telephone interview than in a personal
interview. People may be more comfortable to answer sensitive and threatening questions through mail
surveys.
Absence of face-to-face contact can be a liability. The interviewer and the respondent don't see each
other what they are doing (Responding still responding when he/she is thinking and not speaking. Has
the interviewer finished recording the information)?
2. Response Rate is lower than for Personal Interviews
Some individuals refuse to participate in telephone interviews. Telephone researchers can run into
several roadblocks when trying to obtain executives' cooperation at work. Participants find it easier to
terminate a phone interview.
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3. Lack of Visual Medium
Since visual aids cannot be utilized in telephone interview, research that requires visual material cannot
be conducted by phone..
4. Limited Duration
Length of the interview is limited. Respondents who feel they have spent too much time in the
interview will simply hang up. (a good rule of thumb is to plan telephone interviews to be
approximately 10 minutes long).
5. Many Numbers are unlisted or not working
6. Less Participant Involvement
Telephone surveys can result in less thorough responses, and those interviewed by phone find the
experience to be less rewarding than a personal interview.  Participants report less rapport with
telephone interviewers than with personal interviewers.
7. Distracting Physical Environment
Multiple phones distract the interview situation which may affect the quality of the data.
Self-Administered Questionnaires
The self administered questionnaire has become ubiquitous in modern living. Service evaluations of
hotels, restaurants, car dealerships, and transportation providers furnish ready examples. Often a short
questionnaire is left to be completed by thee participants in a convenient location or is packed with thee
product. Self-administered mail questionnaires are delivered not only through postal services, but also
via fax and courier service. Other modalities include computer-delivered and intercept studies.
Mail Questionnaire
A mail survey is a self administered questionnaire sent to respondents through the mail. This paper-and-
pencil method has several advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of Mail Questionnaire
1. Geographic Flexibility
Mail questionnaires can reach a geographically dispersed sample simultaneously and at a relatively low
cost because interviewers are not required. Respondents in isolated areas or those who are otherwise
difficult to reach (executives) can be contacted more easily by mail.
2. Sample Accessibility
Researchers can contact participants who may otherwise be inaccessible. Some people, such as major
corporate executives and physicians, are difficult to reach in person or by phone, as gatekeepers limit
access. But the researchers can often access these special participants by mail or computer.
3. Self-Administered Questionnaires save Time
Self-administered questionnaires can be widely distributed to a large number of employees, so
organizational problems may be assessed quickly and inexpensively.  Questionnaires may be
administered during group meetings as well as in the class rooms. The researcher can establish rapport
with the respondents, can stay there for any clarifications, and may also be for any debriefing.
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4. Saves Cost
Mail questionnaires are relatively inexpensive compared to personal interviews and telephone surveys.
However, these may not be so cheap. Most include a follow-up mailing, which requires additional
postage and printing of additional questionnaires.
5. Respondent Convenience
Mail surveys and self administered questionnaires can be filled out whenever the respondent has time.
Thus there is a better chance that respondents will take time to think about their response. Many hard-to-
reach respondents place high value on responding to surveys at their own convenience and are best
contacted by mail. In some situations, particularly in organizational research, mail questionnaires allow
respondents time to collect facts (such as records of absenteeism) that they may not be able to recall
without checking. In the case of household surveys, the respondents may provide more valid and
factual information by checking with family members compared with if they are giving a personal
interview.
6. Anonymity
Mail surveys are typically perceived as more impersonal, providing more anonymity than the other
communication modes, including other methods for distributing self administered questionnaires.
Absence of interviewer can induce respondents to reveal sensitive or socially undesirable information.
7. Standardized Questions
Mail questionnaires are highly standardized, and the questions are quite structured.
Disadvantages of Mail Questionnaire
1. Low Response Rate
Mail questionnaire has very low rate of return of thee filled questionnaires.
2. Low Completion Rate
There are chances that respondents leave many questions as unanswered, either because they did not
understand the question or they shied away.
3. Increases Cost
The researcher keeps on waiting for the return. When enough response is not there, then the reminders
are sent, and again there is a waiting time. With the reminders copies of the questionnaires are sent. All
this adds to the cost of the study.
4. Interviewer's Absence
Respondent may have different interpretations of the questions. Due to the absence of the interviewer,
the respondents are unable to get any help for needed clarifications.
5. No Control on Question Order
In a self administered/mail questionnaire, the respondent usually reads the whole of the questionnaire
prior to answering the questions.  The latter questions may influence the answers to the earlier
questions; thereby it is likely to bias the data. In interview the questionnaire remains in the hands of the
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interviewer, and the respondent does not know what question is likely to follow. Therefore, in interview
there is a control in the question order.
6. Cannot Use Lengthy Questionnaire
Mail questionnaires vary considerably in length, ranging from extremely short postcard questionnaires
to lengthy, multi-page booklets requiring respondents to fill thousands of answers. Lengthy
questionnaires are usually avoided by thee respondents. A general rule of thumb is that it should not
exceed six pages.
7. No Control over the Environment
The researcher does not know about who filled the questionnaire
8. Cannot Catch the Non-Verbal Behavior
9. Non-Literates cannot participate
For participation in he mail/self administered questionnaire related studies, the respondents have to be
educated up to a certain level. Hence the non-educated people are in a way excluded from the study.
Increasing Response Rate
Here are some guidelines for increasing the response rate.  Response rate is the number of
questionnaires returned or completed, divided by the total number of eligible people who were
contacted or asked to participate in the survey.
Cover Letter
The cover letter that accompanies the questionnaire or is printed on the first page of the questionnaire is
an important means of inducing a reader to complete and return the questionnaire. In the letter tell why
the study is important, who is sponsoring the study, how was the respondent selected, assuring the
anonymity of the respondent could help in establishing rapport and motivating the respondent to
respond.
A personalized letter addressed to a specific individual shows the respondent that he or she is important.
Including an individually typed letter on letterhead versus printed form is an important element in
increasing the response rate in mail surveys.
Money Helps
The respondent's motivation for returning a questionnaire may be increased by offering monetary
incentives or premiums. Although pens, lottery tickets, and variety of premiums have been used,
monetary incentives appear to be thee most effective and least biasing incentive. It attracts the attention
and creates a sense of obligation. Money incentive works for all income categories.
Interesting Questions
The topic of the research and thus the point of the questions cannot be manipulated without changing
thee problem definition. However, certain interesting questions can be added to the questionnaire,
perhaps in the beginning, to stimulate the respondents' interest and to induce cooperation.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION, DEFINITION & VALUE OF RESEARCH
  2. SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF RESEARCH & ITS SPECIAL FEATURES
  3. CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH:Goals of Exploratory Research
  4. THEORY AND RESEARCH:Concepts, Propositions, Role of Theory
  5. CONCEPTS:Concepts are an Abstraction of Reality, Sources of Concepts
  6. VARIABLES AND TYPES OF VARIABLES:Moderating Variables
  7. HYPOTHESIS TESTING & CHARACTERISTICS:Correlational hypotheses
  8. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:Where to find the Research Literature
  9. CONDUCTING A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW:Write the Review
  10. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:Make an inventory of variables
  11. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND RESEARCH PROPOSAL:Problem Definition
  12. THE RESEARCH PROCESS:Broad Problem Area, Theoretical Framework
  13. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH:Ethical Treatment of Participants
  14. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH (Cont):Debriefing, Rights to Privacy
  15. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS:Conceptualization
  16. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS (CONTINUED):Operationalization
  17. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS (CONTINUED):Scales and Indexes
  18. CRITERIA FOR GOOD MEASUREMENT:Convergent Validity
  19. RESEARCH DESIGN:Purpose of the Study, Steps in Conducting a Survey
  20. SURVEY RESEARCH:CHOOSING A COMMUNICATION MEDIA
  21. INTERCEPT INTERVIEWS IN MALLS AND OTHER HIGH-TRAFFIC AREAS
  22. SELF ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRES (CONTINUED):Interesting Questions
  23. TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION:Guidelines for Questionnaire Design
  24. PILOT TESTING OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE:Discovering errors in the instrument
  25. INTERVIEWING:The Role of the Interviewer, Terminating the Interview
  26. SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TERMINOLOGY:Saves Cost, Labor, and Time
  27. PROBABILITY AND NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING:Convenience Sampling
  28. TYPES OF PROBABILITY SAMPLING:Systematic Random Sample
  29. DATA ANALYSIS:Information, Editing, Editing for Consistency
  30. DATA TRANSFROMATION:Indexes and Scales, Scoring and Score Index
  31. DATA PRESENTATION:Bivariate Tables, Constructing Percentage Tables
  32. THE PARTS OF THE TABLE:Reading a percentage Table
  33. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH:The Language of Experiments
  34. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH (Cont.):True Experimental Designs
  35. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH (Cont.):Validity in Experiments
  36. NON-REACTIVE RESEARCH:Recording and Documentation
  37. USE OF SECONDARY DATA:Advantages, Disadvantages, Secondary Survey Data
  38. OBSERVATION STUDIES/FIELD RESEARCH:Logic of Field Research
  39. OBSERVATION STUDIES (Contd.):Ethical Dilemmas of Field research
  40. HISTORICAL COMPARATIVE RESEARCH:Similarities to Field Research
  41. HISTORICAL-COMPARATIVE RESEARCH (Contd.):Locating Evidence
  42. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION:The Purpose of FGD, Formal Focus Groups
  43. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION (Contd.):Uses of Focus Group Discussions
  44. REPORT WRITING:Conclusions and recommendations, Appended Parts
  45. REFERENCING:Book by a single author, Edited book, Doctoral Dissertation