Chapter 6 The Survey Interview

1. Chapter 6 The Survey Interview

2. Chapter Summary • Purpose and Research • Structuring the Interview • Survey Questions • Selecting Interviewees • Selecting and Training Interviewers • Conducting Survey Interviews • Coding, Tabulation, and Analysis • The Respondent in Survey Interviews • Summary © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Purpose and Research • Determining Purpose • What types of information do you need? • How soon must you complete the survey and compile the results? • How much time will you have for each interview? • How will you use the information obtained? • What are your short- and long-range goals? • What are your resources? © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. Purpose and Research • Conducting Research • Don’t assume adequate knowledge of a topic. • Don’t waste time learning what you already know. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. Structuring the Interview • Interview Guide and Schedule • A detailed guide is easily transformed into a scheduled format. • Standardization is essential for surveys. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. Structuring the Interview • The Opening • There are no ice-breaker questions or small talk in surveys. • Surveys must be structured so that each interviewee goes through an identical interview process. • Write out the opening and require each interviewer to recite it verbatim. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Structuring the Interview • The Closing • The closing is usually brief and expresses appreciation for the time and effort expended by the interviewee. • Do not get defensive or bad-mouth the survey. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. Survey Questions • Planning Survey Questions • Interviewers cannot make on-the-spot adjustments. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Survey Questions • Phrasing Questions • Every word in every question may influence results. • Adapt phrasing to all members of a target population. • Be wary of negatively phrased questions. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

10. Survey Questions • Sample Question Development • Keep recording of answers in mind when phrasing questions. • Build in secondary questions for reasons, knowledge level, and qualifiers. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

11. Survey Questions • Question Strategies • Filter Strategy • Repeat Strategy • Leaning Question Strategy • Shuffle Strategy • Chain or Contingency Strategy © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

12. Survey Questions • Question Scales • Interval Scales • Evaluative • Frequency • Numerical • Nominal Scales • Ordinal Scales • Bogardus Social Distance Scale © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

13. Survey Questions • Question Sequences • Question sequences complement question strategies. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

14. Selecting Interviewees • Defining the Population • Sampling Principles • A population is the targeted group of respondents. • A sample is a miniature version of the whole. • Margin of error determines the worth of a survey. • A sample is the actual number of persons interviewed. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

15. Selecting Interviewees • Sampling Techniques • Random Sampling • Table of Random Numbers • Skip Interval or Random Digit • Stratified Random Sample • Sample Point • Self-Selection © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

16. Selecting and Training Interviewers • Number Needed • You will most often need several interviewers. • Overburdening interviewers will damage the quality of interviews and the data received. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

17. Selecting and Training Interviewers • Qualifications • Interviewers must follow the rules. • If a survey requires probing and adaptation to different interviewees, professionally trained interviewers tend to be more efficient. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

18. Selecting and Training Interviewers • Personal Characteristics • Interviewer Credibility • Interviewee Skepticism • Similarity of Interviewer and Interviewee © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

19. Selecting and Training Interviewers • Training Interviewers • Preparing for an Interview • Conducting the Interview • Asking Questions • Receiving Answers • Closing the Interview © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

20. Conducting Survey Interviews • Pretesting the Interview • Lack of pretesting invites disaster. • Leave nothing unquestioned. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

21. Conducting Survey Interviews • Interviewing Through the Internet • Advantages • High response rate • Easier to establish credibility • Longer interviews are tolerated • Able to target specific audiences • Disadvantages • Costly • Time-consuming • Representativeness not guaranteed © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

22. Conducting Survey Interviews • Interviewing by Telephone • Research on Using the Telephone • Telephone interviews may be inexpensive in money but costly in results. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

23. Conducting Survey Interviews • Interviewing by Telephone • Advantages of the Telephone • The telephone permits interviews around the world without moving from an office or home, flying or driving long distances, or contracting with people far removed from any control. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

24. Conducting Survey Interviews • Interviewing by Telephone • Opening the Telephone Interview • Opening the telephone interview is critical. • The essential role of the voice is missing in Internet interviews. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

25. Conducting Survey Interviews • Interviewing by Telephone • How to Use the Telephone • Do nothing but ask and listen during telephone interviews. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

26. Conducting Survey Interviews • Interviewing Through the Internet • Advantages • Less expensive • Faster • Target audiences can be narrowly defined • More honest answers • More detailed answers • Disadvantages • Limited nonverbal information • Reduced response rates • Interactional spontaneity lost • Possible sample problems © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

27. Coding, Tabulation, and Analysis • Coding and Tabulation • Begin the final phase of the survey by coding all answers that were not pre-coded, usually the open-ended questions. • Record answers to open-ended questions with great care. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

28. Coding, Tabulation, and Analysis • Analysis • Analysis is making sense of your data. • Know the limitations of your survey. • Be careful in using survey results. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

29. The Respondent in Survey Interviews • The Opening • Understand what a survey is all about before participating. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

30. The Respondent in Survey Interviews • The Question Phase • Listen perceptively. • Think before answering. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

31. Summary • The survey interview is the most meticulously planned and executed of interviews. • The purpose of the survey interview is to establish a solid basis of fact from which to draw conclusions. • Survey respondents must determine the nature of the survey and its purposes before taking part. © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.