Market research technique for gathering information through face-to-face contact with individuals.

Personal interviews take place in a variety of settings-in homes, at shopping malls, in a business office. This type of research is relatively costly, because it requires a staff of interviewers, but it provides the best opportunity to obtain information through probing for clearer explanations. The personal style (tone of voice, rewording of a question) and biases of each interviewer can affect how the participants respond and how the responses are recorded. It is the best technique to use early on in the research process when the researcher is not yet sure which questions need to be asked, because new and better questions can come out of the dialogue.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTANGES OF PERSONALINTERVIEWS There are 4 guidelines that help researchers obtain meaningful and worthwhile information a. make an appointment for the interview b. Avoid the presence of a 3rd party c. keep the interview on track d. Let the respondent do the talking

ADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL INTERVIEWS 1. Intensive and extensive information 2. Flexibility (Schedule, location, pose question in random order) 3. Corrections are possible 4. Interviewee has time to think 5. Private and personal information 6. No Ambiguity 7. Psychoanalysis is possible

DISADVANTANGES 1. Takes more time, money and effort .2. Training required to conduct the interview 3. Bias of the researcher 4. Practical difficulties of the interviewee

5. Cooperation of the interviewee.

1. Telephonic Interview
Telephone Interviewing stands out as the best method for gathering quickly needed information. Responses are collected from the respondents by the researcher on telephone.

Advantages of Telephonic Interview

a. b. c. d. e. It is very fast method of data collection. It has the advantage over Mail Questionnaire of permitting the interviewer to talk to one or more persons and to clarifying his questions if they are not understood. Response rate of telephone interviewing seems to be a little better than mail questionnaires The quality of information is better It is less costly method and there are less administration problems

Disadvantages of Telephonic Interview

f. g. h. i. j. k. They cant handle interview which need props It cant handle unstructured interview It cant be used for those questions which requires long descriptive answers Respondents cannot be observed People are reluctant to disclose personal information on telephone People who dont have telephone facility cannot be approached

2. Mail Survey

Questionnaires are sent to the respondents; they fill it up and send it back.

Advantages of Mail Survey

a. b. It can reach all types of people. Response rate can be improved by offering certain incentives.

Disadvantages of Mail Survey

c. d. e. f. g. It cannot be used for unstructured study. It is costly. It requires established mailing list. It is time consuming. There is problem in case of complex questions.

3. Electronic Interview
Electronic interviewing is a process of recognizing and noting people, objects, and occurrences rather than asking for information. For example-When you go to store, you notice which product people like to use. The Universal Product Code (UPC) is also a method of observing what people are buying.

Advantages of Electronic Interview

a. b. There is no relying on willingness or ability of respondent. The data is more accurate and objective.

Disadvantages of Electronic Interview

c. d. e. f. g. Attitudes cannot be observed. Those events which are of long duration cannot be observed. There is observer bias. It is not purely objective. If the respondents know that they are being observed, their response can be biased. It is a costly method.

Interviewing and Research Methods

What are the advantages of telephone interviewing?

There are a number of advantages of conducting employment interviews by telephone:

Telephone interviews are simpler to arrange, and the process itself takes much less time than face-to-face interview sessions. When using this method as an initial screening process, the cost of interviewing a large number of candidates is much lower than if they were interviewed in person. Telephone interviewing also cuts costs when candidates live far away, since most businesses reimburse interviewee travel expenses. Using the telephone to screen out unsuitable candidates can greatly reduce these costs.

This format is an ideal way to assess a candidate's telephone manner. This is particularly helpful if the job requires telephone communication skills or is heavily customer-service based. For automated interviews, the list of questions can be completely standardized. This facilitates more objective decisions based entirely on core criteria, removing personal perceptions or biases from the process.
Are there any disadvantages to telephone interviewing?

Although telephone interviews can be very useful, there are limitations. These include:

Candidates may be unfamiliar with the format or uncomfortable using the telephone, which could make them nervous and/or provoke uncharacteristic responses. It is difficult to make a thorough assessment of a candidate over the telephone. Non-verbal behavior or body language, both of which are important in forming an opinion of people, cannot be gauged over the telephone.

Telephone interview candidates learn less about your business than those who visit your premises and meet potential colleagues in person. The on-site experience helps candidates decide whether they wish to pursue the interviewing process. It is important to remember that the recruitment process works both ways, providing an opportunity for candidates to assess your business as it allows you to assess them.

Jeff Anderson Consulting, Inc. is fully experienced in almost all research methods of known data collection. Each research method has advantages and disadvantages.

1. Personal Interviewing
It is the most versatile of the all methods. They are used when props are required along with the verbal response non-verbal responses can also be observed.

Advantages of Personal Interview

a. b. c. d. e. f. The person interviewed can ask more questions and can supplement the interview with personal observation. They are more flexible. Order of questions can be changed Knowledge of past and future is possible. In-depth research is possible. Verification of data from other sources is possible. The information obtained is very reliable and dependable and helps in establishing cause and effect relationship very early.

Disadvantages of Personal Interview

g. h. i. j. k. l. It requires much more technical and administrative planning and supervision It is more expensive It is time consuming The accuracy of data is influenced by the interviewer A number of call banks may be required Some people are not approachable

Personal Interviews
An interview is called personal when the Interviewer asks the questions face-to-face with the Interviewee. Personal interviews can take place in the home, at a shopping mall, on the street, outside a movie theatre or polling place, and so on.

Advantages

The ability to let the Interviewee see, feel and/or taste a product. The ability to find the target population. For example, you can find people who have seen a film much more easily outside a theater in which it is playing than by calling phone numbers at random. Longer interviews are sometimes tolerated. Particularly with in-home interviews that have been arranged in advance, people may be willing to talk longer face-to-face than to someone on the phone.

Disadvantages

Personal interviews usually cost more per interview than other research methods. This is particularly true of in-home interviews, where travel time is a major factor. Each mall has its own characteristics. It draws its clientele from a specific geographic area surrounding it, and its shop profile also influences the type of client. These characteristics may differ from the target population and create a non-representative sample.

Telephone Surveys
Surveying by telephone is one of the most popular interviewing methods in the USA.

Advantages
People can usually be contacted faster over the telephone than with other research methods. If the Interviewers are using CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing), the results can be available minutes after completing the last interview. A true representative sample can be obtained by dialing random digit telephone numbers within a sampling frame. Our interviews CATI software makes complex questionnaires practical by offering many logic options. It can automatically skip questions, perform calculations and modify questions based on the answers to earlier questions. It can check the logical consistency of answers and can present questions or answers choices in a random order (the last two are sometimes important for reasons described later). Our skilled interviewers can often elicit longer or more complete answers than people will give on their own to mail or email surveys (though some people will give longer answers to Web page surveys). Interviewers can also ask for clarification of unclear responses.

Disadvantages

Many telemarketers have given legitimate research a bad name by claiming to be doing research when they start a sales call. Consequently, many people are reluctant to answer phone interviews and use their answering machines to screen calls. Since over half of the homes in the USA have answering machines, this problem is getting worse. The growing number of working women often means that no one is home during the day. This limits calling time to a "window" of about 6-9 p.m. (when you can be sure to interrupt dinner or a favorite TV program). You cannot show or sample products by phone.

Mail Surveys
Advantages

Mail surveys are among the least expensive research methods. This is the only kind of survey that can be done with names and addresses of the target population. The questionnaire can include pictures. Mail surveys allow the respondent to answer at their leisure, rather than at the often inconvenient moment they are contacted for a phone or personal interview. For this reason, they are not considered as intrusive as other kinds of interviews.

Disadvantages

Long duration of time! Mail surveys take longer than most all other research methods. Often, it takes several weeks after mailing out of questionnaires before the required numbers of responses are returned. In populations of lower educational and literacy levels, response rates to mail surveys are often too small to be useful.

Email Surveys
Advantages

Speed. An email questionnaire can gather several thousand responses within a day or two. Pictures and sound files can be attached.

The convenience of an email survey often stimulates higher response levels than ordinary snail mail surveys.

Disadvantages

A list of email addresses must be already owned or must be purchased. Some people will pass questionnaires along to friends to answer. Many people dislike unsolicited email even more than unsolicited regular mail. Email surveys sometimes may only be sent to those who have opted -in to those who have allowed surveys to be sent to them. Email surveys may not be used to generalize findings to whole populations as people who have email are different from those who do not, even when matched on demographic characteristics, such as age and gender. Email surveys cannot automatically skip questions or randomize question or answer choice order or use other automatic techniques that can enhance surveys the way on-line web-based surveys can.

Internet (Web-based) Surveys/Blogs

Web-based surveys are rapidly gaining popularity. They have major speed, cost, and flexibility advantages, but sometimes significant sampling limitations. These limitations make panel selection especially important to restrict the survey to groups you wish to study using this technique.

Advantages

Web-based surveys/blogs are extremely fast. Several thousand responses may be obtained within a few hours. Many people who will respond to an email invitation to take a Web-based survey will do so the first day, and most will do so within a few days. Large samples do not cost much more than smaller ones (except for any cost to acquire the sample). Pictures, videos and audio files can be included. Web-based questionnaires can use complex question skipping logic, randomizations and other features not possible with paper questionnaires or most email surveys. These features can assure better data. Web-based questionnaires can use colors, fonts and other formatting options not possible in most email surveys. A significant number of people will give more honest answers to questions about sensitive topics, such as drug use or sex, when giving their answers to a computer, as opposed to a person or on paper.

Disadvantages

Current use of the Internet is growing but far from universal. Internet surveys may not reflect the population as a whole. People can easily quit in the middle of a questionnaire. They are not as likely to complete a long questionnaire on the Web as they would be if talking with a good interviewer.

Jeff Anderson Consulting, Inc. will work with you to determine the best survey methodology to deliver you the results you are seeking most cost effectively and with the quality and expertise you desire.