By gulnazahmad
Interview is a face-to-face discussion between two or more than two people. The purpose of interview can be many and they can be conducted in different manners. But the purpose of this Hub is to write about the interviews that are conducted in research and interviews that are used to collect data for primary research. Such interviews are formally constructed or informally planned but the purpose is always to get accurate information as interview is a primary data collection tool and primary research should always be very accurate. Like questionnaires interviews too are based on a set of questions but the mode of asking those queestions is different.
Advantages of Interview:
- In-depth Information:
Interview provide an information that is in detail and can be more easily understood. Although to interpret and analyze this information you need lots of skill in statistics or otherwise better ask help from a senior statistician who has experience in this field. Whether it is easy to interpret the data from interview or difficult the information is in-depth. The reason behind this in-depth information is that interviews give you a chance to look at the facial expressions, body language and other gestures of the interviewee and thus you can better say whether the interviewee was telling truth or a lie. You can also deduce from the interview that whether the interviewee was relaxed while answering your questions or he was shy, tensed, unwilling or else disturbed in giving answers. These things are not possible with a questionnaire.
- Complex Situations:
Sometimes the interviewer has to ask questions about a situation, phenomenon or person about whom the respondents are not ready or willing to answer. In such case questionnaire can get back biased responses or else the respondents will not submit the questionnires back , on the other hand, they will feel better if they are interviwed. In interview the interviewer can explain the questions to the respondents and develop a rapport with them. He can make assurance to the respondents that their personal information will not be leaked or their names will not be shown to others. In social sciences research such situations can occur in many cases and to handle these situations interview is best.
- Explaining Questions:
While some questions can be easily answered by the respondents needing no explanations but others can be difficult or have some inner meanings which can better be explained by the researcher himself/herself. In interview the interviewer can explain questions in detail prior to starting the interview and even during interview he/she can explain questions which seems difficult to the respondents.
- Application of Interview:
Questionnaire can be submitted to only those respondents who can understand questions by themselves and write down the answers. If the population consists of people who cannot write or are younger and cannot understand the questions, illiterate or handicapped than interview is better.
Dis-advantages of Interview:
Sometimes the dis-advantages of interview outweigh the advantages and though interview is useful tool but the researcher has to make compromises and go for some other tool like questionnaire or observation instead of interview. Some of the prominent dis-advantages of interview are as following.
- Time Consuming:
Interview is very time consuming. The interviewer has to ask questions from each respondent and than note down the answers or else if he is blessed with excellent memory he can keep it in his brain and than write down after the interview has been finished. If the interviewer prefers to listen the responses and write down after the interview than he is surely risking the information because even with very good memory we use to forget some of the things we listen or see. In other case the interviewer can ask questions from a panel of respondents in this way interview can become less time consuming but still it requires lots of efforts on the part of interviewer to ask questions from every respondent and to remember them.
- Expensive:
It is expensive to conduct an interview because an interview might require an interviewer who has special skills in leadership, communication and understands the questions; a place where interview can be conducted without any disturbance; if respondents are not willing to come and join the interview than researcher has to pay them for the conveyance and in some cases he may have to give them extra money to take their precious time.
- Role of Interviewer:
Interviewer is an important person and his role in conducting interview is crucial. The interviewer can invest his/her personal biases which can lead to faulty data. Interviewer can have less skills in interview conduction and can ruin the whole interview. To conduct interview the interviewer should know how to go on from one question to another; how to ask questions that are controversial; how to develop rapport; how to gain respondents confidence; when to ask controversial questions; when to change the topic in order to create friendly environment and how to start the interview. These are questions the answer to which should be known to the interviewer otherwise the respondents will not give accurate answers.
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http://gulnazahmad.hubpages.com/hub/interview-in-primary-research
