Question

2. In-person interviews have for many years been the “gold standard” in survey research, because the presence of an interviewer increases the response rate, allows better rapport with the interviewee, facilitates clarification of questions and instructions, and provides feedback about the interviewee’s situation. However, researchers who design in-person interviewing projects are now making increasing use of technology to ensure consistent questioning of respondents and to provide greater privacy while answering questions. But, having a respondent answer questions on a laptop while the interviewer waits is a very different social process than actually asking the questions verbally. Which approach would you favor in survey research? What tradeoffs can you suggest there might be in terms of quality of information collected, rapport building, and interviewee satisfaction?

Answer 1

When an in-person interview is conducted as part of a survey research, it would provide an opportunity for the researcher to explain the research in terms of its purpose to the participants and would be able to explain the questions if the participants do not understand any questions. It would also help the researcher build a better rapport with the participants. However, technology has brought a great opportunity for the researchers to conduct survey online which would save time, traveling, energy and expense. This would mean that there are chances that the participants just fill for the sake of filling or for the sake of replying. Secondly, they might also have questions regarding the questions posted, which would make them confused about what to answer. In my opinion, if it’s a qualitative research, one should go for an in-person interview but if it’s a quantitative research, one could use the help of technology as one needs to collect data from many people.

Thank you for your question. Please rate if you like the answer.