PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS

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PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS
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The Research Interview
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interview
study survey dissect inquest hearing discover asce
rtain find out determine unearth detective interv
iewer examiner investigator interrogator cross-ex
amine

• question
• interview
• interrogate
• inquiry
• investigate
• questionnaire
• probe
• examine
• quiz
• dig into
• query
• inspect
• canvas

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Characteristics of the Interview

• a social interaction
• in which the interviewer initiates and controls
  the exchange
• to obtain quantifiable and comparable
  information
• relevant to an emerging or previously stated
  hypothesis.

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1. a social interaction

• all typical social cues exist
• e.g. fear of evaluation
• e.g. social influence
• characteristics of a good interviewer
• empathy
• warmth
• positive regard
• unintrusive but assertive

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Empathy

• most basic repeat their statements verbatim
• restate to clarify meaning
• restate adding feeling tone
• additive empathy going beyond to state
  possible meanings that may not be obvious to the
  interviewee (this is risky)

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warmth

• friendly (smiling)
• personal (rather than impersonal)

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positive regard

• open
• accepting
• showing faith in the person

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intrusive vs. unintrusive

• intrusive (reactive measurement) influences that
  which is measured
• unintrusive (nonreactive measurement) does not
  influence that which is measured

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If the interviewer influences that which is
measured (if he or she is intrusive or the
measurement is reactive)

• People tell you what they think you want to hear
• or they tell you the opposite of what they think
  you want to hear
• the important thing is they dont tell you the
  truth

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Taking notes

• Keep to a minimum unless its a phone interview
  or a scheduled interview with a form checklist
• adds to the impact of social influence

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Taking notes

• Keep to a minimum unless its a phone interview
  or a scheduled interview with a form checklist

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Taping an interview

• Ask permission
• adds to the impact of social influence

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Other ways to be more unintrusive?

• make any response seem O.K.
• dont hint at what you are looking for
• but always think about ethics, should you lie to
  people?

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Intention seems important

• TRYING to misrepresent lying
• UNINTENTIONALLY misrepresenting unaware or
  unconscious

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Anyway, the challenge is

• how to find out the truth in an interview

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2. interviewer initiates and controls

• the interviewer must be assertive
• but diplomatically so
• low on social anxiety
• social anxiety can make you defensive (and
  offensive)

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ways to improve your assertiveness

• view your work as a role you are playing
• have a plan or an agenda (even a rough one helps)
• keep your agenda in mind

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• Also since you are in control, remember this
  general ethical rule of thumb.
• Protect the individuals privacy
• dont attach names to data sheets
• code with an ID that cannot be connected to the
  individual
• or can be connected only by you.

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3. obtain quantifiable and comparable
information

• quantifiable
• operational definition
• putting numbers on ideas

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• Sometimes
• you have to do a content analysis on an interview
  in order to quantify it
• remember content analysis???

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4. relevant to an emerging or previously stated
hypothesis.

• emerging hypothesis--not sure what you are
  looking for
• hypothesis stated a priori--- looking
  specifically to test your assumed hypothesis

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emergence

• you dont know what youre looking for until you
  find it

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Types Of Interviews

• Focus group
• Elite
• Telephone (Internet)

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Focused interview

• concerned with finding out observer or
  participant experience of some event
• focused on their reactions to the event
  (including feelings)
• (Will be discussed in more detail later)

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Elite interview

• interviewing a famous or powerful person
• allows the interviewee to guide the interview

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Phone Interviews

• reduces the impact of social influence since they
  cant see you
• but you have to keep them from hanging up and you
  usually want to be very standardised

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standardised vs. unstandardised interviews

• interview guide versus interview schedule

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Interview Guide

• rough guidelines
• less structured less precise than a schedule
• give the interviewer a lot of latitude
• teach the interviewers what sort of thing you
  are looking for, what your purpose is in
  general

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Interview Schedule

• strict, specific
• more structured more precise
• teach the interviewers to follow the schedule
  (the list of questions) precisely
• Can be transformed into questionnaire

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So what kind of data are you likely to get from
guided vs. scheduled interviews?

• Remember above it said less precise (guide) and
  more precise (schedule)
• levels of measurement
• nominal
• ordinal
• interval
• ratio
• So guides more nominal data schedules more
  ordinal, interval, ratio

guide
schedule
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When is a guided interview more appropriate than
a scheduled one?

• for pilot work
• for exploratory work
• for emergent research
• to cover sensitive topics
• to deal with diverse groups
• for development of a more scheduled interview
  procedure
• a guide often leads to a schedule later in the
  research

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Preparing interviewers to do a guided interview

• spend a lot of time on the purpose, the main
  question, the main concern
• then do a lot of role playing and let the guide
  evolve as you share your experience with one
  another

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When preparing an interview guide or schedule ask
yourself

• What am I doing this for?
• What questions will get me the info I need?
• Who would be most likely to have the info I need?
• What strategy is most effective with them?
• What types of questions are likely to be asked of
  me?
• What further questions are these likely to
  suggest on my part?

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Interactive, elaborative, or dynamic use of a
schedule

• a two-way interaction
• let the interviewee indicate problems,
  understandings, etc. regarding the questions you
  are asking
• similar to dynamic testing

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With regard to individual differences

• How different are the interviewees?
• If different, can you find a way to achieve
  equivalent meanings?
• Can you even recognize who is who?
• In general, do your homework!!

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Focus Group Discussion
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• Details in Handout
• Summaries and sharing experiences from the
  lecturer

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Focus Group Discussion

• Developing the Discussion Guide
• Identify who you want to obtain information from
• What type of information it is that you want to
  obtain
• Reserve a Time and Place
• classrooms,
• hotels,
• restaurants,
• public halls and syndicate rooms in training
  schools.

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• Provide an Incentive for Participation
• cash payment,
• Lunch
• dinner
• Snacks
• Determine What Equipment is Needed
• Audio Tapes
• Videotape Example
• Taking Notes
• Flip charts, notebooks with recorders/clerks

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• Choosing the Number and Size of the Groups
• Establish a Pool of Potential Participants
• Assume Some Participants Will Not Show
• Contact Potential Participants
• Follow-up Letter (Calls)
• Room Configuration
• Video Equipment

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Questionnaire Design
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Introduction

• Design of the questionnaire can be split in to
  three elements
• a) determine the questions to be asked,
• b) select the question type for each question and
  specify the wording, and
• c) design the question sequence and overall
  questionnaire layout.
• This can be done manually or by use of softwares
• Softwares usually focus on (b) and (c)

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Determine The Questions To Be Asked

• Issues and questions can be determined through a
  combined process of
• exploring the literature
• thinking creatively.
• A simple illustration of the outcome of such a
  process is given below.
• Aim to explore the factors that might explain
  the reasons that CUC Graduate School of Business
  students give for undertaking a MBA programme

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• Ensure that the questionnaire has a title and
  that the revision or date of the version is
  printed on the questionnaire.
• This will particularly help as you take the draft
  through a series of revisions.
• A brief introductory statement is useful,
  especially if the introductory letter could go
  adrift.
• Contact and return information should be included
  on the questionnaire in all cases.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• Number or otherwise identify individual questions
  for reference purposes
• It helps to deal with queries during the data
  entry and analysis stage.
• Lay out the questions and answer choices
  attractively and neatly.
• Try to be consistent in aspects such as wording
  and try to standardise by using as few question
  types as possible.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• Avoid switching between landscape and portrait
  for the text layout.
• Be careful not to overfill the page.
• Avoid using lots of lines, borders and boxes
  since these can make the page look too dense.
• A key factor that affects the response rate is
  the length of the questionnaire questionnaires
  perceived as long will deter respondents.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• Using a small font can cut down the number of
  pages and hence make the questionnaire look
  shorter
• Remember that small fonts can put people off
  particularly those with less than perfect
  eyesight.
• Use a good legible font Times, Courier New Comic
  Sans are ok.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• Use italics consistently to give instructions,
  e.g. tick the relevant box.
• Use bold for the questions themselves or for
  headings.
• If you are relying on the respondent to complete
  the questionnaire, begin with questions that will
  raise interest.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• However, there are different views on sequencing
  of questions.
• For example, someone might argue that the easier
  questions to answer should be at the beginning to
  get the respondent in to the swing of things.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• However, someone else might suggest that
  questions about personal data, which are easy to
  answer, should be left until the end when the
  respondent has committed themselves to answering
  and they are less likely to object to giving such
  data.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• Whatever approach you choose you should try to
  have a logical sequence, e.g. group together all
  questions that relate to similar areas.

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Decide on a Layout and Sequence

• Keep the flow through a questionnaire logical and
  very simple, i.e. avoid complex branching.
• Keep the number of branches to the minimum.
• If necessary, use two or three versions of the
  questionnaire for respondents in different
  situations.

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Question Types and Wording

• Different types of questions can be used
• open versus closed
• single versus multiple responses
• ranking and rating

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Question Types and Wording

• Open ended questions
• What do you think are the reasons for football
  hooliganism?
• If the researchers interest is in making very
  precise judgements of each individual respondent
  this may well be useful
• If the concern is in summarising views then a
  suggestion is next

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Question Types and Wording
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Question Types and Wording

• Ensure that sufficient space is included for the
  question and leave a space in the margin to code
  a numeric response.
• What was the main problem you encountered with
  the new Ghana cedi notes?

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Question Types and Wording

• Single versus Multiple Response

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Question Types and Wording
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Question Types and Wording
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Question Types and Wording

• Ranked Responses

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Question Types and Wording

• Note that each option will need to be coded as a
  separate variable and in the above case five
  variables are required (even though only four
  ranks are to be identified).

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Question Types and Wording

• This approach can generate a lot of data and so
  the number of options used should not be
  excessive.
• Apart from this respondents find it difficult to
  discriminate meaningfully between lots of
  options.

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Question Types and Wording

• Rated Responses
• A popular approach in the social sciences is to
  use Likert scales.

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Question Types and Wording

• Note that each of the four rows will form a
  separate variable that contains the appropriate
  numeric code from 1 to 5.

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Decide on Question Wording

• Some general rules can be stated on question
  wording
• Be concise and unambiguous
• Avoid double questions
• Avoid questions involving negatives
• Ask for precise answers
• Avoid leading questions

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Decide on Question Wording Be concise and
unambiguous

• Make questions brief and clear. Avoid jargon
• e.g. do you believe that the Ghana should have
  upper and lower houses of parliament?
• is more likely to elicit an informed response
  than
• do you believe that the Ghana should have a
  bicameral parliament?

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Decide on Question Wording

• Check for ambiguity and make sure that the answer
  may be competently answered.
• E.g. asking have you been to the bank recently
  is more ambiguous than have you been to the bank
  in the last two weeks?

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Decide on Question WordingAvoid Double Questions

• Notice the consistent use of circled number
  responses for Yes/No questions.

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Decide on Question WordingAvoid Questions
Involving Negatives
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Decide on Question WordingAsk for Precise Answers

• Ask for precise answers if you think the
  information is available and there are no other
  constraints (e.g. too intrusive on privacy).

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Decide on Question WordingAsk for Precise Answers
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Decide on Question WordingAsk for Precise Answers

• In this example although age groups may be all
  that is required, asking for the exact age will
  also suffice. Advantages
• There is less room for error, i.e. ticking the
  wrong box.
• Exact ages may very simply be recoded, by a
  computer program, into groups.
• The researcher can alter these groups by keeping
  the exact ages. Not only could you inspect
  different age groups than at first envisaged, but
  you could backdate your age groups.
• You can obtain continuous descriptive statistics,
  e.g. mean and standard deviation.

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Decide on Question Wording Avoid Leading
Questions

• Leading questions such as
• Do you agree with the majority of people that
  the health service is failing?
• should be avoided for obvious reasons that any
  right-minded individual can see.
• Dont you agree?

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Using the Computer to Design and Construct the
Questionnaire

• Specific packages are available that support the
  design (and subsequent analysis) of
  questionnaires, e.g.
• Snap by Mercator http//www.snapsurveys.com/
• SphinxSurvey by Scolari (Sage)
• www.sphinxonline.com

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Using the Computer to Design and Construct the
Questionnaire

• In fact there is a wide range of products and
  services available, many via the Internet.
• A good list of what is available can be obtained
  from www.yahoo.com on their pages
• http//dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business
  _to_Business/Computers/Software/Surveys_and_Pollin
  g/

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Using the Computer to Design and Construct the
Questionnaire

• For the adventurous or the adept HTML author, a
  questionnaire can be built using HTML script to
  publish on a website

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Confidentiality and Ethics

• Firstly allow for privacy and do not ask
  questions which may offend, or ask for data that
  is not essential.
• Apart from anything else, your response rate will
  suffer.
• If you need to ask some personally searching
  questions, it helps to explain as much as you are
  able about your research to the respondent, both
  at the beginning and throughout the
  questionnaire.

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Web-sites

• Questionnaire Design and Surveys Sampling
• http//obelia.jde.aca.mmu.ac.uk/
  resdesgn/arsham/opre330Surveys.htm
• Summary of Survey Analysis Software
  http//www.fas.harvard.edu/stats/
  survey-soft/survey-soft.html
• American Statistical Association
  http//www.amstat.org/
• Association for Survey Computing
  http//www.asc.org.uk/
• The World-Wide Web Virtual Library Statistics
  http//www.stat.ufl.edu/vlib/statistics.html
• Statsoft Electronic Textbook http//www.statsoft.
  com/textbook/ stathome.html
• Research Methods Knowledge Base
  http//trochim.human.cornell.edu/KB/
  contents.htm