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THE VULNERABLE RESPONDENT

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Taking the time (not often possible in the class) to bond with the respondent ... Most similar to journalism. Battle of wills. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: THE VULNERABLE RESPONDENT


1
THE VULNERABLE RESPONDENT
  • Rapport, Meltdown, Types of Respondents,
    Sensitive Subjects

2
RAPPORT
  • Introductory letters and phone calls
  • Institutional support (the Rutgers name)
  • Opportunity for respondent to help (a struggling
    student)
  • First impressions
  • Taking the time (not often possible in the class)
    to bond with the respondent
  • Women interviewers usually do a better job of
    this than men interviewers but there is no
    intrinsic reason why both sexes cannot do this

3
MELTDOWN
  • Crying
  • Incremental nervousness (not always manifested in
    refusal to answer questions)
  • Keeping your eye on the non-verbal cues
  • Flashbacks
  • Need for backup psychological help. Dont try to
    play psychiatrist except perhaps in first-aid
    situations

4
DELAYED REACTION MELTDOWN
  • A seemingly normal interview may terminate
    without incident and the respondent may not
    experience a reaction for as much as a week
    afterward
  • For particularly vulnerable topics/respondents, a
    routine call-back may be advisable.
  • In most cases, simply providing the respondent
    with post-interview contact info is sufficient

5
INTERVIEWING EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS
  • Importance of replicating conditions and wording
    of questions exactly
  • Interview as soon after the experiment as
    possible
  • Such interviews have a debriefing component as
    well as a data collection component. If there
    was any deception in the experiment, the true
    purpose must now be revealed.

6
INTERVIEWING RESPONDENTS
  • Populations and samples
  • The most common form of interview for many
    researchers, the only kind of interview
  • Assessment of the preciousness of the case
  • Large-N, Small-N
  • Set-in-concrete protocols

7
INTERVIEWING INFORMANTS
  • The informant doesnt represent an underlying
    population but is usually atypically
    well-informed about the population.
  • Almost all questions can be open-ended.
  • No need for consistency among informants.
  • No need for all informants to be asked the same
    questions.

8
INTERVIEWING SPOKESPERSONS
  • Most similar to journalism
  • Battle of wills. The spokesperson is usually not
    interested in representing the population
    honestly but presenting a version of collective
    self that is being promoted by the collectivity

9
ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND CRIMINAL HISTORIES
  • The wording of the question embodies tacit
    assumptions that will be clear to most
    interviewees.
  • These embody both knowledge and expectations.
    (WHAT IS NORMAL? The social desirability effect)
    Especially a problem with frequency questions
  • Try asking ever question first then
    currently question.
  • The how many times approach can create
    confidence especially when using a checklist. But
    beware of assumptions built into the categories.

10
SEXUAL SUBJECT MATTER
  • Great variance in comfort in talking about sexual
    matters to a stranger. Aim at the most prudish
    to avoid sampling bias
  • Laumann study found surprisingly weak differences
    according to the gender of the interviewer/intervi
    ewee
  • Masturbation the most difficult sexual subject
    matter to ask about

11
WHEN YOU THINK THE RESPONDENT IS LYING
  • Confrontation is not advisable except with
    spokespersons.
  • Probing for more detail can be a two-edged sword
  • Suspicions must be marginally noted (especially
    when the interviewer is not the investigator).

12
WHO GETS TO SEE YOUR DATA?
  • Importance of keeping all identifying information
    separate from the data
  • Recent tendency to subpoena entire hard drives
  • Use of secret concordance key
  • For non-longitudinal research, it may often be
    best to destroy all identifying information soon
    after data collection and verification are
    completed. Not even a single copy for the PI is
    retained.
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