9 Interview WHAT IS INTERVIEW Interview is verbal questioning. As a research tool or as a method of data collection, interview is different from general interviewing with regard to its preparation, construction and execution. This difference is that: research interview is prepared and executed in a systematic way, it is controlled by the researcher to avoid bias and distortion, and it is related to a specific research question and a specific purpose. Bingham and Moore (1924) have described the interview as “a conversation with a purpose”. This definition is too broad to be ac- cepted in research field because the purpose (of interview) could be therapeutic, psychiatric, selection for a job, selection for admission to a professional institution, publicity of a film actor, and so on. In re- search field, Lindzey Gardner (1968:527) has defined interview as “2 two-person conversation, initiated by the interviewer for the specific purpose of obtaining research-relevant information and focused by him on the content specified by the research objectives of description and explanation”. In the research interview, thus, the interviewer asks specific questions pertaining to research objectives/criteria and the re- spondent restricts his answers to specific questions posed by the interviewer. FUNCTIONS OF INTERVIEW The two major functions of the interview technique are described as under: (i) Description The information received from the respondent provides insight into the nature of social reality. Since the interviewer spends some time with the respondents, he can understand their feelings and attivudes Len22 Inverview more clearly, and seek additional information wherever necessary ang il for him. Suppose, in a sociologiey . : re make information meaning! Suppos study of management of canal water for irrigation, the responden, suggest that in a particular area, water can be provided 10 400 more acres by diverting the canal. The physical presence of t re interviewer will enable him to find that the suggestion ts impractical because the proposed area is much above the level of the canal and water canny be uplifted, and the area is outside the command area. This knowledge would not have been possible if the information would have been col. lected through questionnaire technique. (ii) Exploration Interview provides insight into unexplored dimensions of the prob- lem. In the problem of “exploitation of widows by the in-laws and office colleagues”, it is the personal interview with the victims which enables the interviewer to get details about widows’ position in the support system, and their sticking to their traditional values which make their life miserable and adjustment difficult. The interview can prove to be effective exploratory device for identifying new variables for study and for sharpening of conceptual clarity. Even the new hy- potheses can be thought of for testing. For example, in the study of problems faced by husbands and wives in inter-caste and inter-com- munity marriages, probing their attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns in considerable depth, one can come up with interesting data about different aspects of adjustment. __ Whether the problems are created because of differences in the ee Seserving rites and ae or because of difference in food sees ions on reedom for interacting with persons Pposite sex, etc., which make adjustment difficult, can be dete? min ive findi . ed by numerous provocative findings. The study raises mo" questions than it answers, : CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERVIEW Black and Champion (1976: 354-55 characteristics of an interview; Personal communication: There tional exchange and verbal inte and the respondent. ) have pointed out the followi"# e rs ee is a face-to-face contact, conver raction between the intervie’Interview — 223 ¢ Equal status: is equal. «Questions are asked and responses received verbally. «Information is recorded b dent. + The relationship between the interv: who are strangers to eachother, is transitory, The interview is not necessarily limited to two persons. It could involve two interviewers and a group of respondents, or it could be one interviewer and two or more respondents. ¢ There is considerable flexibility in the format of tlie interview. The status of the interviewer and the interviewee y the interviewer arid not the respon- iewer and the interviewee, TYPES OF INTERVIEW There are many types of interview which differ from one another in terms of structure, the interviewer's role, number of respondents in- volved in the interview, etc. Some types of interviews are employed in both quantitative and qualitative researches but others are used in one research type only. Types of Interview 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 struc: | standardised individual unique| hard |personallother types: tured v/s v/s administered | v/s v/s v/s 1. focused ws |unstandardised| group v/s | panel | soft | non- 2. telephone unstruc- other- personal]3.computer tured administered Unstructured v/s structured interviews In the unstructured interview, there are no specifications in the word- ing of the questions or the order of the questions. The interviewer forms questions as and when required. The structure of these inter- views is flexible, being presented in the form of guide. In simple words, in this interview, the interviewer has: (i) only the general na- ture of the questions in mind, (ii) has no prior indication of the specific issues on which the questions are to be asked, (jii) has not or- dered questions in a particular way, and (iv) hi imelimit for continuing the interview. Thus, what is asked from one respondent in Ls.the beginning may be asked from the other respondent in the ea from yet other respondent in the middle. Similarly, some ques may be asked from some respondents but not all respondents, i questions may not be worded in the same way. One or two Party facets may be concentrated in one interview but other facets in othe, interview. This type of interview is mostly tive te, search, The advantages of this type of (unstructured) interview are: The questions being asked spontaneously, the interview can be ducted in the form of natural conversation. (2) There is a Steater possibility of exploring in an unrestricted manner. (3) Finding the in. terest of the respondent in a specific aspect of the problem, the interviewer can focus his attention on that particular aspect, But this type of interview has some limitations also: (1) The data obtained from different respondents can: ther. (2) With no systematic control used in qualita (i) ‘On. the knowledge already obtained. Time i and unproductive conversations. (5) discussions, when conversation is fo der, the researchers prefer some degree of structuring their interviews. The structured interview is based on the structured interview: guide which is little different from the questionnaire In reality, itis set of specific points and definite questions prepared by the inter; viewer. It allows little freedom to make adjustments to any of it elements, such as content, wording, or order of the questions (Sarai takos, 1998:247). In this type of interviewing, the interviewer is expected to act in a neutral manner offering the same impression to al the respondents. The Purpose is to reduce the interviewer's bias to the minimum and achieve the highest de gree of informality in proceduré This form of interview is employed in quantitative research, In this interview, all dimensions, i.e., (a) specifying the setting of the interview, (b) regulating questions and the range of responses, (6 controlling the interviewer’s and the interviewee’s characteristics, and (@) limiting the facets of the problem, are regulated. (a) Specifying the setting of the interview means fixing the place whe the interview is to be conducted, dete: mining the time for cof ducting the interview so that normal working of the respondentsInterview 225 not disturbed, and assuring confidentiality to the respondent so that he gives information freely. 0} Regulating questions and the range of responses means determining, the questions and the order in which they are to be asked from all respondents. This requires cither developing the interview sched- ule or the interview guide. The responses are regulated by offering one choice from several alternatives. Sometimes, the alternative responses are provided to the respondent indicating the range of responses from which an answer is to be selected. oO Controlling interviewer-interviewee characteristics means develop- ing such relationship between the two that the respondent goes on giving information willingly and the interviewer goes on en- couraging the respondent to continue talking. (@) Limiting the facets of the problem means determining in advance what the interviewer wants to find out from the respondents. This includes not only narrowing the range of items but also time for conducting the interview. Somewhere between the structured and the unstructured inter- view, there exists semi-structured interview. It has characteristics of both. This method is used for both quantitative and qualitative re- searches. Standardised v/s unstandardised interviews In standardised interviews, answer to each question is standardised as it is determined by a set of response categories given for this purpose. The respondents are expected to choose one of the given options as the answer. For example, the alternative answers could be yes/no/don’t know; agree/disagree; illiterate/less educated/highly educated; for/against/undecided; and so on. This is mainly used in quantitative research. Unstandardised interview is one in which the re- sponses are left open to the respondent. ‘This is used mainly in qualitative research. Individual v/s group interviews Individual interview is one in which the interviewer interviews only one respondent at a time, while in group interview, more than one re- spondent are interviewed simultaneously. The group can be small, say, of two individuals (¢.g-, husband and wife, or two co-workers in a226 Interview factory, etc.) or large, say, of 10 to 20 persons (e.g, all students in A class). 's other-administered interviews In self-administered interview, the respondent is supplied a list of ques. tions along with instructions for writing answers 1n the appropriate place on the interview form. In other-administered interview, the inter. viewer himself writes answers to questions on the response sheet, Self-administered v/ Unique v/s panel interviews Unique interview is one in which the interviewer collects entire infor. mation in one interview. However, he is not barred for approaching the interviewer for the second time for seeking additional informa tion. In panel interview, the interviewer collects information from the same group of respondents two or more times at regular intervals. If different respondents are involved in various stages for asking the same questions, it is called trend study. Soft v/s hard interviews In soft interview, though the interviewer holds a secondary position in the process of data collection but he guides the respondents without putting any pressure on them. In hard interview, the interview resem- bles the police interrogation. The interviewer questions the validity and the completeness of the answers obtained, often warning the re spondents not to lie and forcing them to give an answer when they hesitate. This type of interview appears more in quantitative than in qualitative form. Personal v/s non-personal interviews ue oe poe there is a face-to-face contact between the in aes aes while in the non-personal intervie’ ee ace relationship, but the information is collected 6h telephone, computer or some other medium. Other types Focused interview Focused interview i iew i ich i “one which is focused on a specific topic. In this, alInterview 227 ats are subjected to the same experience. For example, all respondes ; : ho were present in the riot are asked particular questions re- persons Wl Jating to their common experiences in the situation. The interview is thus focused on the actual effects of the experience as viewed by the participants. Studying prisoners in the jail about the restrictions on their freedom, work, recreation, interaction, etc., is another example of focused interview. The more closely an investigation can approach the narrower conception of the focused interview, the greater the like- Iihood of obtaining more precise data. Other examples are: asking questions from the respondents on a particular film, particular book, particular personality, particular programme, particular policy, and so forth. In away, focused interview is similar to the semi-structured inter- view, except that it is more open and offers more freedom to the interviewer. According to Sarantakos (1998:253), this interview has some advantages: (1) the respondent gets relatively more freedom of responding to questions; (2) interviewer's role is mild; (3) information is more specific; and (4) opportunities for increased information are greater. Telephone interview This type of interview is common in western societies but not in In- dia. However, gradually, it is now being used in urban areas. Newspapers, radio and TV personnel use this method more to assess public opinion on important issues, ¢g., reactions on budget, opinions on election results, sudden increase in petrol or cooking gas prices, communal riots in the city, increasing crime in a town, and so on. Some advantages of this interview are: () It is fast. (ji) It can be re- corded on machine. (iii) It is cheap as not many investigators need to be appointed. Though the cost rises if the interviewee is located at a long distance or he is interviewed for a long period of time, yet itis much lower than the travel costs for interviewers. According to one estimate, telephone interview costs one-fourth or one-fifth of the cost of personal interviews. (iv) Respondents can be contacted at their con- venient time, even in the evenings. (v) Respondent remains more anonymous than in the personal interview. The disadvantages of this type of interview are: (1) Each selected respondent in the sample may not own the telephone (i.e., he may be talking on family telephone) and therefore may not feel free in an-228 Interview swering. (2) Respondents are often less motivated over the telephone because the respondent can terminate the interview at his will. (3 Sometimes, the respondents can be distrustful, particularly when the believe that the interviewer is playing a prank on them. (4) Since the respondent has to give quick answers on telephone, he may not be able to think much on his answers. Later on, he may think of some more relevant and useful answers which he cannot convey to the in. terviewer as he may not possess the interviewer’s telephone number or his contact address. In India, this method of interviewing cannot be in much vogue! because: (1) the number of telephone owners is very small; (2) the cost of one call for three minutes is comparatively high; (3) poor people do not own telephones and their inclusion in the sample is prevented; (4) information received is not adequate; it does not compare favourably with that received by face-to-face interviewing; (5) the response rate for telephone survey is very much lower than that achieved in per- sonal interviewing; and (6) respondents take less interest in telephone interview than in face-to-face interview. Computer interview This interview is conducted with the help of computers. In India, this can be conducted only by those who own computers and very few. people own computers with internet facility. Therefore, this method) is not popular. CONDITIONS FOR A SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW Collecting data throu: ique may be easy, yet its adequacy, reliability and validity Pose important problems. Interview- ers differ in interest and skill, respondents differ. in ability and motivation, and content of interview differs in feasibility. What are the conditions for a successful interview? Gardnes (1965:535-37) has pointed out three conditions for successful interviewing; () accesibil ity, (i) understanding, and (iii) motivation. a (i) AccessibilityInterview 229 might have no information or he might have forgotten some fact, or he is under emotional stress and therefore unable to give information, or the question is so framed that he cannot answer it. (ii) Understanding ‘The respondent sometimes is not able to understand what is expected of him. Unless he understands the significance of the research/survey, the extent of interview demand, the concepts and the terms used, the nature of answers which the interviewer expects from him, his an- swers might be off the point. (iii) Motivation The respondent needs to be motivated not only for giving informa- tion but also for giving accurate information. The fear of consequences, embarrassment at ignorance, being suspicious about the interviewer, and dislike of the subject are some of the factors which decrease the level of respondent’s motivation. The interviewer, there- fore, has to try to reduce the effect of these factors. Besides the above-mentioned three factors, which mainly pertain to respondents, the following two factors also affect the success of an interview. These are mainly related to interviewer and presented be- low in the form of a model: Model for Successful Interview Respondents’ characteristics Interviewers’ attributes 1. Accessibility of data 1. Skill 2. Motivation 2. Efficiency oo op High yield Low yield High yield Low yield Liking for survey Dislike for research Commitment Lack of interest subject Liking for Dislike for Training Lack of training interviewer interviewer Ignorance of Honesty Lack of supervision knowledge Selt-image Fear of consequences Competent supervision Prestige of research aTHE INTERVIEWER i i d to the interviewer; (hj Three things need to be analysed with regar i is Pas (ii) is qualities, and (iii) his training. We will analyse each of these three aspects separately. (i) Tasks ; : : Since the interviewer holds the central place in the interview tech. nique, the tasks assigned to him are significant, and failure to fulfil them seriously affects data collection. Baker (1988:87-88) has listed the following tasks in this regard: . . e Selecting and approaching the respondents. This is particularly important in quota sampling, though it is necessary in other types too. m : e Pre-arranging data, time, duration and conditions of the inter- view. For example, daughters-in-law can be more conveniently interviewed after lunch hours when they are comparatively free and husband, mother-in-law or any other family member is not present. ¢ Persuading respondents for high response rate. Controlling the interview situation by eliminating resistance, sus- Picion, etc. Avoiding bias and recording information accurately as given by the respondents. (ii) Qualities An interviewer must have some personal qualities to prove himself a0 ideal interviewer. Some of these, as identified by Moser and Kalton (1980:285-87), are as follows: (a) Honesty: This involves actual respondents, and recordin do not visit the field but by sitting at home. (b) Interest: Interest in w If the interviewer co interested in money ity of the work is bound to deteriorate. (©) Accuracy: If the obtained data are not recorded accurately, findings become biased, ly going to the field, interviewing the g the true answers, Some investigator t fill up answers in the interview schedules ork is necessary to avoid poor quality work. nsiders research valueless and remains oe he is to get as salary or TA and DA, the@ Adaptability: Since the interviewer ha Interview 231 ty: Sir h ; to meet the respondents in different situations in which he is likely to face different prob- lems, he should have the ability to adapt himself with the respondents. For example, an interviewer is working on a project on “Training and Rehabilitation of Scavengers”. This is to evalu- ate the government scheme of imparting training to selected scavengers in different occupations so that they are enabled to leave the polluting and degrading work. They are also given loans of Rs. 20,000 or more for rehabilitating themselves through new methods of earning livelihood. Large number of scavengers fail to get these benefits. Office clerks and intermediaries take away 20 to 25 per cent of their loans as commission. The scavengers be- come so frustrated that they strongly react to investigators who approach them for the required information. The interviewers are told that till their complaints are looked into, they will not give any information, It is in such situations that the interviewers have to learn to remain patient and adapt themselves in such a way that they are able to motivate the respondents to cooperate with them. Temperament: The interviewers should have such temperament that they do not become ‘friendly’ with the respondents. Getting too emotionally involved with the respondents and their prob- lems will change their interest in getting objective facts. They have to be neither over-sociable nor over-aggressive. Business-like manner and pleasantness is the ideal combination. Intelligence: Ordinary interview does not call for special intelli- gence. Too much intelligence can also bore the interviewer in taking the required interest. What is needed is average intelligence to understand and follow instructions and to be adaptable to each respondent. Education: Education provides required maturity to the inter- viewer. A less educated person may not even understand the problem on which he is conducting interviews, He may also fail to understand some of the specific terms used by the respondents. For example, if the interviewer does not know the measurement of land in hectares, acres and bighas, how can he study the ques- tion of size of landownership in villages? Or if he does not know what is ‘life system’ of water, how can he probe questions on irri- gation? If he does not know the average yield of crop products per acre, how can he collect data on agricultural income? ‘Education’232 Interview here refers to required basic knowledge in the area of investig,. tion. oa . . The subjective and the objective characteristics of the interviewe, affect the quality of the interview. The subjective nature of the inter. vjewer with an inquisitive mind, adjustable nature, sharper precision, concentration on interview, ability of drawing together the disjointed pieces of information into integrated whole, can seek better informa. tion from the respondents. The objective features of the interviewer influencing the effectiveness of the interview include sex, age, educa. tion, social class, manner of dress and speech, and so on. The respondent’s consent to be interviewed depends on all these overt qualities. The qualities of the interviewees like capability to verbalise, high communication skill, high formal education, depth of knowledge pos- sessed, sociable nature, willingness to respond, etc., would bear directly on the information provided by the respondent. The status of the interviewee vis-a-vis the interviewer also affects the willingness of the respondent to take interview seriously. If the respondents are han- dled with more prestige and assured that they are knowledgeable and their relevant responses will affect the findings, they are sure to coop- erate more with the interviewers. (ii) Training Some organisations give much importance to the training of the inter- viewers but some believe in sending them to the field soon after appointing them and explaining them the objectives of the study, the dimensions of issues to be studied, the selected sample and a few get eral instructions. When the organisations find that the select persons have not come to their expectations, they quickly dismiss them. On the other hand, there are organisations which believe in the importance of training. First, they give them training for two-three days explaining them all the details about the study. Then, they de vote two-three days in giving them the details about conducting the interviews, arranging mock interviews and recording the response Finally, they send them to the field for two-three days for pretesting and watching the supervisor how to conduct interviews. The supe" sor watches the first few interviews conducted by the trainees. This formal training of six to seven days to the interviewers along with some written instructions makes them good investigators. The maiInterview 233 ingredients of a sound training scheme, according to Moser and Kal- int (1980:288), are: talks and discussions in office on objectives of search, dimensions of study, the sample to be selected, method of re- ronding responses, how the results are to be used, the importance of Scouracy and objectivity in responses, observation of supervisors at work, trial interviews and written instructions. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INTERVIEWER AND THE RESPONDENT In interviewing technique, the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee has some characteristics. These may be listed as under: + Apositive and effective relationship has to be developed by the in- terviewer with his respondent. This will promote trust, understanding and cooperation. + Inasking questions, the interviewer should not be arrogant. He should not be shabbily dressed nor dressed in a very fashionable manner. «The interviewer should never patronise the respondent. © He should not show disbelief in the answers given. © The interviewer should prompt answers by offering possible an- swers. © He should probe answers for gaining more information. Giving information and getting information in interview tech- nique may be descriptive or explanatory. According to Black and Champion (1976:355), the relationship between the interviewer and the respondent is: (i) transitory, (i) one in which participants are strangers, and (ii) which is based on (a) equality (the respondent being assured that he will not be contradicted or harassed), and (b) compara- bility (respondent being assured that though his information will be compared with one given by others but he himself will not be com- pared). Tn contrast to therapeutic interview, in research interview, the re- spondent does not benefit directly in any way nor he gets any tangible reward. The only benefit to him could be the policy based on the find- ings of the research which may have some importance for him. For example, the policy decision based on the market research that the company should make available oil to consumers in one kilo packs in234 Interview polythene bags whose cost would be within the purchasing meany of the consumers. The other example (of research enefit to the respon, dent) could be that production and profits of the ee Could be increased by introducing the profit sharing scheme for the workers, These benefits to interview respondents accrue through aggregation of responses from numerous interviews, the data analysis and the infer. ences which ultimately affect the policy decisions. Thus, the possibility of indirect benefit—public or personal—from the accumy. lation of information collected through the interview is one incentive to the respondent to participate in a research interview. Similarly, brief researches on population, etc., through national census or long researches through social surveys on crucial problems like poverty al leviation, high subsidies by the government, liberalisation policy, privatisation of banks, time-bound policy of reservation for nom creamy layers of backward communities, and so on, which ultimately contribute to economic and social welfare prompt the respondents to participate in interviews and give the required information on their opinions, attitudes, experiences, perceptions, etc., to the interviewers on subjects of public interest. PROCESS OF INTERVIEWING It could be said that the training to the interviewer or the process of training implies explaining the interviewer the Process of conducting the interview in a number of stages, each stage including certain tasks. These are explained as below: 1, Fully explain the researcher what the study is all about, what are the objectives of the study and what aspects of the theme are to be focused. Select and locate the sampled members, 3. Seek appointment fro: m the respondent befo ing him for the interview. - re approaching leave the place willingly, 5. Inform the respondent about t is to last. 6. Begin interview by stating the o1 plaining how he (respondent) he approximate time the interview rganisation he represents, and & was selected for the interview.7. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Interview 235 Appear with an attitude so that the respondent feels free to ex- press his views. Probe questions phrased in an impartial way. On no account give an indication of own views. This will either prevent the respondent from giving the opposite view or he might favour the interviewer’s view. In either case, the answers would misrepresent the respondent's true opinion. Increase the respondent’s motivation to cooperate. Reassure the respondent of keeping his identity a secret. Training the interviewer that all applicable questions have to be asked in a given order. Use some techniques of dealing with partial response (getting in- complete answer), inaccurate response (giving biased or distorted response), irrelevant response (which is not at all connected with the question) and non-response (remaining silent or refusing to an- swer). These techniques could be: rephrasing question, asking supplementary question, giving a pause, giving an expectant glance, encouraging for response, asking the respondent to “tell me more about it” and so on. Explain when to ask different types of questions. Atkimson (4 Handbook of Interviewers, 1967) has identified three types of ques- tions: factual, opinion and knowledge. Factual questions are those which seek to obtain a precise answer (e.g., age, income, etc.) or answer as accurately as possible. Opinion questions are those which seek respondents’ personnel opinions on specific issues. Knowledge questions are those which elicit respondent’s knowl- edge on some theme, e.g., “do you think that males commit more suicides than females?” Besides, there are probe questions which seek clarifications on ambiguous answers (e.g,, “in what way do you think so”) or explore facts (e.g., “are there any other rea sons”), Over-probing has a danger and needs to be avoided because the great pressure may force him to make a guess and give wrong answer. . Record answers in an objective way. Taking all the above aspects in mind, it could be said that the fol- lowing four points in training are crucially important: () instructions tothe interviewers, 2) field supervision, (3) checking of data collected from time to time, and (4) working conditions.236 Interview ¢ brief and fieldwork instructions will help to avoid collecting irrelevant information, used and how to deal with different sity. (1) Instructions: Th the interviewer what probing to be i ifferent respondents. ations and different resp , (2) Supervision: This will detect bad work and keep interviewers ark, One or two supervisors can cover the entire up tothe a if the study is spread ae a few states (say, a project sponsored on “Administrative, canoes Po. litical and Cultural Utility of Creating Smaller States by Bifurcating the Bigger States” in four states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and about 500 interviews are to be conducted in each state in a period of 3-4 months, there could be one in-charge, one su- pervisor, and five investigators for each _ State. The supervision will be the main link between the field svaff and head office. He may have to direct the sample selection if this is done from local lists, decide which interviewers have to participate in which area, give them their sample assign- ments, and check their work from time to time. (3) Checking fieldwork: Checking of fieldwork from time to time is extremely important in any research to keep the quality of the work constantly under review and find out any case where the interviewer appears to be doing unsatisfactory work. The checking work will include: (i) whether right type of persons are being interviewed or not, (ii) whether the investigator is getting the cooperation of the respondents or not, (iii) whether the investigator is properly asking the ques- tons or not, (iv) whether the response rate is satisfactory or net, and (v) whether the data is being properly recorded or not. (4) Working conditions: Keeping the morale of the high is very important. This could be di them good working conditions, hire which can take different teal field area and bring them back hours of work, giving them wat for tea, arranging their stay if nights are to be spent in the field area, giving them files for carrying papers, and making them payments at regular intervals, , investigators lone by providing like engaging a vehicle on ms of investigators to their in the evening, fixing their er bottles and some moneyImerview 237 MERITS/LIMITATIONS OF INTERVIEW Interview as a tool of data collec: shortcomings/limitations. These are n has certain merits as well as described as follows: Merits Gordon (1969:52-54) has listed five major advantages of the interview technique as under: @ Quick information: The information is obtained quickly. Gi) Proper interpretation: Respondents interprete the questions prop- erly. (ii) Flexibility: It permits flexibility in questioning. Gv) Checking validity: The validity of the information can be readily ©) Control: Exercising control on the context of questions and an- swers is possible. Besides, some more advantages are: in-depth probing is possible, (iii) respondent’s confidence can be sought through personal rapport, (iv) interviewer can explain difficult terms and remove confusion and misunderstandings, (v) administra tion is easy because respondents are not required to be educated or handle long questionnaires, (vi) interviewer gets opportunity to ob- serve respondents’ non-verbal behaviour, (vii) identity of the respondent is known, and (viii) since all questions asked by the inter- viewers are answered by the respondents, completeness of the interview is guaranteed. @ the response rate is high, (ii) Limitations Following are the limitations of the interview technique: 1. ‘The interviewees can hide information or give wrong information because of fear of identity. 2. Interviews are more costly and time-consuming than question- 3. The nature and extent of responses depends upon interviewee’s mood. If he is tired, he will be distracted. If he is in hurry, he will try to dispose off the interviewer quickly. 4. There could be variability in responses with different interview- ers, particularly when interview is unstructured.238 = Interview 5, The interviewer may record the responses differently, depending upon his own interpretation sometimes. 6. It offers less anonymity than other methods. 7. Ivis less effective for sensitive questions. Comparison of advantages of three methods of data collection S.No. Element Questionnaire Schedule Interview 1. Cost +++ ++ + (more somewhat less expensive) expensive expensive 2. Speed + ++ +++ Peon high higher 3. Anonymity +++ ++ + higher high low 4. Interviewer’s bias + +t +++ low high higher 5. Need for motivation + ++ +++ low high higher 6. Rapport with respondent + + nnn low high higher 7. Possibility of getting full and = +4 dae detailed answer through low high higher clarification and probing Further Readings