ls
e s e a rch Too Face to Face Interviews
to R
A Guide
Jason Muise
Kenton Olson
Face to Face Table of Contents
Interviews What is a Face to
Face Research 1
Interview?
What is a Face to Face research interview? Types of Face to 1
Face Interviews
An interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more people that can
help you gather valid and reliable data that is relevant to your research objec- Use of Different 2
Types of Face to
tives (Kahn and Cannel, 1957). Face to face interviews allow for personal com- Face Interviews
munication and make it possible to gather more information for your study.
Types of Ques- 2
The research interview is a general term for tions
several types of interviews. Some may be
highly formalized and structured or they may Tips in Conducting 2
a Face to Face
be informal and unstructured conversations. Interview
The following are examples of types of inter- Advantages and 3
views most commonly used in face to face re- Disadvantages
search.
Example and Ref- 4
erences
Types of Face to Face Interviews
SEMI- IN-DEPTH: STRUCTURED:
STRUCTURED: Face to face
interviews
Usually with an in-depth Usually with a structured
Usually with a semi- are usually
interview questionnaire… questionnaire…
structured questionnaire…
more accu-
These types of interviews These types of interviews
These types of interviews are rate than
usually cover one or two consist of administering
very loosely structured and
issues in great detail and structured questionnaires other data
consist of open-ended ques-
questions are based on and trained interviewers
tions that define the chosen
what the interviewee says. ask fixed choice questions collection
topic. The interviewer/
The questions are the in a consistent format
interviewee may stray slightly methods
least structured of the
from the question to pursue
three mentioned
an idea in more detail (Jack Rabin)
Use of Different Types of Interviews
Exploratory Descriptive Explanatory
Structured
Semi-structured
In depth
= more frequent, = less frequent
These various types of interviews are potentially valuable and useful while undertaking
your research project.
Types of Questions for Interviews
Open ended questions and probing questions: are generally used in in-depth and semi-structured
types of interviews.
Specific and closed questions: are generally used in structured research interviews
The key points that need to be considered while conducting an interview are the need for
consistency between the research question and objectives, the strategy to be employed and
the methods of data collection to be used.
Tips in Conducting a Face to Face Interview
Be organized and knowledgeable in the material presented
Ask the same question of every respondent
Ask every question in the same context
Explain the purpose of the research to respondents in the same manner
Make the effort to ensure that each question is understood in the same way
Write down the answers in a standardized form
Try to extract correct information without bias
Be aware of the impact of your behavior
These important tips will ensure reliable, credible, and unbiased results, while creating a more
accurate outcome of the overall survey.
Page 2
Face to Face Interviews
Advantages of The Face to Face Interview
Researcher can elicit more in-depth response or fill in information
if participant does not understand the question
Different data collection techniques – open-ended questions, visual aids, etc
Certainty about who answered the questions
The ability to find the target population
Longer interviews are sometimes tolerated
Very convenient for the respondent
Extensive probing can be used to collect detailed information
Respondents body language can guide the interviewer and be recorded to help interpret com-
ments
Disadvantages of a face to face interview
Intrusive and reactive
Cost time and money
Difficult to locate respondents for call backs
Each location has it’s own characteristics, which can effect mood or attitude towards the inter-
view
Stage fright for interviewer or interviewee
Jumping from one subject to another
Giving advise during an interview
Counseling (summarizing responses too early)
Page 3
Face to Face Interviews
A Guide to
Research Tools
Example
Vancouver Island
University The management of an historical
Recreation Tourism tourist
attraction in the South East wished
Research Institute to explore the
perceptions and opinions of users and
non-users of
the attraction as a means of more
effectively mar-
keting the attraction on an internationa
l basis. Semi
Kenton Olson -structured depth interviews were
conducted with a
Jason Muise quota sample of users and non-users,
and home and
overseas visitors. The interviews ena
bled the de-
tailed exploration of reasons for the
ir use / non-use,
their perceptions of the attraction,
their under-
standing of its historical significanc
e, and an overall
measure of their satisfaction.
References
Cano, V. (n.d.). questionnaire or interview? In foundation steps . Retrieved October 21, 2007, from
http://www.qmuc.ac.uk/psych/RTrek/foundation/f10.htm
Face to face interviews. (2006, December 13). Quad research. Retrieved October 21, 2007, from
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/retail/quad/methodsandtechniques/face_to_face_interviews/
Face to face interviews. (n.d.). intelligent research skopos. Retrieved October 21, 2007, from
http://www.skopos.de/deEN/face-to-face-interviews
Designing structured interviews for educational research . (1997). practical assessment, research &
evaluation. Retrieved October 21, 2007, from http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=12
Collecting primary data using semi-structured and in-depth interviews. (n.d.). Chapter 9 , 244-273.
