Running head: INTERVIEWS IN SURVEY RESEARCH

Unit 3

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INTERVIEWS IN SURVEY RESEARCH 2

Unit 3

Interviews can be an essential tool used in survey research. DeCarlo (2019) defines

interviews as data collection methods involving information exchange between two or more

people through multiple questions and answers. Interviews offer an excellent platform for

collecting detailed information. Besides, interviews add value to survey research since they can

be adapted as the researcher learns more information. Survey data collection methods limit the

researcher's freedom to change questions even when the participant's response may spark some

follow-up questions in the researcher's mind(DeCarlo, 2019). The survey data collection methods

require all participants to be asked the same questions formulated during the design stage.

Therefore, the survey data collection methods' design limits the data collection. On the other

hand, interviews allow researchers to follow up on new and unexpected topics that emerge

during the interviewing process (DeCarlo, 2019). Researchers prefer using mixed methods in

data collection, surveys or interviewing methods since interviews allow researchers to investigate

other survey responses (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2018). Therefore,

interviews can be an essential tool used in survey research; they allow researchers to follow up

on participants' responses that arise in a written survey.

Interviews present multiple advantages to survey research. Researchers may prefer to

conduct personal interview surveys, which allow them to explore participants' responses, thus

allowing them to gather more and deeper information. Besides, personal interview surveys allow

researchers to observe respondents' behaviour; recording the respondents may provide a new

dataset for researchers during the data collection phase. Personal interview surveys present

multiple benefits to survey research. The face-to-face nature of personal interview surveys

allows researchers to achieve reasonable response rates. In this method, the researchers
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administer questionnaires, thus increasing the likelihood of ready answers from study

respondents about a product. In particular, interviews allow the researcher to record detailed and

secondary information, such as the respondents' responses to a product's touch, feel, or taste.

Other advantages of personal interview research are allowing the researchers to conduct more

extended interviews and giving them better observation of behaviour.

Personal interview surveys complement survey research by offering tolerable longer

interviews and better observation of respondents' behaviour. The personal interview approach

uses open-ended questions, thus allowing respondents to express themselves. In particular, the

interviews counter the challenge of limited responses in survey research; they allow respondents

to express long answers, thus increasing the information collected by study respondents. Further,

personal interview surveys allow researchers to observe respondents' behavioural responses, such

as touch, feel, taste, or attitude towards specific aspects under investigation.

Practical application of interviews in survey research includes cognitive interviewing in

survey design and market research. In market research, the researcher may record information

not envisaged in the survey design, such as observation of the respondent's attitude and

behaviour towards a product. In cognitive testing, the researcher uses cognitive testing to

identify problems in survey questionnaires and related materials, thus allowing the researcher to

reduce the associated response errors (Willis, 2017). In cognitive testing, the researcher develops

a preliminary version of the questionnaire, recruits the study's respondents, and conducts one-on-

one interviews. The researcher may use verbal probing techniques and the think-aloud strategy to

elicit respondents' thinking about each question (Willis, 2017). The verbal probing techniques

allow researchers to record problems relating to data collection in surveys, such as question-

wording, ordering, and formatting. After that, the researcher may suggest modifications that
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address the problems. Overall, the main benefits of interviews in survey research are higher

response rates, tolerable longer interviews, and better observation of respondents' behaviour.
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References

DeCarlo, M. (2019). Scientific Inquiry in Social Work.

https://pressbooks.pub/scientificinquiryinsocialwork/chapter/13-1-interview-research-

what-is-it-and-when-should-it-be-used/

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. (2018). Research Methods Guide: Interview

Research. https://guides.lib.vt.edu/researchmethods/interviews

Willis, G. (2017). Chapter 14: Cognitive Interviewing in Survey Design: State of the Science and

Future Directions. In The Palgrave Handbook of Survey Research (pp. 103-107).

Palgrave Macmillan.