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Telephone Interviewing

Telephone interviewing is a useful but tricky method of data collection that is commonly used in survey research. While it has advantages like lower costs, the ability to interview dispersed populations, and anonymity for respondents, it also has disadvantages. Telephone interviews require careful planning for timing, questions, and sampling. Interviewers must obtain informed consent and protect confidentiality. They should also consider any consequences of the interviews.

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Jose Intraboy Arais Tabugoc Jr.
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232 views15 pages

Telephone Interviewing

Telephone interviewing is a useful but tricky method of data collection that is commonly used in survey research. While it has advantages like lower costs, the ability to interview dispersed populations, and anonymity for respondents, it also has disadvantages. Telephone interviews require careful planning for timing, questions, and sampling. Interviewers must obtain informed consent and protect confidentiality. They should also consider any consequences of the interviews.

Uploaded by

Jose Intraboy Arais Tabugoc Jr.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TELEPHONE INTERVIEWING

TELEPHONE INTERVIEWING
 a useful but tricky art
 recognized as an important method of data collection and
is common practice in survey research.
 Arksey and Knight (1999: 79)
telephone interviews do not feel like interviews, as
both parties are deprived of several channels of
communication and the establishment of a positive
relationship (e.g. non-verbal)
ADVANTAGES OF TELEPHONE
INTERVIEWING
 Sometimes cheaper and quicker than face to face
interviewing.
 Enables researchers to select respondents from a much
more dispersed population.
 Travel costs are omitted.
 Particularly useful for brief surveys.
 May protect the anonymity of respondents.
 Useful for gaining rapid responses to a structured
questionnaire.
 Interviewer effects are reduced.
 The results tend to be quantitative.
 Many groups, particularly of busy people, can be reached
at times more convenient to them than if a visit were to be
made.
 It does not rely on the literacy of the respondent.
DISADVANTAGES OF TELEPHONE
INTERVIEWING

 It is very easy for respondents simply to hang up on the


caller.
 Motivation to participate may be lower than for a
personal interview.
 Chance of skewed sampling.
 Lower response rate at weekends.
 Respondents may not disclose information because of
uncertainty about actual (even though promised)
confidentiality.
 Respondents may not wish to spend a long time on the
telephone
 Concentration spans are shorter than in a face-to-face
interview.
 It is tiring.
 Respondents may withhold important information or tell
lies.
 Responses are difficult to write down or record during the
interview.
 Distractions for the respondent.
 According to Sykes and Hoinville (1985) and also Borg
and Gall (1996), telephone interviewing reaches nearly the
same proportion of many target populations as ‘standard’
interviews.

 Weisberg et al. (1996: 122) and Shuy (2003: 181) report


lower response rates to telephone interviews.
Harvey (1988), Oppenheim (1992) and Miller
(1995) considers that;

1. Telephone interviews need careful arrangements for


timing and duration.
2. The interviewer will need to have ready careful
prompts and probes.
3. Both interviewer and interviewee need to be prepared
in advance of the interview.
4. Sampling requires careful consideration.
Face-to-face interviews may be more suitable than
telephone interviews in the following circumstances:

 The interviewer wishes to address complex issues or


sensitive questions.
 A natural context might yield greater accuracy.
 Deeper and self-generated answers are sought.
 Older, second language speakers and hearing impaired
respondents are being interviewed.
 Marginalized respondents are being sought.
ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN CONDUCTING
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS:
 The respondents.
 There is a need to pilot the interview schedule and to
prepare and train the telephonists.
 Keep to the same, simple response categories for
several questions.
 Keep personal details.
 Keep the terminology simple and to the point, avoiding
jargon and confusion.
 You should be able to tell the gender of the respondent by
his or her voice.
 Keep the response categories very simple and use them
consistently.
 Clear with the respondents at the start of the interview
that they have the time to answer and that they have the
information sought.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN
INTERVIEWING
Three main areas of ethical issues:
 consent,
 confidentiality
consequences of the interviews
Some ethical questions to which answers need to
be given before the interviews commence:

 Has the informed consent of the interviewees been


gained?
 Has this been obtained in writing or orally?
 How much information should be given in advance of
the study?
 How can adequate information be provided if the
study is exploratory?
 Have the possible consequences of the research been
made clear to the participants?
- These issues, by no means an exhaustive list, are not
exclusive to the research interview, though they are highly
applicable here.

- The personal safety of interviewers must also be addressed.

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