Research Methods for Business

A Skill Building Approach

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Interviews

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 Primary Data Collection
 Primary data collection methods: ways in which data collected from
original sources for the specific purpose of the study can be gathered.
 Business is largely a social phenomenon. Much of the information
needed to make decisions in the work setting has to come from people.
That is why the survey strategy is very popular in business research.
The three main data collection methods in survey research are
interviews, observation, and questionnaires.
 A thorough knowledge of these methods will help you to evaluate
alternative approaches to primary data collection. Problems researched
with the use of appropriate methods greatly enhance the value of the
study.
 Interviews
 An interview is a guided, purposeful
conversation between two or more
people.
– Individual or group
– Structured or unstructured

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 Interviews
 Unstructured interviews:
– the interviewer does not enter the interview setting with
a planned sequence of questions to be asked of the
respondent.
 Examples
– Tell me something about your unit and department, and
perhaps even the organization as a whole, in terms of
work, employees, and whatever else you think is
important.
– I would like to know something about your job. Please
describe to me in detail the things you do in your job on a
typical day, from eight in the morning to four in the
afternoon.
– What do you like about working here?
– If you were to tell me which aspects of your job you like
and which you do not, what would they be?
– Tell me something about the reward systems in this place.
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 Interviews
 Semi-structured interviews:
– Conducted when it is known at the outset what information is needed.
– The interviewer has a list of predetermined questions (also called
“interview instrument”) to be asked of the respondents either
personally, through the telephone, or via the computer.
– The same questions will be asked of everybody in the same manner.
– Visual aids (pictures, line drawings, cards or other materials) can be
used if necessary.
– The number of interviews depends on receiving saturation - adequate
information obtained to understand and describe the important factors
operating in the situation, and no new information emerges from
additional interviews.
 Adequate training to interviewers

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 Probing Tactics
 Follow‐up questions that are used when the first
answer is unclear or incomplete, the interviewer does
not fully understand the answer, or in any other case
where the interviewer requires more specific or in‐
depth information.
– “So what I hear you saying is . . .”
– “I’m not quite sure I understood . . . Could you . . .”
– “Could you please tell me more about . . .”
– “Could you give an example?”
– “Could you go over that again?”
– “Anything else?”

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 Interview Bias
 Bias refers to errors or inaccuracies in the data
collected.
 Could be introduced by:
– the interviewer
– the interviewee
– the situation

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 Interview Bias
 Could be introduced by:
– the interviewer
• inadequate trust, misinterpretation or distortion of responses, or
interviewer unintentionally encourages, discourages certain types
of response using tones or gestures, fails to take notes or to
record.
– the interviewee
• May avoid giving true opinion but gives “socially accepted”
opinion, may not understand the questions correctly, may not like
the interviewer’s style of questioning, or the fact that the interview
is being recorded.
– the situation
• Work or café setting, personal/telephone/online, multiple
interviewers can elicit different responses.

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 Questioning Technique
 Funneling – transition from broad to narrow
themes
– What are some of your feelings about working for
this organization?
 Unbiased questions
– Tell me how you experience your job? or
– Boy, the work you do must be really boring; let
me hear how you experience it.
 Take notes and record the interview and
transcribe if possible
– Take prior permission before recording
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 Interview types
 Face-to-face or personal interviews
 Telephone interviews
 Online or computer assisted interviews
 Use of specialist software
– May be AI-powered interviews?
 Personal interview
 Advantages
– Can clarify doubts about questionnaire
– Can pick up non-verbal cues
– Relatively high response/cooperation
– Special visual aids and scoring devises can be used

 Disadvantages
– High costs and time intensive
– Geographical limitations
– Response bias / Confidentiality difficult to be assured
– Some respondents are unwilling to talk to strangers
– Trained interviewers
 Telephone interview
 Advantages
– Discomfort of face to face is avoided
– Faster / Number of calls per day could be high
– Lower cost

 Disadvantages
– Interview length must be limited
– Low response rate
– No facial expressions
 Group Interviews
 Focus groups consist typically of eight to ten
members with a moderator leading the discussions
on a particular topic, concept, or product.
 Focus group research is a generic term for any
research that studies how groups of people talk
about a clearly defined issue.
 Video Conferencing to work with different groups
in distant locations.
 An expert panel is a group of people specifically
convened by the researcher to elicit expert
knowledge and opinion about a certain issue.
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 Case for the next class –
Qualitative Data Analysis
 Case Title: INSTIGATIONS OF CUSTOMER
ANGER.
 Objective: To investigate events that typically
instigate customer anger in services.
 The use of the appraisal theory to provide initial
guidance.
 Critical Incident Technique is used to recall specific
behaviors that instigated anger
 Multiple interviews and a standardized questionnaire
 Please read this case before the next class.
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