Interview

Surveys are the method of data collection from respondents where direct questions are asked from respondents and the answers help study the research problem like attitude, brand development, behavioral analysis, etc. The four main methods of data collection through surveys are as follows: Personal interviews: Personal interview technique is the survey data collection technique, where the respondents are asked questions from the interviewer face to face. The personal interview could be of two types i.e. intercept interviews and pre-recruited interviews. Telephonic interviews: Telephonic interview technique is the survey data collection technique, where the respondents are asked questions from the interviewer through telephone. The telephonic interview could be of two types i.e. computer assisted telephonic interviews or an interviewer asking questions on phone and noting down the answers. Mail surveys: It is data collection method where questionnaire is mailed to prospective respondents, and it is expected that respondents will fill and mail it back to the researcher. Online surveys: It is data collection method where questionnaire is mailed electronically to prospective respondents or presented on websites, and it is expected that respondents will fill it. Interviews help in conducting surveys which are used for data collection from respondents where direct questions are asked from respondents and the answers help study the research problem like attitude, brand development, behavioral analysis, etc. Intercept interviews are those interviews which are taken at place without any prior information to respondent i.e. the respondent is selected on-the spot. The interviewer has a general idea about the features he is looking for in respondent and then selects the person as per his judgment. The difference between intercept interview and pre-recruited interview is that intercept interview is spontaneous while in case of pre-recruited interview, the respondent is informed before-hand through telephone or any other medium. In malls, the interviews are mostly spontaneous so they are intercept interview because the respondent do not have any prior notification that he could face an interview for a survey in the mall. He could be selected by interviewer because he may possess some characteristics searched by interviewer which is needed in research. Personal interview technique is the survey data collection technique where the respondents face the researchers directly, as then answer the questions that are asked by interviewer, related to research. The personal interview could be of two types i.e. intercept interviews and pre-recruited interviews. The advantages of personal interview technique over other techniques are as follows: The output of personal interviews is very informative when respondents reply to questions of a long questionnaire with respect to other techniques because of face to face presence. With personal interview, the use of stimuli is possible as interviewer can introduce stimuli as and when required. Interviewer has chance to explain the question to respondent in case he is not able to understand it, which is not that easy in other techniques. The disadvantages personal interview technique over other techniques are as follows: When personal interview is happening then getting truly random sample is difficult because interviewer bias comes into play due to human judgment. It is costly and consumes very much time in comparison to other techniques.