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Chapter 5: Personal Interviews Chapter Objectives Structure Of The Chapter Types of personal interview Conducting the interviews Respondent induced bias Focus group interviews Problems with group interviews Role of the researcher/moderator in discussion group Constructing the interview schedule Chapter Summary Key Terms Review Questions Chapter References Marketing research data is essentially of two types, that have already been defined: secondary and primary. With respect to primary research, the foremost tool is the personal interview. The face-to-face contact between researcher and respondent is not equal in terms of the potential quality of data that can be obtained. In the face-to-face interview it is possible to record more than the verbal responses of the interviewee, which are often superficial. When human beings communicate directly with each other much more information is communicated between them. When two people face one another, the dialogue is conducted on several levels. It goes beyond verbal expression. The nature of words used, facial expressions and body language all communicate what the other party means. This chapter explains the role of personal interviews in marketing research.Chapter ObjectivesHaving read this chapter of the textbook the reader will: Become aware of the different forms which personal interviews can take Learn how to structure both individual and group interviews Recognise the main difficulties encountered when conducting interviews, and Understand the role of the moderator in focus group sessions.Structure Of The ChapterThe chapter begins by drawing a distinction between structured and unstructured interviews before proceeding to advise on how interviews can best be conducted. Sources of bias arising in personal interviews are then discussed. This is followed by a detailed account of focus groups covering the role in marketing research, structuring of group sessions, screening of participants and the role of the moderator.Types of personal interviewThe two main types of interviews conducted in marketing research are structured and unstructured.Unstructured informal interviewThe unstructured informal interview is normally conducted as a preliminary step in the research process to generate ideas/hypotheses about the subject being investigated so that these might be tested later in the survey proper. Such interviews are entirely informal and are not controlled by a specific set of detailed questions. Rather the interviewer is guided by a pre-defined list of issues. These interviews amount to an informal conversation about the subject.Informal interviewing is not concerned with discovering 'how many' respondents think in a particular way on an issue (this is what the final survey itself will discover). The aim is to find out how people think and how they react to issues, so that the ultimate survey questionnaire can be framed along the lines of thought that will be most natural to respondents.The respondent is encouraged to talk freely about the subject, but is kept to the point on issues of interest to the researcher. The respondent is encouraged to reveal everything that he/she feels and thinks about these points. The interviewer must note (or tape-record) all remarks that may be relevant and pursue them until he/she is satisfied that there is no more to be gained by further probing. Properly conducted, informal interviews can give the researcher an accurate feel for the subject to be surveyed. Focus groups, discussed later in this chapter, make use of relatively unstructured interviews.Structured standardised interviewWith structured standardised interviews, the format is entirely different. A structured interview follows a specific questionnaire and this research instrument is usually used as the basis for most quantitative surveys. A standardised structured questionnaire is administered where specific questions are asked in a set order and in a set manner to ensure no variation between interviews.Respondents' answers are recorded on a questionnaire form (usually with pre-specified response formats) during the interview process, and the completed questionnaires are most often analysed quantitatively. The structured interview usually denies the interviewer the opportunity to either add or remove questions, change their sequence or alter the wording of questions.Depth interviewsDepth interviews are one-to-one encounters in which the interviewer makes use of an unstructured or semi-structured set of issues/topics to guide the discussion. The object of the exercises is to explore and uncover deep-seated emotions, motivations and attitudes. They are most often employed when dealing with sensitive matters and respondents are likely to give evasive or even misleading answers when directly questioned. Most of the techniques used in the conduct of depth interviews have been borrowed from the field of psychoanalysis. Depth interview are usually only successful when conducted by a well trained and highly skilled interviewer.Other instances when depth interviewers can be particularly effective are: where the study involves an investigation of complex behaviour or decision-making processes; when the target respondents are difficult to gather together for group interviewers (e.g. farmers, veterinary surgeons, haulage contractors, government officials); and where the interviewee is prepared to become an informant only if he/she is able to preserve his/her anonymity.Dillon et al1. believe that to be effective, the interviewer must adhere to six fundamental rules. These are: he/she must avoid appearing superior or condescending and make use of only familiar words he/she must put question indirectly and informatively he/she must remain detached and objective he/she must avoid questions and questions structure that encourage 'yes' or 'no' answers he/she must probe until all relevant details, emotions and attitudes are revealed he/she must provide an atmosphere that encourages the respondent to speak freely, yet keeping the conservation focused on the issue(s) being researchedDepth interviews involve a heavy time commitment, especially on the part of the marketing researcher. Interview transcripts have to be painstakingly recovered, if they are to be accurate, either from terse interview notes or from tape-recordings of the interviews. This can take many hours of often laborious work. The transcripts then have to be read and re-read, possibly several times, before the researcher is able to begin the taxing process of analysing and interpreting the data.Telephone InterviewsWhilst telephone interviews among consumers, are very common in the developed world, these are conducted with far less frequency in the developing world. The reason is somewhat obvious, i.e. only a relatively small proportion of the total population has a telephone in the house. Moreover, telephone owners tend to be urban dwellers and have above average incomes and are therefore unrepresentative of the population as a whole.To a greater extent, telephone interviewing has potential in surveys of businesses, government agencies and other organisations or institutions. Even then, it is still the case that telephone surveys are rarely without bias. Whilst it is true that many businesses have a telephone, small businesses and even medium-sized enterprises are far less likely to have access to telephones.Telephone interviews afford a certain amount of flexibility. It is possible, for example, for interviewers to put complex questions over the telephone. The interviewers can probe, skip questions that prove irrelevant to the case of a particular respondent and change the sequence of questions in response to the flow of the discussion, and earlier replies can be revisited. The interaction between interviewer and interviewee that is possible over the telephone simply is not achievable through a mailed questionnaire. In comparison to personal interviews, telephone interviews do not appear to enjoy any margin of advantage. Perhaps the only advantages are those of speed and cost. Even then, manpower costs in developing countries tend to be very low and so only speed remains as a potential advantage over personal interviews.In the developed world, the era of computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) has begun. Researchers conduct the telephone interview whilst seated at a computer. Responses are entered directly into the computer, by the interviewer. The screen displays the questionnaire and any skipping of questions, due to earlier responses directing that some questions are not applicable in the case of the interviewee, is controlled automatically by the computer. Since the responses are entered directly into the computer the data is instantaneously processed. The computer can also be programmed to produce standardised marketing reports.Figure 5.1 Types of personal interviewConducting the interviewsIt is essential, for both types of interview format, that the interviewer has a good grasp of the study's objectives, and of the information that is to be collected. This will enable 'probing' to elicit the right data required, and ensure all relevant issues are covered. Furthermore, some respondents may ask why a particular question was included in an interview, and it may be necessary for the interviewer to be able to 'justify' particular questions.In rural areas it is customary before embarking on a formal interviewing survey to notify the relevant public authorities, e.g. village head, district union, etc. to ensure co-operation from respondents. Sometimes individuals may refuse to co-operate unless they are convinced that the interviewer has permission and approval to conduct the survey from the recognised local authorities.Before commencing on interviews it is as well for the interviewer to prepare what he/she is going to say when he/she first meets a respondent. Decisions need to be made as to whether the resp