TELEPHONE INTERVIEW 

Telephone interviews can be ideal for collecting data from a geographically dispersed sample. The interviews tend to be very structured and tend to lack depth. Advantages                  

• Can be geographically spread·                    
• Can be set up and conducted relatively cheaply·                    
• Random samples can be selected 

Disadvantages                    

• Respondents can simply hang up
• Interviews tend to be very short
• Visual aids cannot be used           

FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW 

Face-to-face interviews are conducted between a market researcher and a respondent. Data is collected on a survey. Some surveys take a very ‘structured’ approach and use closed questions which allows for data to be compared very easily. Other face-to-face interviews are more ‘in-depth’ and depend upon open forms of questioning. The research will probe and develop points of interest. Advantages 

• They allow more depth·                    
• Body language can emphasise responses·                    
• Respondents can be ‘observed’ at the same time 

Disadvantages  ·                    

• Interviews can be expensive·                    
• It can take a long period of time to arrange and conduct·                    
• Some respondents will give biased responses when face-to-face with a researcher 

 

Focus Groups

A focus group involves encouraging an invited group of participants to share their thoughts, feelings, attitudes and ideas on certain subject. Organising focus groups within an organisation can also be very useful in getting buy-in to a project from within that company.Focus groups are most often used as an input to design.Advantages ·                    

• Quick, cheap and relatively easy to assemble·                    
• Good for getting rich data in participants' own words and developing deeper insight·                    
• People are able to build on one another's responses and come up with ideas they might  not have thought of in a 1-on-1 interview·                    
• Good for obtaining data from children and/or people with low levels of literacy·                    
• Provides an opportunity to involve people in data analysis (e.g. "Out of the issues we have talked about, which ones are most important to you?")·                    
• Participants can act as checks and balances on one another - identifying factual errors or extreme views

Disadvantages·                    

• A few dominant focus group members can skew the session·                    
• Focus groups require a skilled and experience moderator·                    
• The data which results from a focus group requires skills and experience to analyse

  Survey/ Questionnaire

Survey research is an important area of measurement in research that collects valuable information from your target market. Surveys can be divided into two broad categories: the questionnaire and the interview. Questionnaires are usually paper-and-pencil instruments that the respondent completes. Interviews are completed by the interviewer based on the respondent says. When conducting a survey: 

1. Break down the areas of enquiry into topics and list the questions you want to ask under  each topic
2. Make sure your questions and topics are in a logical order!
3. Ensure than answers are captured in a way that can be quantified easily
4. Word your questions simply
5. Only 1 question at a time 

Three basic types of questions exist, each with different applications: 

Closed - All responses are pre-defined and may be shown to the respondent (“prompted”) or not. Easy to answer & quick/cheap to process.  However minority views may be missed. 

Semi-closed - A list of answers including, “Other” where additional responses can be added.This offers advantages of closed questions plus extra flexibility if an issue has been overlooked. 

 

Open - Completely spontaneous remarks are collected verbatim and coded during processing.Adds “qualitative” feel to results and encompasses all views, but expensive & slow to process  Decide which form of questioning best suits your objectives.  

 

 Expert Advice by www.wynresearch.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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