DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES; QUESTIONNAIRES AND INTERVIEWS

LUIS ALFREDO MARTINEZ DIAZ

TRABAJO DE GRADO I

MAG. SONIA JEREZ

UNIVERSIDAD DE CÓRDOBA

LIC. EN EDUCACIÓN BÁSICA CON ÉNFASIS EN HUMANIDADES-INGLÉS

XI SEM B

MONTERÍA – CÓRDOBA

2011

INTERVIEWS IN EDUCATION RESEARCH

The qualitative research interview seeks to describe and the meanings of

central themes in the life world of the subjects. The main task in interviewing is

to understand the meaning of what the interviewees say. (Kvale,1996)

A qualitative research interview seeks to cover both a factual and a meaning

level, though it is usually more difficult to interview on a meaning level.

(Kvale,1996)

Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participant's

experiences. The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the topic.

Interviews may be useful as follow-up to certain respondents to questionnaires,

e.g., to further investigate their responses. (McNamara,1999)

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

Informal, conversational interview - no predetermined questions are asked,

in order to remain as open and adaptable as possible to the interviewee's

nature and priorities; during the interview the interviewer "goes with the flow".

General interview guide approach - the guide approach is intended to ensure

that the same general areas of information are collected from each interviewee;

this provides more focus than the conversational approach, but still allows a

degree of freedom and adaptability in getting the information from the

interviewee.

Standardized, open-ended interview - the same open-ended questions are

asked to all interviewees; this approach facilitates faster interviews that can be

more easily analyzed and compared.

Closed, fixed-response interview - where all interviewees are asked the

same questions and asked to choose answers from among the same set of

alternatives. This format is useful for those not practiced in interviewing.

Telephone Interview, Telephone interviews enable a researcher to gather

information rapidly. Like personal interviews, they allow for some personal

contact between the interviewer and the respondent; there are some

disadvantages such as some people may not have telephones, people often

dislike the intrusion of a call to their home, telephone interviews need to be

relatively short or people feel imposed upon, many people don't have publicly

listed telephone numbers.

OTHER TYPES OF INTERVIEWS IN QUALITATIVE RESERACH

Several types of interviews exist: topical oral history, life history, evaluation

interview, focus group interview, and cultural interviews.

Topical interviews: are concerned with the facts and sequence of an event.

The interviewer is interested in a reconstruction of the experience and what

happened; for instance, what happened at the In SEA Conference in Brisbane

Australia. The researcher actively directs questions in pursuit of precise facts.

Life histories: deal with individual experiences or rites of passage. In oral

histories, one collects information about a dying lifestyle or art skills. These

result in narratives and stories that interpret the past.

Evaluation interviews: examine new programs or school developments and

suggests improvements. Since evaluation deals with incorrect behaviors as well

as positive ones, justifications [accounts] of behaviors result. The result may

consist of myths and unresolved tensions (Patton, 1990).

Focus group interviews: people meet to share their impressions and changes

of thinking or behavior regarding a product or an institution. Participants may be

strangers and make an effort to preserve their competency and may not admit

faults.

Cultural interview focuses on other forms, values, understandings, and taken-

for-granted rules of behavior of a group or society (p. 28). This type of interview

reports on TYPICAL shared activities and their meanings. The style of interview

is relaxed and questions flow naturally with no fixed agenda. People are

interviewed several times so that emerging themes are pursued later. The

interviewer, for example, may ask them to DESCRIBE A TYPICAL DAY. The

partner then relates what is important with examples. The truth of the fact is not

as important as how well it illustrates the [cultural] premises and norms (p.29).

For example, in a Christian culture, you may be told about the significance of

the value of behaving with concern for other people (p. 29). In the cultural

interview, the interviewer is partner and co-constructs the interview and report.

The cultural report, besides being the experts story, is credible because it

consists of the words of members of the culture. We assume that people are

basically honest and that they share similar views. The researcher can mix

types of interviews and approaches.

Qualitative interview is different from everyday conversation in the following

ways. First it is a research tool and a good interviewer must prepare questions

in advance, and later analyze and report results. The interviewer guides the

questions and focuses the study. Good interview skills require practice and

reflection. Finally, beyond the acquisition of interview skills, interviewing is a

philosophy of learning. The interviewer becomes a student and then tries to get

people to describe their experiences in their own terms. The results are

imposed obligations on both sides. The qualitative researcher or philosophy

determines what is important, what is ethical, and the completeness and

accuracy of the results (Rubin & Rubin, 1995, p.2).

Several researchers have argued that structured interviews are unnatural and

restrictive. Informal interviews get deeper. For example, if you want to find out why

someone acted in a certain way, ask him/her. One must negotiate an explanation

that consistent and believable. This results in an explanation of the meaning of the

action for the people (Alasuutari, 1998, p. 143). The interviewer follows up an

interview with more questions for clarification or understanding.

OTHER APPROACH OF TYPES OF INTERVIEWS IN RESEARCH PROJECT

There are three types of interviews that can be conducted when carrying out a

research project. Those are structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. This

article will describe what each one involves and the differences between them.

Structured Interviews require adherence to a very particular set of rules. Each

question that is outlined should be read word for word by the researcher without

any deviation from the protocol. In some cases, the interviewer is also required

to show consistency in behavior across all interviews. This includes bodily

posture, facial expressions, and emotional affect. Reactions to participant

responses should be kept to a minimum or avoided entirely. Structured

interviews are the type used most often by quantitative researchers. The style is

most useful when looking for very specific information. The benefits are that it

keeps the data concise and reduces researcher bias.

Semi-structured Interviews are a bit more relaxed than structured interviews.

While researchers using this type are still expected to cover every question in

the protocol, they have some wiggle room to explore participant responses by

asking for clarification or additional information. Interviewers also have the

freedom to be more friendly and sociable. Semi-structured interviews are most

often used in qualitative studies. The style is most useful when one is

investigating a topic that is very personal to participants. Benefits include the

ability to gain rapport and participants' trust, as well as a deeper understanding

of responses. Data sets obtained using this style will larger than those with

structured interviews.

Unstructured Interviews, they have the most relaxed rules of the three. In this

type, researchers need only a checklist of topics to be covered during the

interview. There is no order and no script. The interaction between the participant

and the researcher is more like a conversation than an interview. Unstructured

interviews are most often used in ethnographies and case studies (types of

qualitative studies). They are best used when researchers want to find as much

information as possible about their topic. The benefit is that unstructured interviews

often uncover information that would not have been exposed using structured or

semi-structured interviews. The researcher and participant are not limited by the

protocol. Data sets collected using unstructured interviews will be larger than the

rest. Continue reading on Examiner.com: Interview types: Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured - San Jose

Scholarly Research | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/scholarly-research-in-san-jose/interview-types-structured-

semi-structured-and-unstructured#ixzz1NBScxNw2

QUESTIONNAIRES IN EDUCATION

A questionnaire is a means of eliciting the feelings, beliefs, experiences,

perceptions, or attitudes of some sample of individuals. As a data collecting

instrument, it could be structured or unstructured. The questionnaire is most

frequently a very concise, preplanned set of questions designed to yield specific

information to meet a particular need for research information about a pertinent

topic. The research information is attained from respondents normally from a

related interest area. The dictionary definition gives a clearer definition: A

questionnaire is a written or printed form used in gathering information on some

subject or subjects consisting of a list of questions to be submitted to one or more

persons.

Advantages

Economy - Expense and time involved in training interviewers and sending

them to interview are reduced by using questionnaires.

Uniformity of questions - Each respondent receives the same set of questions

phrased in exactly the same way. Questionnaires may, therefore, yield data

more comparable than information obtained through an interview.

Standardization - If the questions are highly structured and the conditions under

which they are answered are controlled, then the questionnaire could become

standardized.

Disadvantages

Respondent’s motivation is difficult to assess, affecting the validity of response.

Unless a random sampling of returns is obtained, those returned completed

may represent biased samples.

Two types of questionnaires

Closed or restricted form - calls for a "yes" or "no" answer, short response, or

item checking; is fairly easy to interpret, tabulate, and summarize.

Open or unrestricted form - calls for free response from the respondent; allows

for greater depth of response; is difficult to interpret, tabulate, and summarize.

Characteristics of a good questionnaire

Deals with a significant topic, a topic the respondent will recognize as important

enough to justify spending his time in completing. The significance should be

clearly stated on the questionnaire or in the accompanying letter.

Seeks only that information which cannot be obtained from other sources such

as census data.

As short as possible, only long enough to get the essential data. Long

questionnaires frequently find their way into wastebaskets.

Attractive in appearance, neatly arranged, and clearly duplicated or printed.

Directions are clear and complete, important terms are defined, each question

deals with a single idea, all questions are worded as simply and clearly as

possible, and the categories provide an opportunity for easy, accurate, and

unambiguous responses.

Questions are objective, with no leading suggestions to the desired response.

Questions are presented in good psychological order, proceeding from general

to more specific responses. This order helps the respondent to organize his

own thinking, so that his answers are logical and objective. It may be wise to

present questions that create a favorable attitude before proceeding to those

that may be a bit delicate or intimate. If possible, annoying or embarrassing

questions should be avoided.

Easy to tabulate and interpret. It is advisable to preconstruct a tabulation sheet,

anticipating how the data will be tabulated and interpreted, before the final form

of the question is decided upon. Working backward from a visualization of the

final analysis of data is an important step in avoiding ambiguity in questionnaire

form. If mechanical tabulating equipment is to be used, it is important to allow

code numbers for all possible responses to permit easy transfer to machine-

tabulation cards.

Question Types samples

Researchers use three basic types of questions: multiple choice, numeric open end

and text open end (sometimes called "verbatims"). Examples of each kind of

question follow:

Rating Scales and Agreement Scales are two common types of questions that

some researchers treat as multiple choice questions and others treat as numeric

open end questions. Examples of these kinds of questions are:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTERNET SOURCES

http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-56614-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/interviews/inthome.htm

http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/QUESTS/index.htm

http://www.utexas.edu/academic/ctl/assessment/iar/research/plan/method/

interview.php