Interviews are classified according to their degree of structure and directness Structure refers to the amount of freedom the interviewer has in altering the questionnaire to meet the, unique situation posed by each interview.
Directness involves the extent to which the respondent is aware of (or is likely to be aware of) the nature and purpose of the survey.
Characteristics Of Structured And Unstructured Interviews
As stated earlier, the degree of structure refers to the extent to which an interviewer is restricted to following the wording and instructions in a questionnaire' Interviewer bias tends to be at a minimum in structured interviews.
In addition it is possible to utilize less skilled (and less expensive) interviewers with a structured format because their duties are basically confined to reading questions and recording answers.
These advantages of structured interviews may be purchased at the expense of richer or more complete information that skillful interviewers could elicit if allowed the freedom.
Relatively unstructured interviews become more important in marketing surveys as less is known about the variables being investigated.
Thus, unstructured techniques are used in exploratory surveys and for investigating complex or unstructured topic areas, such as personal values and purchase motivations.
Interviews are classified according to their degree of structure and directness Structure refers to the amount of freedom the interviewer has in altering the questionnaire to meet the, unique situation posed by each interview.
Directness involves the extent to which the respondent is aware of (or is likely to be aware of) the nature and purpose of the survey.
Characteristics Of Structured And Unstructured Interviews
As stated earlier, the degree of structure refers to the extent to which an interviewer is restricted to following the wording and instructions in a questionnaire' Interviewer bias tends to be at a minimum in structured interviews.
In addition it is possible to utilize less skilled (and less expensive) interviewers with a structured format because their duties are basically confined to reading questions and recording answers.
These advantages of structured interviews may be purchased at the expense of richer or more complete information that skillful interviewers could elicit if allowed the freedom.
Relatively unstructured interviews become more important in marketing surveys as less is known about the variables being investigated.
Thus, unstructured techniques are used in exploratory surveys and for investigating complex or unstructured topic areas, such as personal values and purchase motivations.
