Face to face or telephone interview

Interviews can be
conducted either face to
face or over the
telephone. They may also
be computer assisted.
Structured interviews in
business research are
conducted face to face

 Structured interviews may be either

face to face or through the medium
of telephone. Many market surveys,
for instance, are conducted through
structured telephone interviews.
Computer assisted telephone
interviews (CATI) are also possible,
and easy to manage.

Advantages of face to face interview

The researcher cam adapt the
questions as necessary, clarify
doubts, and ensure that the
responses are properly understood
by repeating and rephrasing the
questions
The researcher can also pick up non
verbal cues from the respondent like
stress, discomfort, nervous tapping
and other body language.

Disadvantages of face to face interview

The main advantage of face to face

interview are the geographical limitations
they may impose on the survey and the
vast resources needed if such surveys need
to be done nationally and internationally.
The cost of training interviewers to
minimize interviewer bias are also high.
It might be possible that the respondents
feel uneasy in the face to face interview.

Advantages of telephone interview

From the researchers

point of view
Number of people can reached
can be reached in a relatively
short period of time.

Advantages from respondents

point of view
It eliminates discomfort that some of
them might feel in facing the
interviewer.
It is also possible that most of them
might feel less uncomfortable
disclosing personal information over
the telephone than the face to face.

Disadvantages of telephone
interview
The main disadvantage of telephone
interviewing is that the respondent could
unilaterally terminate the interview
without warning or explanation by
hanging up the phone.
And the other disadvantage of telephone
interview is that the researcher will not
be able to see the respondent to read
the nonverbal communication.

Additional sources of bias in

interview data
Biased data will be obtained when
respondents are interviewed while
they are extremely busy or are not in
good humor.
Sampling biases, which include
inability to contact persons whose
telephone numbers have changed,
could also affect the quality of data.