Sociology 2206A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Structured Interview
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Prominent errors in survey research: poorly worded questions. If flawed, observed variations may not reflect true interviewee variation: closed ended questions reduce potential sources of error and are easier to process for quantitative data. Dealing with interviewer effects: certain characteristics, especially sex and race will affect responses given, a way to avoid this is to first conduct a pilot study, which is a preliminary mini test before the actual one. This will allow interviewers to see if the responses they are getting are very different from the majority. Interviewer contexts: usually done by one interviewer, sitting or standing in front of the respondent. In focus groups, there are generally more respondents, so more than one interviewer may be present- not usually done, but if so, usually by qualitative researchers: can be done over the telephone, which is: Can reduce bias arising from the characteristics of the interviewer, as interviewee cannot see them: however, they also: