MEANING AND FEATURES OF PERSONAL INTERVIEW:
Personal/face-to-face interview is one popular and extensively used method of primary data collection for MR. It is probably the oldest method/technique of MR. It consists of a two-way conversation initiated by the interviewer for obtaining information on specific issues. Interviewing, in fact, is a social process; it involves an interaction between the two for specific purpose. It is a purposeful conversation between the interviewer and respondent for specific purpose. According to C. William Emory, “Personal interviewing is a two-way purpose conversation initiated by an interviewer to obtain information that is relevant to some research purpose”.
The backbone of personal interview is the questionnaire prepared for specific survey. The interviewer uses this questionnaire as a base and collects the required information from the respondents.
For effective and purposeful personal interview, the interviewer needs proper education and training. He must ask the questions properly and encourage the respondent to supply maximum possible information. He should also note the additional information, if any, supplied by the respondent. The interviewer should be aware of the purpose for which the survey is being conducted.
The outcome of personal interview largely depends on the ability, maturity and sincerity of the interviewer. The response from the respondent largely depends on the interest and initiative of the interviewer and the manner in which the interview is being conducted by the interviewer.
The interviewers general responsibilities are as noted below:
(a) To locate informants.
(b) To translate these contacts into purposeful interviews.
(c) To collect valid and reliable responses.
(d) To record all such responses accurately.
Personal interview method is certainly superior as compared to mail / telephone survey methods of data collection. There is direct communication in personal interview and the interviewer is in a position to collect additional information about the subject matter of research project and also about the respondent. This method is costly and time-consuming but is treated as an ideal method as it provides maximum possible information from the respondents. As a result, personal interviewing retains its long held dominance across a wide spectrum of surveys – market, social, political.
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