A key advantage of the interview method over questionnaires is the ability to ask probing and follow-up questions, allowing for deeper insights and clarification.
Why Probing Questions Matter
Unlike static questionnaires, interviews provide a dynamic interaction. This dynamic nature allows the interviewer to adapt the conversation based on the respondent's initial answers.
- Deeper Understanding: When a respondent provides a brief answer, the interviewer can ask "Can you tell me more about that?" or "What did you mean by...?" This flexibility is crucial for uncovering motivations, feelings, and detailed experiences that a questionnaire's fixed response options might miss.
- Clarification: If a response is unclear or ambiguous, the interviewer can immediately seek clarification. This prevents misinterpretation of data, which is a significant risk with self-administered questionnaires where the researcher cannot ask for more information.
- Exploring Nuances: Interviews allow for the exploration of complex topics and subjective experiences. Probing helps to tease out the nuances and specific context behind a respondent's viewpoint.
As highlighted by research, one of the key advantages of interviews is the ability to ask probing and follow-up questions. These additional queries delve deeper into the respondent's responses, seeking clarification or eliciting more detailed information. This direct interaction ensures that the researcher fully understands the respondent's perspective.
Interview vs. Questionnaire: Probing Capability
Here's a quick look at this specific advantage:
| Feature | Interview Method | Questionnaire Method |
|---|---|---|
| Probing/Follow-up | High ability to ask spontaneous, tailored probes based on responses. | Little to no ability to probe or ask for clarification during data collection. |
| Depth of Data | Potential for rich, detailed, nuanced data. | Data limited by pre-defined questions and response options. |
| Clarification | Immediate clarification possible. | Clarification often not possible during collection. |
This ability to follow the thread of a respondent's thoughts and feelings is a significant benefit, especially when exploring complex social issues, personal experiences, or detailed processes. It moves beyond just what a respondent thinks to why they think it, providing richer, more qualitative data.
