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Pros & Cons of Interviewing

1) Direct feedback from respondent You are assured that the responses are from theperson intended

2) Opportunity to probe Verbal or nonverbal prompts to encourage morecomplete, better explained responses

3) Can use observation as anotherevaluation method

Recording what you physically observe during theinterview provides additional information for youroverall assessment as you experience both theaffective and cognitive aspects of the responses

4) Yields rich data, details and new

insights

Allows respondents to describe what is

meaningful or important to them using their ownwords

May be able to obtain information that issensitive due to the conversational tone aninterview can have

May be able to use a quote as an effectivetestimonial or to further illustrate a statistic

5) Personal interaction withrespondent

Rapport can be developed with the interviewee

Respondent may feel more relaxed and candid

6) Topics can be explored in depth By using probes, interviews can shed light on thedetails of a particular response

7) Flexibility Interviews can be conducted in a variety oflocations and times

Interviews can be adapted to particular individualsand circumstances

Interviewers can utilize their knowledge, expertise

and interpersonal skills to further exploreunintended ideas or themes raised by therespondent that relates to the purpose

AD

VANTAGES

8) Opportunity to explain or clarifyquestions

Explaining or clarifying questions increases theaccuracy of the data collected

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1) Time-consuming Scheduling the interview, conducting theinterview, and inputting notes for analysis takestime

2) Interviewers need to be prepared Training interviewers may be necessary.Ensuring that the interviewer has knowledge ofthe subject matter, feels confident in his/her abilityto conduct the interview, and to record responsesare examples of where additional technicalassistance or training can improve the overallinterviewing process

3) Interviewer error or bias Factors such as tone of voice, the way a questionmay be rephrased, voicing an opinion, inadequatenote taking, even the gender and appearance of

the interviewer may lead to errors and bias

4) Flexibility Too much flexibility can result in inconsistenciesacross interviews. Variation in interview settingsdecreases control over the environment.

5) Analysis may be difficult Interviews can produce a lot of data in a shortamount of time. It is critical to have an analysisplan before you conduct the interviews toimprove the data entry and analysis

Results are more subjective

DISADVANTAGES

6) Costly Interviews are expensive in the amount of timerequired to train, schedule, conduct, input dataand analyze.

Adapted from the Text: User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluation, chapter 3, Mahoney, Colleen, 1997Inter Views: An Introduction to qualitative research interviewing, Kvale S., 1996

Prepared by Ed Minter, Regional Evaluation Specialist, Local Program Evaluation.

University of Wisconsin-Extension, Program Development & Evaluation. February 2003