Questionnaires and Interviews

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are a set of designed questions. They are used to quickly collect data from a large group of people.
Distinguish between open-ended and closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions allow participants to respond in their own words while closed-ended questions have a set of predefined responses.
The Likert scale is commonly used in questionnaires to measure attitudes or feelings.
Make sure the questions are not leading or bias, as this could manipulate the participant’s response.

Interviews involve the researcher directly asking questions to the participant. They’re generally conducted in person, though phone or online interviews can also be valid.
There are two main types of interviews: structured and unstructured. Structured interviews have a set list of questions, while unstructured interviews don’t follow a rigid structure and allow for more spontaneity.
Remember the concept of interviewer bias, where the interviewer may subconsciously influence the participant’s responses.
There’s also the semi-structured interview, which includes both predefined questions as well as room for following up on interesting responses.
Probing questions are used to dig deeper into participant’s answers and gather more detailed responses.
Bear in mind the issue of social desirability bias where individuals modify their responses to appear favourable or socially acceptable, especially in face-to-face interviews.