RESEARCH METHODOLGY-EDU 702

INSTRUMENTATION II(Interview, Checklist & Observation)

Syed Khairul Hisham (2009 )

Siti Fairuz binti Hamid(2009152243)

Nur Shaminah Mustafa Kamalu(2009957497)

INTERVIEWSInterview is an interchangeable of views between two or more people on a topic of mutual interest (Kvale, 1996)Enable participants ( either interviewers or interviewee ) to discuss their interpretations of the world in which they live, and to express how they regard situation from the point of viewAlso known as careful asking of relevant questionUsed by qualitative researchers to collect data

• Important way for a researchers to check the accuracy of – to verify or refute – the impressions he or she has gained through observation

• Purpose of interviewing -To find out what is in their mind-Evaluate or assess a person in some respect-To test or develop hypothesis-To gather data-To sample respondent’s opinions

Concepts of interview (Kitwood, 1977)

• a) Pure information transferask questions in an acceptable manner, respondents are sincere, accuracy may be obtained (vice versa)

• b) has biasNeed to be controlled and recognized

• c) encounter necessarily sharing many of the feature of everyday life Theory of everyday life is needed, include role – playing, stereotype, perception and understanding

• Types of interviews – Structured semi- structured informal retrospective

Structured interviewContent and procedures are organized in advanceSequence are determined by scheduleUnstructured interview-open situation, flexibility and freedom-content, sequence and wording determined by

interviewer- Often best conducted toward the end of a study

• Informal interviewsMuch less formal than structured or semi-structuredResemble casual conversations, pursuing the interests of both the researchers and the respondent in returnmost common type of interviewsTo find out what people think and how the views of one individual compare with those of anotherMost difficult of all interviews as wellIssue of ethicsMust create environment of trust, cooperation and mutual respectPlanning and asking good questions

• Retrospectivecan be structured, semi structured or informaltries to get respondents to recall and then reconstruct from memory something that has happened in the pastleast likely to provide accurate & reliable dataKey- Actor Interview

• Key informants – people that are informed about their history and culture of their group

• Knowledgeable individual and may provide detailed information about a group’s past and contemporary happenings and relationship

• Researchers need to seek and establish a bond of trust with them

Interview versus questionnairesconsiderations interview questionnaire

expense To interviewers Postage and printing

Opportunities for response extensive limited

asking extensive limited

probing possible difficult

Number of respondents can be reached

limited No limit

Overall reliability Limited fair

Rate of return good poor

• Informal conversational interviewtypes Characteristics Strength weaknesses

Informal conversational

Questions emerge from immediate context and asked naturally

Increase salience and relevancy, interviews can be matched

Different information collected, data analyze difficult

Interview guide Topics specific, interviewers decide sequence and wording

Systematic, logical and fair

Important data may left out, certain question may be interpreted and answered differently

Open – ended interview

Exact word are determined in advance, same questions to interviewee

Same answer for questions, data can be comparable, reduces bias

No flexibility, certain question may limit natural and relevance

Fixed response/Closed interview

Questions and responses categories are determined in advance and fixed

Data analyses are simple , easy comparison

Experiences and feelings must be fit, maybe impersonal and irrelevant

Interview approach• One on one interview

Most time consuming costly approachOnly one participant at a timeideal for interviewing participants who are not hesitant to speak, articulate and can share ideas comfortably

• Focus group interviewsinterviewer ask a questions in group to think about a series of questionscomment of an issue where everyone can listen to an opinion

• Telephone interviewsDue to barriers, geographical locationInclude adapter for phone recording

• Electronic mail interviewsUsing mail by sending mail to interviewee

Types of interview questions

• Background ( demographic)

• Knowledge questions ( beliefs, attitudes )

• Experience

• Opinion

• Feeling questions

• Sensory questions

Steps in interviewing• Identify the interviewee• Determine type of interview• Record the interview• Take briefs notes• Locate a nice environment for interview• Obtain consent from interviewee• Plan but flexible• Use probe• Courteous and professionals

Interviewing behaviour• Respect the culture of the group being studied• Respect the individual being interviewed• Be natural• Develop an appropriate rapport• Ask same questions in different ways• Ask the interviewee to repeat an answer if in

doubt• Control the flow of communication• Avoid leading questions ( open ended )• Don’t interrupt• Do not ask yes or no questions

Recording interview datatape recordertaking notesvideo tapemicrophoneMail programs for email interviewing

Ethics of an interview• Researchers need to protect the anonymity of

the interviewee• Reduced risk to participants• Data are responsibility confidential• Respect the respondents to participate or

withdraw• Protect participants from harm, mental

discomfort• Provides participants with information about

nature of study

Conclusion Advantages Disadvantages

Flexible expensive

Personal perspective is provided. Meaning and feelings can be provided

Time consuming

Dialogue for clarification manipulation by respondent

Greater depth of information

Must have ability to interpret data

CHECKLISTSCHECKLISTS

Performance Checklists

• One of the most frequently used of all measuring instruments

• Consist of a list of behaviors that make up a certain type of performance

• Use to determine whether an individual behaves in a certain way when asked to complete a particular task.

• If a particular behavior is present, the researcher places a check mark on the list.

R.F. Jack & E.W. Norman (2010)

Self-Checklist

• Is a list of several characteristics or activities presented to the subjects of study.

• The subjects will mark the checklist themselves in which they have engaged.

• Usually use by the researcher that wants subjects to diagnose their own performances.

Creating a Reliable Checklist

Advantages

Disadvantages

• Limited response to the questions• They never have enough categories to include

every event you observe (Saphier, 1993).• There is usually no place to record supporting

evidence f for your claims because the limited space (Saphier, 1993) .

Observation

• process of recording the behavioral patterns of people, objects, and occurrences without questioning or communicating with them.(Burney & White,2004)

• an act of recognizing and noting a fact or occurrence often involving measurement with instruments.(Merriam Webster online dictionary)

The degree of observation:

Participant observation

-the researcher participate in the setting they are observing.-divided into 2:A-overt observationB-covert observation

Overt observation-identity of the researcher is known to the participants

Covert observation-do no reveal the identity as a researcher.

Nonparticipant observation

• -researcher do not participate in the activity; “sit on the sidelines” and watch.

• -shows that he/she is an interested observer who is conducting a research.

Naturalistic observation

• observing individuals in their natural setting

• The researcher do not manipulate any of the variables.

• Records as things naturally occur.

• Subjects may not realise that they are being studied

Variations in approaches to Observation

A single observation of limited Multiple observations; long-termduration (e.g., 30 minutes). duration (e.g., months, even years).

Narrow focus: Only a single Broad focus: Holistic view of the activity orelement or characteristic is observed. characteristic being observed and all of

its elements is sought.

The purpose of the The purpose of the No explanation is False explanations areobservation is fully explained observation is given to any of the given; participants are

to all involved. explained to some of participants. deceived about thethe participants. purpose of the

observation.

Full-participant Partial Onlooker;observation participation observer is an outsider

Participants know Some but not Participants do not knowthat observations are being all of the that observations are beingmade and they know who is participants made or that there is

making them. know the observer. someone observing them.

Role of the Observer

How the Observer Is Portrayed to Others

How the Purpose of the Observation Is Portrayed to Others

Duration of the Observations

Focus of the Observations

Simulations

• Observation done by creating a situation and ask subjects to act out; role play.

• Two types of role-playing• a)individual role-playing• b)team role-playing

• Researcher tells what to do, BUT not how to do it.

Observer Effect

Impact due to the presence of the observer and impact on a study being done.

Effect of observer:a-arouse curiosity of the people being observeb-behaviour of those being observe influence

by the researcher’s purpose.

Observer bias Referred to as the possibility that certain

characteristics or ideas of observers may be bias with what they are actually observing.

Biasness happens due to past experience which in turn affect how we see the world.

How to reduce observe bias?i-study the subjective factors objectively.ii-collect data from a variety of perspective, using variety

of formats.Iii-work in teams in order to check own observations

against another’s

Coding observational data

• Coding scheme-a set of categories that an observer uses to record the frequency of an individual’s or group’s behaviour.

• An observer still must choose what to observe, even with a fixed coding scheme.

• Data are coded into categories that emerge as the analysis proceeds

Observational tools

• Field notes

• Video recorder-permits the researcher to repeatedly review the behaviour of an individual or group.

• Voice recorder

Advantages of Observation

– Validity - which is measuring what we set out to

measure-If behavior or events are clearly defined,then we have valid observation

No problem with respondents’ misunderstanding or misreporting

Direct observation of consumers

Disadvantages of Observation

– Can only observe physical actions, physical characteristics, etc.

• CANNOT observe intentions, motivations• CANNOT draw any conclusions about anything other

than the physical actions or events

– Not all actions can be observed