04/03/2014

Focus

Fieldwork

Fieldworkdatacollectionprocess
Selectionandtrainingoffieldworkers
Guidelines
Supervisionoffieldworkers
Validationoffieldwork
Evaluationoffieldworkers

Fieldwork

Fieldwork/DataCollectionProcess

Selectionoffieldworkers
Developjobspecificationsfortheproject,
takingintoaccountthemodeofdata
collection

SelectingFieldWorkers
TrainingFieldWorkers

Decidewhatcharacteristicsthefieldworkers
shouldhave

SupervisingFieldWorkers
ValidatingFieldwork
EvaluatingFieldWorkers

Fieldwork

Recruitappropriateindividuals
3

GeneralQualificationsofFieldWorkers

Fieldwork

Trainingoffieldworkers

Fieldworkersshouldbe

Toensurethatallinterviewersadministerthe
questionnaireinthesamemanner

Healthy:Staminarequiredtodothejob
Outgoing:Toestablishrapportwiththerespondents

Steps involved in training

Stepsinvolvedintraining

Communicative:
C
i i Effectivespeakingandlisteningskillsareagreatasset

Makingtheinitialcontact
Askingthequestions
Probing
Recordingtheanswers
Terminatingtheinterview

Pleasantappearance:Unpleasantorunusualphysicalappearancemay
leadtobiasincollecteddata

Educated:Goodreadingandwritingskills
Experienced:Experiencedinterviewersarelikelytodoabetterjob
Fieldwork

Fieldwork

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Makingtheinitialcontact

Askingthequestions
Bethoroughlyfamiliarwiththequestionnaire
Askthequestionsintheorderinwhichtheyappear
inthequestionnaire
Usetheexactwordinggiveninthequestionnaire
Readeachquestionslowly
Repeatquestionsthatarenotunderstood
Askeveryapplicablequestion
Followinstructionandskippatterns,probing
carefully

Thefieldworkershould
Introduce himself/herselftotheinterviewee
Askforanappointment iftherespondentisnot
willing to respond immediately
willingtorespondimmediately
Beappropriatelytrainediffootinthedoor or
doorintheface techniquesareemployed

Fieldwork

Fieldwork

CommonlyUsedProbesand
Abbreviations

Probing:Somecommonlyusedtechniques

Repeatingthequestion
Repeatingtherespondentsreply
Usingapauseorsilentprobe
Boosting or reassuring the respondent
Boostingorreassuringtherespondent
Elicitingclarification
Usingobjective/neutralquestionsor
comments

Fieldwork

Standard Interviewers Probe

Abbreviation

Any other reason?

Any others?
Anything else?
Could you tell me more about your thinking on that?
How do you mean?
Repeat question
What do you mean?
Which would be closer to the way you feel?
Why do you feel that way?
Would you tell me what you have in mind?

(AO?)
(Other?)
(AE or Else?)
(Tell more)
(How mean?)
(RQ)
(What mean?)
(Which closer?)
(Why?)
(What in mind?)

Fieldwork

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GuidelinesonInterviewerTraining:TheCouncilofAmerican
SurveyResearchOrganizations

Recordingtheanswers

Trainingshouldbeconductedunderthedirectionofsupervisorypersonneland
shouldcoverthefollowing:

Recordresponsesduringtheinterview
Usetherespondentsownwords
Donotsummarizeorparaphrasethe
respondentsanswers
d
Includeeverythingthatpertainstothe
questionobjectives
Includeallprobesandcomments
Repeattheresponseasitiswrittendown
Fieldwork

1)

Theresearchprocess:howastudyisdeveloped,implementedandreported.

2)

Importanceofinterviewers;needforhonesty,objectivityandprofessionalism.

3)

Confidentialityoftherespondentandclient.

4)

Familiaritywithmarketresearchterminology.
l
h
k
h
l

5)

Importanceoffollowingtheexactwordingandrecordingresponsesverbatim.

6)

Purposeanduseofprobingandclarifyingtechniques.

7)

Thereasonforanduseofclassificationandrespondentinformationquestions.

8)

Areviewofsamplesofinstructionsandquestionnaires.

9)

Importanceoftherespondentspositivefeelingsaboutsurveyresearch.
Aninterviewermustbetrainedintheinterviewingtechniquesoutlinedabove.

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Fieldwork

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GuidelinesonSupervision:TheCouncilofAmericanSurvey
ResearchOrganizations

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)

GuidelinesonInterviewing:TheCouncilofAmericanSurvey
ResearchOrganizations

Allresearchprojectsshouldbeproperlysupervised.Itisthedatacollection
agencysresponsibilityto:
Properlysuperviseinterviews.
Seethatanagreeduponproportionofinterviewerstelephonecallsare
monitored.
Beavailabletoreportonthestatusoftheprojectdailytotheproject
director,unlessotherwiseinstructed.
Keepallstudies,materials,andfindingsconfidential.
Notifyconcernedpartiesiftheanticipatedscheduleisnotmet.
Attendallinterviewerbriefings.
Keepcurrentandaccuraterecordsoftheinterviewingprogress.
Makesureallinterviewershaveallmaterialsintime.
Editeachquestionnaire.
Provideconsistent&positivefeedbacktotheinterviewers.
Notfalsifyanywork.
Fieldwork

Recordallrepliesverbatim,notparaphrased.

11)

Avoidunnecessaryconversationwiththerespondent.

12)

Probe&clarifyinaneutralmannerforadditionalcommentsonallopen
endedquestions,unlessotherwiseindicated.

Checkallworkforthoroughnessbeforeturningintothesupervisor.

15)

Whenterminatingarespondent,doitneutrally.

16)

Keepallstudies,materials,andfindingsconfidential.

17)

Notfalsifyanyinterviewsoranyanswerstoanyquestion.

18)

Thanktherespondentforparticipatinginthestudy.

Readeachquestionexactlyaswritten.Reportanyproblemstothesupervisorassoon
aspossible.

3)

Readthequestionsintheorderindicatedonthequestionnaire,followingtheproper
skipsequences.

4)

Clarifyanyquestionbytherespondentinaneutralway.

5)

Notmisleadrespondentsastothelengthoftheinterview.

6)

Notrevealtheultimateclientsidentityunlessinstructedtodoso.

7)

Keepatallyonandthereasonforeachterminatedinterview.

8)

Remainneutral,donotindicate(dis)agreementwiththerespondent.
Fieldwork

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Making surefieldworkersarefollowingtheprocedures
andtechniquesinwhichtheyweretrained
Involves

Speakslowlyanddistinctly.

10)

Writeneatlyandlegibly.

2)

SupervisionofFieldWorkers

9)

14)

Providehisorherfullname,ifaskedbytherespondent,aswellasaphonenumberfor
theresearchfirm.

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GuidelinesonInterviewing:TheCouncilofAmericanSurvey
ResearchOrganizations

13)

Eachintervieweristofollowthesetechniquesforgoodinterviewing:
1)

QualityControlandEditing
Checktoseeifthefieldproceduresarebeingproperlyimplemented

SamplingControl
Sampling Control
Toensurethattheinterviewersarestrictlyfollowingthesamplingplan

Fieldwork

ControlofCheating
Cheatingcanbeminimizedthroughpropertraining,supervision,and
validation

CentralOfficeControl
Supervisorsprovidequalityandcostcontrolinformationtothecentral
office.
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EvaluationofFieldWorkers

ValidationofFieldwork

CostandTime. Theinterviewerscanbecomparedin
termsofthetotalcost(salaryandexpenses)per
completedinterview.

Thesupervisorscall10 25%oftherespondentstoinquire
whetherthefieldworkersactuallyconductedthe
interviews.

ResponseRates. Itisimportanttomonitorresponserates
onatimelybasissothatcorrectiveactioncanbetakenif
y
theseratesaretoolow.

Thesupervisorsaskaboutthelengthandqualityofthe
h
k b
h l
h d
l
f h
interview,reactiontotheinterviewer,andbasic
demographicdata.

QualityofInterviewing. Toevaluateinterviewersonthe
qualityofinterviewing,thesupervisormustdirectly
observetheinterviewingprocess.

Thedemographicinformationiscrosscheckedagainstthe
informationreportedbytheinterviewersonthe
questionnaires.
Fieldwork

QualityofData. Thecompletedquestionnairesofeach
interviewershouldbeevaluatedforthequalityofdata.
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Fieldwork

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