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##  Designing Structured Interviews for Educational Research. ERIC/AE               Digest.                                                                      

[Adapted from General Accounting Office (1991). "Using Structured               Interviewing Techniques." Washington, DC: Program Evaluation and                Methodology Division Report 10.1.5.] 
One key element in conducting            useful research is gathering reliable information. And the basis for            doing that is designing questions and questionnaires that get the               kind of information from which the researcher can draw valid                    conclusions. 
When one looks at a completed questionnaire or the               results of a valid study, he or she is often tempted to say, "That's            not difficult to do," but that temptation quickly passes after a few            minutes of closer analysis. That's about all it takes to realize                that designing a good question and good questionnaire requires more             thought and time than one might originally think. There are an                  almost infinite variety of things to think about and to do correctly            to avoid the kinds of errors that can make scores of hours of work              worthless. 
This digest looks at some of the basic building blocks             of a structured interview, points out potential pitfalls, and                   suggests ways for the researcher to avoid them, in order to produce             a set of questions that have the best possibility of generating                 reliable, accurate data on the topics of interest. SOME BASIC                 TERMSThe first thing that a new researcher needs to know is some            standard terminology. This knowledge helps that person understand               other concepts to be introduced and puts him or her in a position to            communicate with more experienced people in the                                 discipline. 
Data-collection instrument (DCI)--A document                      containing questions presented in a systematic, highly precise                  fashion. The DCI's purpose is to enable the evaluator to obtain                 uniform data that can be compared, summed, and, if it is                        quantitative, subjected to additional statistical                               analysis. 
Structured interview--One that uses a DCI to gather                 data, either by telephone or face to face. In a structured                      interview, the evaluator asks the same questions of numerous                    individuals in a precise manner, offering each individual the same              set of possible responses. (In contrast, an unstructured interview              contains many open-ended questions that are not asked in a precise,             structured way.) 
Computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI)--A              form of telephone interview where the DCI is stored in a computer               and the interviewer records responses directly into the                         computer. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO VARIOUS DATA-GATHERING              METHODSThis section discusses the relative benefits and                     disadvantages of the two primary types of structured interviews and             compares them to the mail questionnaire. 
Face-to-Face                         Interview 
- Enables the interviewer to establish rapport with the             respondent 
- Allows the interviewer to observe as well as                     listen 
- Permits more complex questions to be asked than in other             types of data collection 
- An effective method of gathering data              when the DCI is lengthy 
- Some uses: to get before-and-after data             about a lesson module or a change in administrative procedure; to               gather opinions on a specific learning or teaching                              technique 
Telephone Interview 
- Less costly than personal                   interview 
- Takes less time than a personal interview 
-                     Simplifies recording of data if CATI is used 
- Most effective when            the number of questions is relatively small and time available to               gather data is short 
- Some uses: gathering information on parent             satisfaction with the educational program; determining awareness of             programs and tools available in the school district 
Mail                      Questionnaire (not a structured interview method) 
- Least costly              but slowest method of collecting data 
- Requires precise question             design to match reading comprehension of respondents 
- Some uses:             to get demographic information on district residents; to get                    opinions on potential new programs, if they can be clearly described            in the questionnaire 
DESIGNING A STRUCTURED INTERVIEW The first               step in designing the interview is to formulate the broad overall               questions that the survey is intended to answer, i.e., 
- Why is               the study being undertaken? 
- What does the study aim to learn or             determine? 
- - To describe something that has occurred; e.g., How             do parents view the value of computer use as an aid to teaching math            in elementary grades? 
- - To compare results to some standard (a              normative study); e.g., Has the use of computers as a teaching aid              matched the goals of the teachers using these tools? 
- - To                   determine if a procedural change has made a difference (a                       cause-and-effect study); e.g., Has the use of computer-assisted                 instruction changed student attitudes about learning math? 
The                second task is to translate the broad overall questions into                    measurable elements as hypotheses or more precise questions. The                descriptive question above, for example, would require developing               measures such as parents' relative knowledge about computer use in              math instruction, the importance parents place on math learning,                whether parents believe their children learned more with or without             the use of computer technology, to name a few. 
Then, the target               population needs to be identified. If computer-assisted math                    instruction is new only to a certain grade or school, care needs to             be taken to interview only the parents whose children have been                 affected by the program change. It may sound basic, but innumerable             studies have proceeded to unsatisfactory completion because of                  insufficient consideration of this aspect. 
Now, the study can                 proceed to the development of a pool of specific questions designed             to elicit the desired information. The number of questions developed            should be more than the number to be asked; then, the most                      appropriate and useful can be selected from those                               available. COMPOSING APPROPRIATE QUESTIONSThree main criteria             exist for writing appropriate questions: relevance, selection of the            proper respondents, ease of answering. 
- Relevance--Questions                 should be directly related to the purpose of the study and have a               good probability of yielding the kind of data desired. 
- Selection            of respondents--Even though a question may be relevant to the study,            it may not be answerable by the people to whom it will be asked. 
-            Ease of response--Questions need to be relatively easy to answer and            should not create embarrassment for or an undue burden on the                   interviewee. 
Among the types of questions that should be avoided              are those that require respondents to consult records or other                  information sources, would make them uncomfortable for any reason,              would reflect negatively on them, would make the interview                      confrontational, or have no specific answer. SELECTING A QUESTION             FORMATImportant considerations in deciding on the format of                 questions include how the question is to be delivered (mail,                    telephone, face to face), the type of information the respondent is             expected to provide, and the possible alternative responses. Making             these decisions will result in the selection of open-ended,                     fill-in-the blank, binary-choice, scaled-response, or                           unscaled-response questions. Of course, depending on the type of                information desired, a structured interview questionnaire will                  generally have a combination of these types of questions. 
-                   Open-ended--Because open-ended questions provide no structure for               the answer, they should be tightly focused to elicit the kind of                information the researcher wants to get. And, because they require              accurate and time-consuming transcription, their use should be                  limited to initial research where the number of respondents is small            and the object is to refine the research direction and determine                more precise questions that can be structured another way. 
-                  Fill-in-the-blank--This type of question has a simple answer,                   usually a name, frequency, or quantity, which is the kind of                    information these questions are good at obtaining. 
- Binary--These            are good for obtaining factual information that falls into the                  yes-no, true-false category of answer. 
- Scaled-response--These               consist of a list of alternative responses that increase or decrease            in intensity in an ordered fashion. These kinds of questions can be             further defined as balanced, unbalanced, and rating and ranking. 
-            Unscaled-response--With this type of question, the respondent is                asked to choose one or more options from a list; this is the type of            question that should include the ootheroe category so that the                  responder is not forced to select an answer with which he or she is             not completely satisfied. 
The reader should be alerted to the fact            that this digest provides only an introduction to structured                    interviewing. Success in developing and conducting structured                   interviews requires consulting and studying additional references               and reliance on the assistance of experts in the field. REFERENCES            AND RECOMMENDED READINGCampion, M.A., Campion, J.E., & Hudson,              J.P., Jr. (1994). "Structured Interviewing: A Note on Incremental               Validity and Alternative Question Types." Journal of Applied                    Psychology, 79, 998-1002. 
Hollwitz, J. & Wilson,                              C.E. (1993). "Structured Interviewing in Volunteer Selection."                  Journal of Applied Communication Research, 21, 41-52. 
General                 Accounting Office. (1991). Using Structured Interviewing Techniques.            Washington, D.C.: Program Evaluation and Methodology                            Division (http://www.gao.gov/policy/10_1_5.pdf). 
Pawlas,                      G.E. (1995). "The Structured Interview: Three Dozen Questions to Ask            Prospective Teachers." NASSP Bulletin, 79, 62-65. 
Watts,                      G.E. (1993). "Effective Strategies in Selecting Quality Faculty."               Paper presented at the International Conference for Community                   College Chairs, Deans, and Other Instructional Leaders. Phoenix,                AZ. 
This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of             Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education,             under contract RR93002002. The opinions expressed in this report do             not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the                U.S. Department of Education. Permission is granted to copy and                 distribute this ERIC/AE Digest.                                              **Title:** Designing Structured Interviews for Educational Research. ERIC/AE               Digest.                                                                      **Note:** Adapted from "Using Structured Interviewing Techniques," General                Accounting Office, Washington, DC: Program Evaluation and                       Methodology Division Report No. 10.1.5.                                      **Document Type:** Guides---Non-Classroom Use (055); Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, 210 O'Boyle Hall,              The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064; phone:                800-464-3742.                                                                **Descriptors:**  Data Collection,  Educational Research, Elementary Secondary                   Education, Higher Education,  Research Design, Research Methodology,             Telephone Surveys,  Test Construction, Test Items                           **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests,  Structured Interviews                                         
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