Conducting the Interview/Survey

Conducting the Interview/Survey Adapted from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) Regional Training Workshop – Survey Techniques, Unicef& Introduction to Interviewing Techniques, USAID; The IRIS Center at the University of Maryland

Conducting an Interview

Building Rapport • Consider the context you are in • Be one of them rather than an alien • Make a good first impression • Do not be apologetic • Always have a positive approach • Stress confidentiality of responses • Answer any questions frankly • Interview the respondent alone – particularly important for Woman’s Interview

Tips for Conducting an Interview • Be neutral • Never suggest answers • Do not change the wording or sequence of questions • Handle hesitant respondents tactfully • Do not form expectations • Do not hurry the interview

Introduction • Identify yourself, survey sponsor • Explain purpose, what info is sought and how it will be used • Verify it is the right person • Stress confidentiality, voluntary participation, andthat respondent may ask questions • Ask permission to proceed

Contacting Households

Locating sampled households • We should have, for each sample cluster: • Up-to-date maps to indicate the location of structures, • Address information for each structure, • A list of the names of the heads of all the households living in the structures

Definitions • A structure is a free-standing building that can have one or more rooms in which people live, • Within a structure, there may be one or more dwelling (or housing) units. • A dwelling unit is a room or group of rooms occupied by one or more households. • A household is a person or group of persons that usually lives and eats together

Problems in contacting households • The selected household has moved away and the dwelling is vacant, • The household has moved away and a new one is now living in the same dwelling, • The structure number and name of household head do not match with what you find in the field, • The household selected does not live in the structure that was listed,

Problems in contacting household • The listing shows only one household in the dwelling but two households are living there now, • The head of the household has changed, • The house is all closed up and the neighbours say the people are on vacation for an extended period, • The house is all closed up and the neighbours say that no one lives there,

Problems in contacting households • A household is supposed to live in a structure that when visited is found to be a shop, • A selected structure is not found in the cluster, it was destroyed in a recent fire, • No one is home and neighbours tell you the family has gone to the market

Contacting Women, Mothers/Caretakers

Identifying Eligible Respondents • HH Questionnaire is used to identify who is eligible to be interviewed with the Woman’s and Under-5 Questionnaires. • All women age 15-49 years and children under 5 years of age who are members of the household are considered eligible for individual interviews • Primary caretakers are interviewed only if mother is not in the household list (Deceased? Living elsewhere?)

Asking Questions and Recording Answers

General procedures • Understand how to ask each question, • Know what information the question is attempting to collect • Know how to handle problems which might arise during the interview • Know how to correctly record the answers the respondent gives • Know how to follow special instructions in the questionnaire

Asking the questions • Ask each question exactly as it is written in the questionnaire (customized/translated previously) • Speak slowly and clearly. • When in need to repeat the question, do not paraphrase the question but repeat it exactly as it is written. • If, after we have repeated a question, the respondent still does not understand it, we may have to restate the question. • Be very careful when we change the wording, that we do not alter the meaning of the question.

Probing • In some cases, we may have to ask additional questions or probe, to obtain a complete answer from a respondent. • Be careful that probes are "neutral" and do not suggest an answer, • Probing requires both tact and skill and it is one of the most challenging aspects for interviewers.

Checking completed questionnaires • Review each questionnaire after completing the interview, before leaving the household • How to correct errors? Minor and serious ones • Do not recopy questionnaires. • Record ALL information on the questionnaires • Calculations and anything out of the ordinary should be explained in the questionnaire.

DO NOT

DO NOT • Get involved in long explanations of the study such as trying to explain sampling • Deviate from the study introduction, sequence of questions, or question wording • Try to justify or defend what you are doing. • Suggest an answer or agree or disagree with an answer

DO NOT • Rush the respondent • Patronize respondents • Dominate the interview • Prompt the respondent for specific answers • Let another person answer for the sampled respondent • Interview someone you know • Falsify interviews • Improvise

Ending the Interview

Ending the Interview • Thank client. Tell that it is important/helpful info to program • Answer any of client’s questions - about interview or content of survey

Checking completed questionnaires • Review each questionnaire after completing the interview, before leaving the household • How to correct errors? Minor and serious ones • Do not recopy questionnaires. • Record ALL information on the questionnaires • Calculations and anything out of the ordinary should be explained in the questionnaire.

Returning work assignments • At the end of fieldwork each day, the interviewers should: • Check that the cover sheet of a Household Questionnaire for each household assigned is filled, whether or not the interview was completed. • Report to supervisor about any problems • Return to the supervisor the completed Household Questionnaires and accompanying Woman’s and Children’s Questionnaires placed inside.

Conducting the Interview/Survey