INTERVIEW

Interview is the verbal conversation between two people with the objective of collecting
relevant information for the purpose of research.

According to McNamara, 1999

Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participant’s experiences.

The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the topic. Interviews may be
useful as follow-up to certain respondents.

Personal Interview

Personal Interview is a face to face two-way communication between the interviewer and
the respondents. Generally, the personal interview is carried out in a planned manner and
is referred to as ‘structured interview’. This can be done in many forms e.g. door to door
or as a planned formal executive meeting.

Telephone Interview

Telephone interview the information is collected from the respondent by asking him
questions on the phone is called as telephone interview. The combination of telephone and
computer has made this method even more popular. It has certain advantages and
disadvantages.

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Focus Group Interview

Focus group interview is an unstructured interview which involves a moderator leading a

discussion between a small group of respondents on a specific topic.

Depth Interview

Depth interview is nondirective in nature where the respondent is given freedom to answer
within the boundaries of the topic of interest.

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Criteria for the Interviewer

Knowledgeable -being familiar with the topic.

Structuring -outline the procedure of the interview.

Clear -simple, easy and short questions which are spoken distinctly and
understandably.

Gentle -being tolerant, sensitive and patient to provocative and unconventional

opinions.

Steering -to control the course of the interview to avoid digressions from the topic.

Critical -to test the reliability and validity of what the interviewee tells.

Remembering -retaining the subject information from the interviewee.

Interpreting -provide interpretation of what is said by the interviewee.

Types of Topics in Questions

Behaviors -what a person has done or is doing.

Opinions/values -what a person thinks about the topic.

Feelings -what a person feels rather than what a person thinks.

Knowledge -to get facts about the topic.

Sensory -what people have seen, touched, heard, tasted or smelled.

Background/demographics -standard background questions, such as age, education, etc.

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After the Interview

Verify if the tape recorder, if used, worked throughout the interview.

Make any notes on your written notes.

Write down any observations made during the interview.

THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF INTERVIEW

Advantage of Interview

There is some objectives or advantage of interview which are stated below:

Easy correction of speech: Any misunderstanding and mistake can be rectified easily in
an interview. Because the interviewer and interviewee physically present before the
interview board.

Development of relationship: Relation between the interviewer and the interviewee can
be developed through an interview. It increases mutual understanding and co-operation
between the parties.

Selection of suitable candidate: Suitable candidates can be selected through interview

because the interview can know a lot about the candidate by this process.

Collection of primary information: Interview can help to collect the fresh, new and
primary information as needed.

Sufficient information: Sufficient information can be collected through the interview

process. Because the interviewer can ask any question to the interviewee.

Time saving: Interview can help to save time to select the best suitable candidate. Within
a very short time communication can be accomplished with the interview.

Less costly: It is less costly than other process of communication. It is very simple, prompt
and low cost method of communication.

Increasing knowledge: Any interview increases the knowledge of both the interviewer
and the interviewee. They can interchange their views and ideas.

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Explore cause behind the problem: In business, executives need to solve different types
of problems. To explore or to find out the actual reasons behind the problem interview
method can be used.

In depth analysis: Through planed interviews detailed information can be collected which
enables proper analysis of a problem. Abstract factors like attitudes, feelings, opinion etc.
Can be successfully evaluated or analyzed through interviews.

Solving labor problems: Labor unrest and other disputes are very common in the
industries. Sometimes human resource managers use the interview as a means of reveling
actual causes behind the labor deputes.

Flexible: One of the major advantages of interview is feasible. That depends on the
situation it can be framed differently.

Disadvantages of Interview

There are some limitations of the interview process. It is not free from defects. The
disadvantages of the interview are discussed below:

Incomplete process: Suitable candidate cannot be selected by interview only. The written
test is more important than the interview.

No record: In the case of the interview some confusion may be arisen in the future as,
there is no evidence actually that have been discussed at interview.

Lack of attention: Much attention is required for a good interview. But sometimes it is
observed that both the interviewer and the interviewee are less attentive. That is why real
information cannot be collected.

Disappointed: Interviewee may be disappointed while she or he faces the interviewer’s

questions which are not related to the field. That is why suitable candidate may be
neglected.

Time consuming: Time constrain is one of the major limitations of the interview process.
Preparation for the interview, taking interviews and interpretation of the responses
required much time, which makes the interview method time consuming.

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Biases of interviewer: Always there is a possibility that the interview process can be
influenced by the biases of the interviewer.

Costly: Generally, interview method is expensive.

Inefficiency of the interviewer: Interview is a systematic process of data collection. The

success of an interview depends on the efficiency of the interviewer. This inefficiency of
an interviewer can lead to misleading results.

Not suitable for personal matters: Personal matters may not be revealed by interview
method.

“Interview method is considered as the most reliable method of data collection.”

Interview method is basically used to do an in-depth study of the research problem. In this
method, a researcher asks the respondents to react or speak on a particular topic or
situation. In the interview method, the researcher is in a better condition to study the
attitudes, motivations, and opinions of respondents. However, the researcher should keep
certain things in mind while conducting the interviews. Sometimes, it is very difficult for
the researcher to ask direct or personal questions because the respondents are not willing
to answer such questions.

Therefore, the researcher should make the interview environment comfortable to get the
answers of personal questions from respondents. In interview method, we reduce the cost
by using different communications mediums, which are as follows:

1. Telephonic interviews:

Telephone interview the information is collected from the respondent by asking him
questions on the phone is called as telephone interview. The combination of telephone and
computer has made this method even more popular. It has certain advantages and
disadvantages.

2. Computer-assisted interviews:
Refer to the interviews in which the researcher takes interviews with the help of
computers. There are two types of computer-assisted interviews, namely Computer
Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI) and Computer Assisted Personal Interviews
(CAPI). In CATI, a computer system is connected with the telephone of interviewer. The

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questions appear on the screen of the computer and interviewer asks those questions
through telephone. The interviewer feeds the responses of the interviewees in the
computer system. In CAPI, the interviewees can administer their interviews themselves
with the help of software installed in their systems. They can directly feed their responses
in the computer systems.

Focus Group Interview

Focus group interview is an unstructured interview which involves a moderator leading a

discussion between a small group of respondents on a specific topic.

Depth Interview

Depth interview is nondirective in nature where the respondent is given freedom to answer
within the boundaries of the topic of interest.

When Does the Interview Start?

The interview process starts with your first contact with the program. If you are rude to
the residency coordinator or require an extraordinary amount of help with scheduling, you
can be sure the residency leadership will hear about it.

Do be polite to everyone you meet. No exceptions.

Do get any paperwork in on time. Residency involves a lot of paperwork from

credentialing to immunization reviews, to completing your charts. Programs may shy
away from a resident who has to be emailed personally multiple times to fill out their
paperwork or schedule their interview, as it is a red flag for requiring a lot of extra help
in the future.

Do take responsibility for your own travel details. Look online to schedule things like
airport shuttles and places to stay. Do not expect the residency coordinator to help you
with that. Programs may have lists of residents who are willing to host interviewees and
it is fine to ask for that. But remember, you are interviewing the entire time you are staying

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with that resident, because any concerning behavior will make it back to the program
director.

Don’t cancel the day before. If you cancel an interview spot, then that is one spot wasted
that could have been offered to one of the hundreds of other applicants who were turned
down. It is poor form and reflects poorly on you and your school. Give as much notice as
possible if you have to cancel.

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