SH1677

Quantitative Data Collection

I. Interviews
A. Structured Interviews
Advantages: (McLeod, 2015)
1. Structured interviews are easy to replicate as a fixed set of closed questions are used,
which are easy to quantify. This means it is easy to test for reliability.
2. Structured interviews are fairly quick to conduct which means that many interviews can
take place within a short amount of time. This means a large sample can be obtained
resulting in the findings being representative and having the ability to be generalized to
a large population.

Disadvantages: (McLeod, 2015)

1. Structured interviews are not flexible. This means new questions cannot be asked
impromptu (i.e. during the interview) as an interview schedule must be followed.
2. The answers from structured interviews lack detail as only closed questions are asked
which generate quantitative data. This means a research will not know why a person
behaves in a certain way
Types of Structured Interviews:
1. Face-to-face interviews
2. Telephone interviews
3. Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)
II. Questionnaires
A. Types of Questionnaires
1. Web-based Questionnaire
A new and inevitably growing methodology is the use of internet-based research. This
would mean receiving an e-mail on which you would click on an address that would take
you to a secure website to fill in a questionnaire. This type of research is often quicker and
less detailed. Some disadvantages of this method include the exclusion of people who do
not have a computer or are unable to access a computer. Also, the validity of such surveys
are in question as people might be in a hurry to complete it and so might not give accurate
responses.
2. Paper-pencil Questionnaire
It can be used to a large number of people that enables the researcher to save time and
money. People are more truthful while responding to the questionnaires regarding
controversial issues in particular because their responses are considered as anonymous, but
they also have drawbacks. The majority of the people who receive questionnaires do not
return them and those who do might not be representative of the originally selected sample.

Reference:
McLeod, S. A. (2014). The interview method. Simply psychology. Retrieved June 1, 2015 from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/interviews.html

05 Handout 2 *Property of STI

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