Research Tips

Conversational Interviewing

Previously, attempts have been made to ensure that telephone surveys are conducted with great consistency; however, research suggests that decreasing consistency can actually increase the validity of the results of telephone surveys.¹ This is because even if questions are asked in exactly the same way in every interview, the people being interviewed may interpret the questions differently. A new technique, called conversational interviewing, focuses on ensuring consistent comprehension of survey questions rather than consistent delivery of those questions. While this approach appears to lead to more meaningful responses — particularly in situations in which multiple interpretations are possible — it requires more-highly skilled interviewers and longer interviews than traditional standardized interviews.

¹ Conrad, Frederick and Michael Schober (2000), “Clarifying Question Meaning in a Household Telephone Survey”, Public Opinion Quarterly, 64(1), 1-28.