Survey Interviewing - What We Don't Talk About

Standardising how interviewers administer a questionnaire face-to-face to a respondent is one of the key aspects that we Market Researchers like to emphasise. Hence we hold elaborate briefing and training sessions for our interviewers on how to administer a questionnaire, and then try to enforce standardisation and interviewer integrity through elaborate quality monitoring systems.

In the whole process what we forget - or do not like to talk about - is that the responses we get to a question in a face-to-face interview is also based on the personality of the interviewer.  An enthusiastic and charming interviewer gets a different response as compared to an interviewer who lacks self-confidence or is introverted. Based on my observations in the field, an enthusiastic or charming interviewer gets higher number of spontaneous brand recalls and greater depth of responses to open-ended questions. And, of course, self-confident interviewers also tend to get easier access into higher social class areas.

The Art of Interviewing has therefore similarities to the Art of Selling. No matter how uniformly salesmen have been trained, there are salesmen who - by the force of their personality - get a different response from their customers, and therefore get different results.

The "personality factor" of the interviewer becomes a major issue in Continuous Tracking studies where maintaining interviewer consistency over long durations of the track is critical.  Drop-out rate of interviewers is rising at alarming rates, thanks largely to poor remuneration, low status and mounting refusal rates.  In tracking studies when there is such a high churn rate it becomes a huge challenge, as every time an interviewer is replaced it results in data fluctuation because of the "personality" factor - no matter how well the new substitute interviewer has been trained.  These kind of data fluctuations are euphemistically called "sampling error" and is not linked to any real market place events ("real" fluctuations).

With higher interviewer churn, a greater and greater proportion of the Face-to-Face Tracking data fluctuations will be interviewer related, and not due to market events.  And despite longer and longer "rolling periods" to neutralise the variations, the data in Tracking studies will only continue to fluctuate even more due to interviewer churn. This will pose a formidable challenge to the Researcher - as not only would his research and interpretative skills be tested, but also his client handling skills to ensure that the client does not lose faith in the data and - more critically - in the philosophy of the Continuous Tracking system.

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The opinions expressed here are my own - and not necessarily that of the organisations I have worked for

Vada Pav & Strategic Thinking

Paresh Bhai looked at his investment with satisfaction. His investment in the Ganesh fast food outlet was a master-stroke. Its location next to the Sulabh Sauchalya (Public Toilets) was a major strategic advantage as he had shrewdly observed that people after a visit to the Sulabh Sauchalya wanted to fill up their stomach, and nothing better than an affordable Vada-Pav snacking joint right on its door steps.

Recently to cater to the health conscious he has also stationed a banana seller outside the Sulabh Sauchalya - and that too does brisk business from the many customers visiting the Sauchalya.  Why, there are some people who first have a snack, then go to the Sulabh Sauchalya, and then have a banana.  So it is good business.



He was only unhappy about one thing.  His partner Mishraji who runs the fast-food joint, has spelt the outlet name incorrectly in English (the Hindi is correct).  It is not "Ganesh Sneks" - but should have been "Ganesh Snakes" - he will tell Mishraji to correct that.

A Greenhorn On A Mumbai Local

1. He keeps waiting on the platform hoping that the next train will be less crowded and he will be able to at least get a foothold.  
2. Entering a compartment he finds a seat with only 3 people sitting on it, and is too embarrassed to ask them to squeeze and make space for a 4th person.
3. While traveling from Andheri to Goregaon at peak hour in the evening, he boards a Virar train, and then wonders why there is so much hostility towards him when he tries to get off at Goregaon
4. He is the guy who keeps asking everyone in the compartment "Andheri station Kaunsa side pe ayega?" (From which side of the compartment should I alight at Andheri station?)

Waiting For The Next Mahatma

My recent visit to Bangkok proved what I had suspected for long - that the lack of civic discipline and disrespect for civil order is peculiar to Indian culture.  I was amazed at the way commuters on the Bangkok metro queued up and got into the metro in an organised, unhurried, civil manner despite the stations being as crowded as a Mumbai station.  In Mumbai, that happens only if there are uniformed security people enforcing order.

It set me thinking.  It is not as if the Indian gene is prone to dis-order or loves to break rules.  In fact the Indian psyche too used to be obedient and subservient to laws.  We too liked civic order and self-discipline - that was the only reason why the British could rule India with so few people for centuries.

I think the Indian respect for civil order and discipline actually started crumbling during the 1920s and the 1930s during the Non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements in connection with our Freedom Struggle. It suddenly became fashionable and patriotric to break laws. And of course if it served purely selfish motives then so much the better. The individual thus lost his respect for laws.

India is the only country where a traffic cop (when he feels magnanimous) can wave you through a red traffic signal.

It took a great Mahatma to give Indians the courage to break laws, and defy the rulers.  Unfortunately we keep  breaking laws with impunity long after the British have left the country.

I wait for the day when another great Mahatma will emerge who will re-kindle the Indian's respect - and desire - to have order and self-discipline in our lives.