Module 7 - Activity 2

Activity 1 | Activity 2 | Activity 3 | Activity 4 | Activity 5

Activity 2: Choose either Survey or Interview

Surveys and interviews have distinct advantages, which is why researchers sometimes combine these two methods of gathering information.  Interviews are often conducted one-on-one with experts, with key participants, or to collect oral histories or personal accounts of historical events.  Surveys are similar to interviews, except they use questionnaires to access information from a number of people.  Whether an interview or survey would benefit your research project depends on your research question. 

Before conducting an interview or survey, you need to get an overview of the topic you are studying.  That is, you need to have some background in order to create appropriate questions to use in an interview or a survey.   An interview will allow you to probe a topic in depth, but with one person. A survey will allow you to identify the beliefs and opinions of a particular group or of the general public.  While interview questions are often open-ended, surveys often depend on close-ended questions, such as yes/no, multiple choice, true/false, checklists, and preference scales.  Sometimes a survey will end with an open-ended question, but these can be difficult to interpret without a follow-up interview.  Whatever questions you decide to use in an interview or a survey, try to phrase the question so it is free of your bias or viewpoint.