Interviewing for

Statistical Production

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What is an Interview?
What are Statistics?
Standardised Interview
Interviewing Technique
Questions
Confidentiality
Good Quality

Only for distribution and use in the Victims of Crime Survey, South Africa.
Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

What is an Interview?

1.1

Interviewing can mean a lot

What do people think about when they hear the word interviewing? What people
generally think about is interviews they hear on the radio or on TV. They think of
interviews with mixed feelings. Newspaper journalists are interviewing people in their
daily work for their job. Then you have doctors, social workers and policemen who also
have to ask questions in their job. In our profession we talk about recruiting interviews
when we want to employ people.
1.2

Difference Between Interview and Interview

What is then the difference between an interview for statistical production and
interviewing for other purposes. When you are interviewing for statistical production,
you have questions and answers in a questionnaire (=a standardised interview).
When you are performing recruiting interviews you often use an interview guide or a
checklist, which is your support during the interview. You need something to follow, in
order to remember important parts for the final summary.
A third way to interview is when you just have a rough plan for the interview with
different subjects with which you shall deal. That is what you use for depth interviews in
research studies. Two interviews can differ a lot depending on the respondent. And this is
actually the purpose, to investigate an area and to follow associations. The interviewer
must be very well informed of the topic to be able to handle a depth interview. This is
quite another matter than to perform a standardised interview.
1.3

Purpose with the Interview

When you are working with standardised interviews you want to accumulate the
answers. The answers from one single person are not at all very interesting. It is first
when we have many answers that it is getting exciting. The respondent herself/himself
decide if she/he wants to participate or not.
The interview which is more like a conversation will very often form the basis of a
decision about that person. Sometimes it can be of interest for the person him/herself.
You want to be healthy when you see a doctor and have a great interest that all the
questions will be answered properly. If you will be interviewed by the police it will be
more like an examination. If you are guilty of a crime you do not want to answer the
questions.
The purpose of having an interview is very obvious for us who are working with
statistics. It is not the same situation for the respondent. The public welfare or some
other person who wants to know what you think is perhaps not always so important for
the selected person. Here we have an informational problem which we will talk more
about later on.

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

1.4

History of Interviewing

During the 1930s they began to use the statistical interview in USA. George Gallup
started an organisation for polls - The American Institute of Public Opinion. His name
has more or less become a synonym for statistical surveys. Statistics Sweden has had an
interviewers organisation since 1954.

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

What are Statistics?

2.1

History

The Bible talks about the Census. In 1662 the first published figures came of born and
dead people in England. In 1749 Sweden was the first country in the world to regularly
make population statistics.
The Role of Statistics

The word statistics is related to the word state. Statistics originally, in the 18th century,
meant "data that are needed to run the state." This hold today too, in even a higher
degree. Statistics are absolutely necessary, for example for governmental planning and
for follow-up of measures taken - such statistical data as population figures, industrial
production in various sectors, agricultural harvests, social conditions, prices are used
continuously in all levels of government.
Nowadays, not only the state, or government on various levels, has an interest in
statistics. The statistical information is also useful for enterprises and trade organisations,
e.g., for assessing the market possibilities. Insurance companies, banks, educational
institutions, profession advisers, hospitals, a host of other society functions use statistics
for improving their operations.
It is also important to realise the role of statistics in the democratic process. Statistics
mean information about our country, province and locality - information that is, or ideally
should be, freely available to individuals, to the media, to schools and universities, to
political parties, to organisations. This information is of importance for individuals and
organisations as they perform their work of evaluating how they are governed, and also
as they try to underpin opinions and work for improvements.
Today, statistics also has another meaning. It is also the name of a scientific discipline the science of dealing with numerical information. Important parts of this science deal
with how to collect data, and most of all, how to draw conclusions from data. Statistics
in this sense is a necessary tool for performing and analysing both surveys and scientific
experiments. This science is close to mathematics, and it is founded on a precise
definition of the concept of probability.
Census in South Africa

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

Standardised Interview

3.1

The Interview as a Data Collection Method for Statistics

The interview here is the basis to make statistics. The interview is a part of a greater
complex and of course there has to be rules and regulations how to accomplish the
interview. For your help the interviewer has a questionnaire, that is functioning as a
measurement instrument. The questions to be asked are standardised. That means that
the questions all look alike and are going to be asked in the same way for all the
respondents. The answers are to a great extent structured. The respondents are going to
choose one of several response categories which the interviewer reads out. Sometimes
the answers can be open but that is not so common in standardised interviews.
Standardised questions
- same questions
- same order
- all the respondents will get the same information
Structured answers
- the respondent has to answer in a special frame
- questions have the same response categories
journalists
TV-reporters
doctors, almoner
social workers
policemen

Open

QUESTIONS

StatsSA
Statistics Sweden
Closed

employment interview

ANSWERS

Open

We, who are working with interviews for statistical production, keep us down in the left
corner where most of the time both questions and answers are closed.
The questioning gives us no free scope for bias or comments of your own. Often the
interview will end with an open question to give people opportunities to express what
they think and that they could not express in the interview.

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

3.2

Phases of a Survey

The data collection is an important part of the work with a survey. Every part of the
survey is depending on what happened before. If the result is going to be good all the
parts in the chain must work and the timetable must be kept as was decided from the
beginning. This is extra important when the data collection is based on interviews. Below
you will find a workflow of the different stages in a statistical survey.

Phases of a Survey
General problem
Questions
Statistical problem
Population

Variables
Tabulation plan

Frame
Sample

Method of measurement
Measurement instrument
Data collection
Coding
Data entry
Editing
Updating
Tabulation
Analysis

Publication

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

General problem
Questions

You have a problem to solve. Can a survey help you?

Statistical problem If so it is hard work to conform the issue into a statistical problem.
Population
Frame
Sample

WHO? You can not ask everyone in a survey. The enumerators are
working with clusters. Then you make a list of for example all
households and then you make a selection, a random sample.

Variables

WHAT is going to be investigated? First you have to decide

WHAT you are going to investigate, the background variables
(age, sex, education etc.) and the objectives of the investigation
and the variables for that. Then you can start producing the
questions.

Tabulation plan

HOW are we going to present the results? You should do a

tabulation plan without any figures. Then you will know what you
will get when the survey is completed.

Method of
measurement

IN WHAT WAY are we going to collect our data? Time to

decide what method to choose - interview or if the
respondent will fill in a questionnaire her/himself.

Measurement
instrument

The questionnaire design is a difficult job. You can find several

books on how to make a good questionnaire. Questionnaire design
is not a science or a technology. It is an art. Perhaps that is why
everyone thinks they can do it. If you give six qualified
questionnaire writers the same task you will have six instruments
that differ widely. It is very hard to tell someone how to design a
useful questionnaire. The field staff are the experts on how a
questionnaire is functioning. They must tell the survey researcher if
the questions do not work. If the questions do not work there will
be - GARBAGE in, GARBAGE out.

Data collection

Data collection is a difficult job due to the communication

problems involved. The language is individual and very often
you also have to translate into another language.

Coding
Data entry
Editing
Updating

What happens with the data? Problems will arise if data are
missing. After this phase the data is entered into a computer.

Tabulation

Then it is ready for computer programs and to make tables.

Analysis

Tables are not enough. You need to help the reader, the consumer
of the statistics -to see what is interesting - to analyse. Find the
figures! Use charts, maps and make the reader curious.

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

Publication

It is important to produce a report - a nice-looking one. It is

important that the publication is issued not too long after the
survey has been completed. The field workers also need feedback. So do some of the respondents. Especially those
respondents who work with planning in different ways.

What about time?

That depends... We usually say 1/3 for planning the survey
1/3 for data collection
1/3 for the data processing, report
writing and printing.
Everyone wants fresh results/figures. Old results are not interesting. All stages in a
survey depend on one another and one stage must follow the plans if the next step is
going to be on schedule. All you can do is a good job. Only if you have done your best,
you can require efforts from those involved in the other stages of the process.

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

Interviewing Technique

To ask questions exactly as they are seems to be very easy. But there are many steps
before you are ready to do that. There are also a lot of things you have to do after you
have asked the questions. An interview is a process which consists of many different
stages. Some stages are very big, others are very short but still very important. We
choose to talk about interviewing technique in six different stages. That makes it easier
to find out the contents of the concept interviewing. The stages are
- preparation
- initial contact
- information
- co-operation, interviewing
- concluding stage
- reporting
4.1

Preparation

Control materials
The base for a good job is to be well prepared. You need good information about the
survey. As an interviewer you have a lot of material:
- a questionnaire
- response cards sometimes
- instructions how you should handle the sample and the questions
- an information letter
The first thing to do is to control if you have all the material you need. Are there
questionnaires enough? Do you need more of anything else? Do you have publications to
offer or to show the respondents ? Apply for them before the field work starts so you
have them at hand when you start interviewing.
Questionnaire
Start with the questionnaire. Try to get an overview. Then you will have an idea what the
survey is about and how comprehensive the interview is. A good approach is to interview
yourself. Then you can see how you can answer the questions and where you have
problems. When I hear the questions for the first time I can think about how the
respondents will hear the questions. They will hear the questions only once. I can read
the questions many times and it is easy to forget the first impression.
Read instructions
Time to read the manual. There you shall find the objectives with the survey and all the
definitions. Here the researcher has the opportunity to give you the instructions and to
motivate you for this special survey.
Learning the questionnaire ALOUD
When you have studied the manual you are ready to learn the questionnaire. You should
read it out loudly so you can hear how it sounds, know where you can make a pause and
so on. You need to be familiar with the format, the schedules, the phrasing of skips.
Learning the information ALOUD

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It is easy to forget to learn how to present the survey and the information the respondent
need to be able to understand the purpose of the survey. If you cannot motivate the
respondent there will be no interview. Therefore, train yourself by introducing the survey
to a colleague before starting the field work. Why are we doing this survey? Why is it so
important that this special person will respond, etc.?
Planning the work
Before the survey starts you must see how it fits together with other jobs you have to do.
It is a lot of work with planning. The travelling must be as efficient as possible. It is not
only a matter of costs. You also must realise that every survey must be ready on time.
You must plan so you can work with several surveys simultaneously.
Frame-list
You have to construct a sample frame - a list of all units of the target population. Then
you select a sample of observational units. For example if you want a sample of
households in a village you first need to list all households in the cluster. Then you do the
selection of the desired number of households into your sample. This is an important part
of the survey. It must be perfectly made.
4.2

Initial Contact

Who you are

Usually you start the contact with the respondent by presenting yourself. Most of the
time you do it in the same way. The respondent or other persons in the family must
know who you are and that you are coming from the Central Statistics.
Show your identity card.
Who you are looking for
Very early the respondent must know who you are looking for. It is important that you
are interviewing the right person or the right household. You have to check that, because
of the importance of the sample selection.
What do you want
You are coming as an official person and you ought to tell the person why you are
coming and what the name of the survey is.
The first minutes you have to tell people
Who you are
Who you represent
Who you are looking for
What you want

4.3

Information

Answer questions about the survey

You have a strategy to inform the respondent. The information depends on what
information that person need. Give the information in a simple way. Many people

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

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are afraid of things they do not know or understand. Give some examples of the
questions so that they see that there will be no problem in answering the questions.
Purpose of the survey
Explain the purpose of the survey and how the answers are going to be used.
Give information but not too much
The respondent does not need to know everything about the survey. It can be confusing.
You talk with only one respondent at a time
You can choose the information for that special person. Tell the person things that you
think can be interesting for him/her.
Avoid misunderstanding
Try to listen to the person so that you hear if he or she has misunderstood anything.
If more than one interview
The respondent needs more information if they are going to be interviewed several times.
For example, the rent in the consumer price. You must compare from one point to
another and therefore it is very important that the same respondent answer the questions
more than once. This you should inform about in order to motivate the respondent.
Interviewer as an informer
The interviewer has several roles to play. When you are performing the interview you
have to be formal and follow given instructions. But the first moment it is important that
you are personal. You can be spontaneous, flexible and can improvise if needed. You
have to create a personal contact so the respondent will feel safe during the interview.
The interviewer must be good at social relations - otherwise you will not have an
interview - and also very strict and formal during the interview.
Good information
- in a simple way - easy to understand
- in 10 seconds
- in a positive way

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

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4.4

Co-operation, Interviewing

The interview is an interaction between two persons. One is asking and the other one is
answering. The interviewer has the initiative , is the leader and has the responsibility to
get the interview done.
Good language
Think about the language! Try to explain in a simple way.
Try to be alone with the respondent
Most of the time you will be in the respondents home. Other members of the household
usually are interested and want to join you. If it is possible, try to be alone with the
respondent. The person feels more comfortable and safe and can answer without any
interruption or influence. This is especially important when you deal with sensitive
questions.
Kitchen - the best place for an interview!
If you can try to sit in the kitchen. That is the best place with a table and light. You are a
guest in the house so you can only have a suggestion and not decide if the respondent
wants to sit somewhere else.
Linking from information to interview
Can I start to read the questions now? could be a good start in the face-to-face
interview. It is important that it is clear to the respondent that the interview is starting.
The interviewer is now the formal person who shall be as neutral as possible and note the
answers.
Ask the questions
Ask the questions in the exact wording in which they are printed. Watch out for people
mishearing or misunderstanding questions, so you handle the questionnaire in a proper
way. You must conduct the interview in exact accordance with instructions. Remember
that the language is individual. You are trying to get the message from the survey
researcher and then the answer back again. And you should not influence the respondent
in a way that affects the answers in order to distort them.
Be a good listener
Even when the interview is ongoing you have to listen very carefully. Both to understand
the answers and hear how the respondent reacts on the questions. If you start in a good
mood, keep it that way. As an interviewer I can feel that I am in a hurry because of the
respondent. Later on she/he will be interested and may not be in a hurry. So watch up!
What will the respondent have in return?
We said before that an interview is an interaction between two persons. For that you
need three things:
- it must be voluntary - you yourself must decide
- an interest for both
- must be worthwhile for both
If it is not voluntary it will be an examination.
4.5
Concluding Stage
Ask if there are any further questions

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

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After the interview the respondent sometimes is more interested in getting information
about the survey. Ask if there are any questions. He/she might not ask anything on his/her
own initiative or will come to think about it when you are gone.
Give more information if needed
If the information was very brief in the beginning you could always fill in some more
here.
Is anything missing?
Check the questionnaire and see if any answers are missing. This is very important
because it is not easy to recontact the respondent.
Conclude the interview - LEAVE MATERIAL!
If you have any material that should be presented to the respondent, hand it over by the
end of the interview. For respondents who are planners, show the last publication. Give
them one if you have. That leads to good motivation for them and you can expect a new
consumer of the statistics.
4.6

Reporting

Once more check the material. Edit the questionnaire, canvass. Report how the job is
going. Report about nonresponse. Send the office the material when ready. Report as
soon as possible. Remember the time schedule!

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Questions

It is useful to think of questions as asking for different types of information:

ATTRIBUTES - FACTS
BEHAVIOUR - FACTS
BELIEFS
ATTITUDES

What one is (Age, sex )

What one does or has done (Have you contacted a
doctor )
What one thinks to be true (Do you believe Aids is a
serious illness?)
What one wants or prefers (What do you think about our
President?)

Look in the questionnaire and find out what different types of questions it is. How do
you handle the facts?
Read the question exactly as it is. If you need it you can help the respondent and give an
explanation.
What about beliefs and attitudes? You can not do anything else than READ the
question once again - no explanations.

Confidentiality

Identity Card?
When you are an interviewer you must inspire the respondent with confidence. We want
the respondent to trust us. They should know that they can give us information about
themselves and feel safe. All information that the respondents give to us will be treated in
the strictest confidence. The answers will be combined with the results of all other
respondents, so that no-one will be able to trace the responses back to the respondent.

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

15

Good Quality

7.1

How Good is a Survey?

When you are using the results of a survey you must be aware of the quality of the
survey. Fortunately, the value of a statistic does not depend on its being exactly true. To
be useful, statistics need not be exact, but to be sufficiently reliable to serve the particular
needs. There are sources of errors in every stage of a survey. You must know about them
and try to make them as small as possible. A good statistician will go through these
errors and write about them in the report. It is considered good practice to report on the
per cent of the sample that could not be interviewed, and as many of the other factors
listed as practicable.
The following overview is from Quality Concept for Official Statistics, Statistics
Sweden

Quality Concept for Official Statistics

CONTENTS
Statistical target characteristics
- Units and population
- Variables
- Statistical measures
- Study domains
- Reference time
Comprehensiveness
ACCURACY
Overall accuracy
Sources of inaccuracy
- Sampling
- Coverage
- Measurement
- Non-response
- Data processing
- Model assumptions
Presentation of accuracy measures

TIMELINESS
Frequency
Production time
Punctuality
COHERENCE especially COMPARABILITY
Comparability over time
Comparability over space
Coherence in general
AVAILABILITY and CLARITY
Forms of dissemination
Presentation
Documentation
Access to micro data
Information services

The general survey error sources where the interviewer play a big role is:
Coverage
Disagreement between survey frame and target population contributes to statistics
inaccuracy.
Measurement

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A measurement error occurs if one response differs from the true variable value.
Measurement errors may be systematic (e.g., underreporting of income) as well as
random.
Nonresponse
Nonresponse occurs when observation variable(s) value(s) for a designated observation
unit have not been collected at the time when the estimation process starts.
Nonresponse may lead to bias if there is correlation between not respond and the value
of the survey variable.
Nonresponse rates are commonly reported. They indicate the quality of the data
collection process, but do not give information about the crucial quantity of the
nonresponse error.

These are the errors that we talked about. Examples from the job of the interviewer:
Coverage
Under- and over coverage
Conceptual problems
There may be differences
between what is desired
and what the survey actually
covers.

NonresponseSampling
Low response rate
Frequently there are
differences between
the non-interview pop
and those interviewed.

Interviewer
Misread the question
Twist the answers in their
own way
Data missing

Respondent
May not understand
Do not remember
Lack of interest
May conceal the truth

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden

May be errors in
sample
selection
Random selection
Estimates
Instrument
Bad questions
Sensitive questions

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What is Quality for an Interviewer?

7.2

o To handle the data collection properly

-

ask the right person

read the questions in a right way
try not to influence the respondent
try to be neutral and correct
listen to the respondent
use the helping material

o To follow instructions and manuals

- do as the instructions say

- fill in the written answers
- to get few missing data and completion right

o To report to the head quarter

- when something is wrong
- when the questions are bad or do not work
- when you find something wrong in the instructions

o To struggle for high response rate

o Time

- do your best to keep the stipulated time.

Look at the phases of the survey. One third of the job comes after your work is
completed - the processing, the tabulation, the analysis and the publication.
Consider that!

Copyright Birgit Henningsson, Statistics Sweden