Question

Suppose you had agreed to participate in a study of how college students meet romantic partners. Would you rather fill out a survey on this topic or participate in an intensive interview? Why? From the perspective of someone participating in such a study, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these data collectring techniques? Be sure to substantiate your discussion with facts and examples.

Answer 1

If I would have been asked to participate in a research study of how college students meet romantic partners, I would rather prefer to participate in an intensive interview on the topic. Because I feel Interview method to know individual reaction on a particular research topic is the most reliable and authentic source of collecting data. Chances of biased reaction are almost zero and it is also very flexible method. Interview also saves lots of time of the researcher as researcher need not to go anywhere except to meet the respondent to get respondents opinion and view point on research topic. Furthermore researcher will get to know the respondents reaction on the spot and instantly. Interview method is an useful method to obtain detailed information about personal feelings, perceptions and opinion. Researcher can expect a higher response rate in interviewing method.

Although filling survey questionnaires is another good source of collecting Data, it is expensive and time consuming affair.We will discuss both advantages and disadvantages of both the methods.

INTERVIEW METHOD

Advantages-

• Insight-The Researcher is expected to gain valuable insights based on the depth of the information gathered
• Flexibility-Interview method of Data collection is most flexible way of Data collection.
• Validity- Being a Direct method of ata Collection, the Information collected are more accurate and It can be checked and verified immediately.
• High Response Rate- In case of Interview method, Response Rate is very High

Disadvantages

• Quality of Data- The quality of Data is dependent on the interviewer who actually Interviews the Respondent.
• Limited Sample Size-In interview method, the sample size is limited

FILLING SURVEY FORM METHOD

Advantages

• Filling Survey form method is Cost-efficient Method
• Data collected through filling Survey forms are more practical
• Questionnaires and surveys allow you to gather information from a large audience.
• Online and email surveys allow respondents to maintain their anonymity.
• Covers all aspects of a research topic
• There is no pressure at all on the part of Respondents to answer the Survey form

Disadvantage

• While there are many positives to questionnaires, dishonesty can be an issue. Respondents may not be 100 percent truthful with their answers.
• There may be a situation where Respondent is unable to understand the Questions asked in the Survey form and may interpreted differently which will lead to Skewed Results
• A survey or questionnaire cannot fully capture emotional responses or the feelings of the respondents