Fieldwork/Data
Collection Process
Prof. Punit Kumar Mishra
Fieldwork/Data Collection
Process
Selecting Field Workers
Training Field Workers
Supervising Field Workers
Validating Fieldwork
Evaluating Field Workers
Selection of Field Workers
The researcher should:
– Develop job specifications for the project, taking
into account the mode of data collection.
– Decide what characteristics the field workers
should have.
– Recruit appropriate individuals.
General Qualifications of Field
Workers
• Healthy. Field workers must have the stamina
required to do the job.
• Outgoing. The interviewers should be able to
establish rapport with the respondents.
• Communicative. Effective speaking and listening
skills are a great asset.
• Pleasant appearance. If the field worker's physical
appearance is unpleasant or unusual, the data collected
may be biased.
• Educated. Interviewers must have good reading and
writing skills.
• Experienced. Experienced interviewers are likely to
do a better job.
Training of Field
Workers
• Making the Initial Contact – Interviewers should be trained to
make opening remarks that will convince potential respondents
that their participation is important.
• Asking the Questions
1. Be thoroughly familiar with the questionnaire.
2. Ask the questions in the order in which they appear in the
questionnaire.
3. Use the exact wording given in the questionnaire.
4. Read each question slowly.
5. Repeat questions that are not understood.
6. Ask every applicable question.
7. Follow instructions, probe carefully.
Training of Field
Workers
• Probing – Some commonly used probing techniques:
1. Repeating the question.
2. Repeating the respondent's reply.
3. Using a pause or silent probe.
4. Boosting or reassuring the respondent.
5. Eliciting clarification.
6. Using objective/neutral questions or comments.
Commonly Used Probes and
Abbreviations
St andar d I nt erview er ’s Probe Abbr eviat ion
Any other reason? (AO?)
Any others? (Other?)
Anything else? (AE or Else?)
Could you tell me more about your thinking on that? (Tell more)
How do you mean? (How mean?)
Repeat question (RQ)
What do you mean? (What mean?)
Which would be closer to the way you feel? (Which closer?)
Why do you feel that way? (Why?)
Would you tell me what you have in mind? (What in mind?)
Training of Field
Workers
• Recording the Answers – Guidelines for recording
answers to unstructured questions:
1. Record responses during the interview.
2. Use the respondent's own words.
3. Do not summarize or paraphrase the
respondent's answers.
4. Include everything that pertains to the question
objectives.
5. Include all probes and comments.
6. Repeat the response as it is written down.
• Terminating the Interview – The respondent should be
left with a positive feeling about the interview.
Supervision of Field Workers
Supervision of field workers means making sure that they
are following the procedures and techniques in which they were
trained. Supervision involves quality control and
editing, sampling control, control of cheating, and central
office control.
– Quality Control and Editing – This requires checking
to see if the field procedures are being properly
implemented.
– Sampling Control – The supervisor attempts to
ensure that the interviewers are strictly following the
sampling plan.
– Control of Cheating – Cheating can be minimized
through proper training, supervision, and validation.
– Central Office Control – Supervisors provide quality
and cost-control information to the central office.
Validation of Fieldwork
• The supervisors call 10 - 25% of the respondents to
inquire whether the field workers actually conducted the
interviews.
• The supervisors ask about the length and quality of the
interview, reaction to the interviewer, and basic
demographic data.
• The demographic information is cross-checked against
the information reported by the interviewers on the
questionnaires.
Evaluation of Field Workers
• Cost and Time. The interviewers can be compared in
terms of the total cost (salary and expenses) per completed
interview.
• Response Rates. It is important to monitor response
rates on a timely basis so that corrective action can be
taken if these rates are too low.
• Quality of Interviewing. To evaluate interviewers on the
quality of interviewing, the supervisor must directly observe
the interviewing process.
• Quality of Data. The completed questionnaires of each
interviewer should be evaluated for the quality of data.
Response Rate
Factors that influence survey response rates
1. Survey design: Before the survey is conducted, the end objective of
the survey has to be clearly chalked out and hence the survey design is
very important. This helps plan each milestone of the survey and there is
no ambiguity on the data analysis. Some of the basic metrics to keep in
mind are:
•Survey questions: Survey questions have to be easy to understand
even easier to respond. This can help in collecting multiple and
genuine responses.
•Survey length: The survey length has a major impact on the survey
response. If the survey is too long, the respondent loses interest. If
they were to even complete the survey, there is a risk of uninterested
responses which dilutes the validity of the survey responses and
analysis.
• Survey logic: Survey logic is an important aspect of the survey
process. If the logic is erratic or the questions are disjointed, there is a
high risk of a survey dropout
Factors that influence…..
◦2. Respondent demographics: The range of potential respondents
for a survey is derived from a sampling method. A sample provides
the best potential respondents for a survey on the basis of
the respondent demographics. This may be a mix of customers or
respondents that are aware of the organization conducting the
survey. The survey can also be sent out to an opt-in sample for a
certain topic. Surveys that are sent out to B2B respondents and
surveys sent out to B2C respondents also have different response
rates. Lastly, some demographics of people generally have a higher
response rate to surveys than some other demographics. All of
these factors influence the survey response rate.
Factors that influence…..
◦3. Study invitation: Respondents like to receive
personalized invitations to a survey, even if they
have opted in to be a part of that survey. A good
survey invite should not only motivate participation
but also set the expectations requirement (like time
required, any further information to be provided,
etc.) of the survey and the value that the respondent
would receive at the end of the survey. Managing
expectations helps reduce the survey dropout rate
and increase the value of the data collection
Factors that influence…..
◦4. Survey topic: Not all topics appeal to all potential
respondents – some topics may be of more or lesser
interest depending on each individual respondent.
Participation may also be low if the research topic is
potentially “sensitive”. In this case, it is important to
reassure respondents about how the data would be
collected and used
Factors that influence…..
◦5. Incentives: Most surveys are taken only if the
respondent finds some value in it for them. This value
could be in the form of a tangible item like vouchers,
coupons or the chance to own an object. The other
incentive that piques the curiosity of a potential
respondent is the chance to have access to the research
report at the end of the study or some snippets of
relevant information in return for completing the survey
Factors that influence…..
◦6. Reminder emails: Often sending reminder emails to
answer the survey too improves the response rate
Advantages of improving the responses rate
for your surveys
They help towards conducting in-depth
statistical analysis and provide comprehensive
market research insights.
They provide actionable insights to an
organization or a brand.
It can help make a quick product or service
upgrade.
Average response rates for various survey distribution methods
Getting a desired number of responses requires the right sampling techniques and getting to the
right number of people that will be a part of the survey. But if these respondents aren’t reached out
to appropriately, the desired number of responses could never be collected. Even distributing this
survey is important. Some typical survey response rates via distribution methods are:
•Phone surveys have the highest deviation amongst the survey types – from 9% to 73%.
Unsolicited surveys receive the least number of completed surveys. The survey completion rate is
73% when the respondent is aware of the organization, brand or researcher conducting the survey.
•Net Promoter Score (NPS) questions have a response rate of 95% because the respondent finds
it easy to associate with the brand and a negative or positive experience dictates the score.
•Web-intercept surveys, at 83% have the next highest survey response rate at 83%. These
surveys have a high response rate because a non-invasive survey pops up when a potential
respondent is interacting with the brand or just has, there is high brand recall and the chance to
respond increases.
•Due to the penetration of mobile phones, mobile surveys are now being extensively shared
via mobile. Apps have a huge part to play in the mobile game and any in-app surveys fetch
on an average a 13% response. By contrast, mobile surveys have a 3%-5% survey response rate.
So even though the in-app survey responses don’t seem as huge, they are exponentially higher
than mobile surveys.
•Mail surveys, although reducing in use now due to logistics, still have a 13% response rate.
•Email surveys fluctuate between 25% to 33% depending on the brand value in the mind of the
respondent, the length of questions and the information that is expected to be provided.
•Offline surveys and field surveys have a response rate of about 22% although the domain in
which the survey is conducted causes fluctuation in the number of completed responses.
•In-person surveys can fetch anywhere between 21% to 54% completed responses.
•Surveys that are conducted at the point-of-sale, especially mall intercept surveys fetch a survey