pros and cons of interviews for market research

Advantages and Disadvantages of Interview in Research

Approaching the Respondent- according to the Interviewer’s Manual, the introductory tasks of the interviewer are: tell the interviewer is and whom he or she represents; telling him about what the study is, in a way to stimulate his interest. The interviewer has also ensured at this stage that his answers are confidential; tell the respondent how he was chosen; use letters and clippings of surveys in order to show the importance of the study to the respondent. The interviewer must be adaptable, friendly, responsive, and should make the interviewer feel at ease to say anything, even if it is irrelevant.

Dealing with Refusal- there can be plenty of reasons for refusing for an interview, for example, a respondent may feel that surveys are a waste of time, or may express anti-government feeling. It is the interviewer’s job to determine the reason for the refusal of the interview and attempt to overcome it.

Conducting the Interview- the questions should be asked as worded for all respondents in order to avoid misinterpretation of the question. Clarification of the question should also be avoided for the same reason. However, the questions can be repeated in case of misunderstanding. The questions should be asked in the same order as mentioned in the questionnaire, as a particular question might not make sense if the questions before they are skipped. The interviewers must be very careful to be neutral before starting the interview so as not to lead the respondent, hence minimizing bias.

listing out the advantages of interview studies, which are noted below:

There are certain disadvantages of interview studies as well which are:.

INTERVIEW AS SOCIAL INTERACTION

The interview subjects to the same rules and regulations of other instances of social interaction. It is believed that conducting interview studies has possibilities for all sorts of bias, inconsistency, and inaccuracies and hence many researchers are critical of the surveys and interviews. T.R. William says that in certain societies there may be patterns of people saying one thing, but doing another. He also believes that the responses should be interpreted in context and two social contexts should not be compared to each other. Derek L. Phillips says that the survey method itself can manipulate the data, and show the results that actually does not exist in the population in real. Social research becomes very difficult due to the variability in human behavior and attitude. Other errors that can be caused in social research include-

Apart from the errors caused by the responder, there are also certain errors made by the interviewers that may include-

Bailey, K. (1994). Interview Studies in Methods of social research. Simonand Schuster, 4th ed. The Free Press, New York NY 10020.Ch8. Pp.173-213.

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• Types of Interviews in Research | Guide & Examples

Types of Interviews in Research | Guide & Examples

Published on March 10, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

An interview is a qualitative research method that relies on asking questions in order to collect data . Interviews involve two or more people, one of whom is the interviewer asking the questions.

There are several types of interviews, often differentiated by their level of structure.

• Structured interviews have predetermined questions asked in a predetermined order.
• Unstructured interviews are more free-flowing.
• Semi-structured interviews fall in between.

Interviews are commonly used in market research, social science, and ethnographic research .

Table of contents

What is a structured interview, what is a semi-structured interview, what is an unstructured interview, what is a focus group, examples of interview questions, advantages and disadvantages of interviews, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about types of interviews.

Structured interviews have predetermined questions in a set order. They are often closed-ended, featuring dichotomous (yes/no) or multiple-choice questions. While open-ended structured interviews exist, they are much less common. The types of questions asked make structured interviews a predominantly quantitative tool.

Asking set questions in a set order can help you see patterns among responses, and it allows you to easily compare responses between participants while keeping other factors constant. This can mitigate   research biases and lead to higher reliability and validity. However, structured interviews can be overly formal, as well as limited in scope and flexibility.

• You feel very comfortable with your topic. This will help you formulate your questions most effectively.
• You have limited time or resources. Structured interviews are a bit more straightforward to analyze because of their closed-ended nature, and can be a doable undertaking for an individual.
• Your research question depends on holding environmental conditions between participants constant.

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Semi-structured interviews are a blend of structured and unstructured interviews. While the interviewer has a general plan for what they want to ask, the questions do not have to follow a particular phrasing or order.

Semi-structured interviews are often open-ended, allowing for flexibility, but follow a predetermined thematic framework, giving a sense of order. For this reason, they are often considered “the best of both worlds.”

However, if the questions differ substantially between participants, it can be challenging to look for patterns, lessening the generalizability and validity of your results.

• You have prior interview experience. It’s easier than you think to accidentally ask a leading question when coming up with questions on the fly. Overall, spontaneous questions are much more difficult than they may seem.
• Your research question is exploratory in nature. The answers you receive can help guide your future research.

An unstructured interview is the most flexible type of interview. The questions and the order in which they are asked are not set. Instead, the interview can proceed more spontaneously, based on the participant’s previous answers.

Unstructured interviews are by definition open-ended. This flexibility can help you gather detailed information on your topic, while still allowing you to observe patterns between participants.

However, so much flexibility means that they can be very challenging to conduct properly. You must be very careful not to ask leading questions, as biased responses can lead to lower reliability or even invalidate your research.

• You have a solid background in your research topic and have conducted interviews before.
• Your research question is exploratory in nature, and you are seeking descriptive data that will deepen and contextualize your initial hypotheses.
• Your research necessitates forming a deeper connection with your participants, encouraging them to feel comfortable revealing their true opinions and emotions.

A focus group brings together a group of participants to answer questions on a topic of interest in a moderated setting. Focus groups are qualitative in nature and often study the group’s dynamic and body language in addition to their answers. Responses can guide future research on consumer products and services, human behavior, or controversial topics.

Focus groups can provide more nuanced and unfiltered feedback than individual interviews and are easier to organize than experiments or large surveys . However, their small size leads to low external validity and the temptation as a researcher to “cherry-pick” responses that fit your hypotheses.

• Your research focuses on the dynamics of group discussion or real-time responses to your topic.
• Your questions are complex and rooted in feelings, opinions, and perceptions that cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no.”
• Your topic is exploratory in nature, and you are seeking information that will help you uncover new questions or future research ideas.

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Depending on the type of interview you are conducting, your questions will differ in style, phrasing, and intention. Structured interview questions are set and precise, while the other types of interviews allow for more open-endedness and flexibility.

Here are some examples.

• Semi-structured
• Unstructured
• Focus group
• Do you like dogs? Yes/No
• Do you associate dogs with feeling: happy; somewhat happy; neutral; somewhat unhappy; unhappy
• If yes, name one attribute of dogs that you like.
• If no, name one attribute of dogs that you don’t like.
• What feelings do dogs bring out in you?
• When you think more deeply about this, what experiences would you say your feelings are rooted in?

Interviews are a great research tool. They allow you to gather rich information and draw more detailed conclusions than other research methods, taking into consideration nonverbal cues, off-the-cuff reactions, and emotional responses.

However, they can also be time-consuming and deceptively challenging to conduct properly. Smaller sample sizes can cause their validity and reliability to suffer, and there is an inherent risk of interviewer effect arising from accidentally leading questions.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of each type of interview that can help you decide if you’d like to utilize this research method.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Student’s  t -distribution
• Normal distribution
• Null and Alternative Hypotheses
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Data cleansing
• Reproducibility vs Replicability
• Peer review
• Prospective cohort study

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Placebo effect
• Hawthorne effect
• Hindsight bias
• Affect heuristic
• Social desirability bias

The four most common types of interviews are:

• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order. 
• Semi-structured interviews : A few questions are predetermined, but other questions aren’t planned.
• Unstructured interviews : None of the questions are predetermined.
• Focus group interviews : The questions are presented to a group instead of one individual.

The interviewer effect is a type of bias that emerges when a characteristic of an interviewer (race, age, gender identity, etc.) influences the responses given by the interviewee.

There is a risk of an interviewer effect in all types of interviews , but it can be mitigated by writing really high-quality interview questions.

Social desirability bias is the tendency for interview participants to give responses that will be viewed favorably by the interviewer or other participants. It occurs in all types of interviews and surveys , but is most common in semi-structured interviews , unstructured interviews , and focus groups .

Social desirability bias can be mitigated by ensuring participants feel at ease and comfortable sharing their views. Make sure to pay attention to your own body language and any physical or verbal cues, such as nodding or widening your eyes.

This type of bias can also occur in observations if the participants know they’re being observed. They might alter their behavior accordingly.

A focus group is a research method that brings together a small group of people to answer questions in a moderated setting. The group is chosen due to predefined demographic traits, and the questions are designed to shed light on a topic of interest. It is one of 4 types of interviews .

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses . Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

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The Pros and Cons of Face-to-Face Interviews for Market Research

Face-to-face interviews have long been a staple of the market research landscape, and the ability to glean valuable insights from this method is a core reason why generic online surveys are fundamentally limited. Simply put, there are inherent aspects, features and possibilities in a face-to-face interview that cannot be captured or replicated by any other method.  

Yet with this in mind, there are advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face interviews that businesses should know before they implement or authorize this market research method. Below is a high-level look at the pros and cons:

Pros of Face-to-Face Interviewing:

1: empathy & personal interaction.

In face-to-face interviews, a great moderator can make a world of difference, especially when it comes to empathy & personal interaction. While conducting these interviews, moderators can connect with participants by showing that they understand what the participant is feeling. When your participants feel safe and understood, they can more easily let their guard down, open up and share emotions. Online surveys don’t capture emotions nor do they have the ability to adjust based on answers or give the participant any empathetic feedback.

In the case of specific studies such as ethnographies, moderators can actually observe how an individual is performing specific tasks and interact with them about the experience. It also gives the moderator a chance to ask the participant further questions about unexpected results.

2: Capturing Non-Verbal Cues

As noted by Psychology Today , body language is “communication without words.” While scientifically designed online and mobile surveys can improve data quality (i.e. certain questions can be asked in a specific order, or with certain response options, to more accurately collect what a respondent is conveying), the fact remains that there are some non-verbal cues that can only be captured in a face-to-face interview.  

By having a moderator there to record emotions and non-verbal cues, face-to-face interviews capture a more holistic answer to a question than an online survey question would. For example, if your market research participants interacts with a product, a moderator could detect confusion, moments of clarity, discuss mental models they’re using to solve a problem and more.

3: Experiencing Products in Real Life

When doing market research for products, there is definitely an advantage to seeing them, touching them, feeling them and interacting with them in real life. In a face-to-face interview, participants can see products and play around with them in order to answer your questions or complete necessary tasks. In online surveys, pictures are normally substituted in lieu of the real product and in some cases, the ability to experience a product with your own senses can make a huge difference in depth of feedback.

Cons of Face-to-Face Interviewing:

1: relatively higher cost.

Naturally, face-to-face interviews are going to cost relatively more than online or mobile surveys. This is both because of labor costs (whether in-house or partnering with a market research firm), and overhead costs (interview rooms, administration, possibly paying travel expenses for respondents, etc.).

So while investing in face-to-face interviews does come with more costs, the investment can be well worth it. With the three pros of face-to-face interviews in mind, there are situations where this methodology is the best way to achieve the research outcome. Therefore, if the information gleaned from face-to-face interviews can be very profitable, then this cost is more of an investment rather than an expense.

2: Data Processing

When beginning face-to-face interviews, you need to start with a plan for data collection and data processing. While the data collection plan might seem obvious, the data processing plan is commonly overlooked but should be thought of early in the planning process. In this processing plan, you should know what information you need to collect (audio, video, notes, etc.) and how you’ll process it for meaningful analysis.

Because there are typically multiple information sources, data processing for face-to-face interviews can be overwhelming and expensive. Plus you can’t simply go back and re-do your market research because your data processing plan wasn’t comprehensive. If you need quotes, you’ll need to record your sessions and invest in transcriptions. If you need visuals, you’ll need to have pictures or video then be able to sort through the footage to find the snippets you want.

3: Making Analysis Actionable

Face-to-face interviews are a rich qualitative methodology to utilize in market research, but that doesn’t mean you should use a face-to-face interview to base all your decisions upon. Many decision makers will want to marry qualitative data from face-to-face interviews with quantitative findings in order to see a more robust analysis.

Therefore before any action or decisions can take place, you should plan on utilizing another follow-up study to see how representative your face-to-face interactions are.

At Qlarity Access, we are experts on research logistics and recruitment of face-to-face interviews, which supports many top-notch researchers to get the most out of their work. To learn more, contact us today to get feedback on existing research goals or to discuss how we can help you answer new research questions.

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Pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews: an in-depth review

Our guide to market research can be downloaded free of charge

Last update: March 2020.

In an earlier article we discussed the major differences between focus groups and face-to-face interviews . Today we’d like to compare both methodologies and discuss the pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews.

If you are interested in market research in general, and qualitative techniques in particular, don’t miss out our step-by-step guide to market research in which we discuss a thorough approach to all types of marketing questions. The guide can be downloaded for free here .

Feel free to watch the video below (undertitled in English) where our founder, Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab, sums the differences, advantages and inconvenients of focus groups vs. qualitative interviews.

Table of contents

• Advantages of focus groups

Advantages of qualitative interviews

Disadvantages of focus groups.

• Disadvantages of qualitative interviews
• Pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews : an overview

How to choose?

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Advantages of Focus groups

Focus groups are especially suited when you want to confirm your analysis with a wide variety of consumers’ profiles. Focus groups are indeed the best way to exchange viewpoints and discuss disagreements between consumers. This dynamics will not be captured in a face-to-face interview. In addition focus groups may be less expensive than interviews, provided the analytical treatment remains light. Most market research institutes have indeed removed the costly part of the process (i.e. transcriptions and coding ). For more information on the budget part, please read our ultimate guide to market research price .

An interview will allow you to go much deeper, in particular thanks to a longer speaking time. More insights are likely to be collected, which will be useful for a later quantitative phase. We find it easier to analyze individual interviews than focus groups (especially if you decide to code your interview in a software like Maxqda )

Last but not least, the role of the interviewer is usually less important in interviews than in focus groups; the expected bias, if an interviewing guide has been well prepared, will therefore be lower too.

Speaking times: the differences between focus groups and interviews

One aspect that is often overlooked is the speaking times differences between focus groups and interviews. A focus group usually gather around 8 participants for 2 hours. An individual interview is usually around 45-60 minutes. Divide 2 hours (120 minutes) by 8 and you obtain 15 minutes speaking time per participant in a focus group vs. 45 to 60 minutes in a face-to-face individual interview. This is 3 to 4 times less. That’s why individual interviews are usually seen as an exploratory market research technique, whereas focus groups are more confirmatory by nature.

Whereas focus groups are easy to organize with consumers, they are much more challenging in a B2B context. Have you ever tried to get 8 or 10 busy professionals around one table outside of business hours?

Whatever the setting, the role of the moderator is key to make people speak and interact. The risk to fail is considerably higher than when you follow a well-prepared interview guide.

If you want to learn more about moderator’s bias please read this article . We highlight in particular one academic research by  Grønkjær et al. (2011) which state that :

Our analyses identified how interaction can come to a dead-end, including the risk of hierarchical issues. Based on the analyses from this study, the moderator’s ability to pursue the participants’ utterances may be the reason for coming to a dead-end.

Disadvantages of face-to-face interviews

The logistics side of the interviews is complicated, especially if you have to travel meet the interviewees. Writing an interview guide is a process that is also certainly more time-consuming for an individual interview than for a focus group.

Moreover, analyzing all interviews requires skills (and tools) that are neither easy nor cheap to acquire. Finally face-to-face interviews can be especially challenging to organize in a B2B setting (in some cases we even had to refuse B2B market research projects because we thought they were not feasible).

Pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews: a summary

It may seem challenging to choose between individual interviews and focus groups. Qualitative interviews are best suited if you want to gather specific experiences and opinions that you can explore in more depth with your interviewer. This format allows respondents to feel free to confide in you without judging their answers (feeling of trust and closeness to the interviewer) and avoids bias.

Focus groups will be of particular interest to challenge an idea to different experts, consumers or prospects, on the concept of a brainstorming session. In particular, it will be interesting to invite people with complementary experiences to identify the crucial points you will need to work on in the future.

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18 February 2019

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A Critical Review of Qualitative Interviews

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How to carry out great interviews in qualitative research.

11 min read An interview is one of the most versatile methods used in qualitative research. Here’s what you need to know about conducting great qualitative interviews.

What is a qualitative research interview?

Qualitative research interviews are a mainstay among q ualitative research techniques, and have been in use for decades either as a primary data collection method or as an adjunct to a wider research process. A qualitative research interview is a one-to-one data collection session between a researcher and a participant. Interviews may be carried out face-to-face, over the phone or via video call using a service like Skype or Zoom.

There are three main types of qualitative research interview – structured, unstructured or semi-structured.

• Structured interviews Structured interviews are based around a schedule of predetermined questions and talking points that the researcher has developed. At their most rigid, structured interviews may have a precise wording and question order, meaning that they can be replicated across many different interviewers and participants with relatively consistent results.
• Unstructured interviews Unstructured interviews have no predetermined format, although that doesn’t mean they’re ad hoc or unplanned. An unstructured interview may outwardly resemble a normal conversation, but the interviewer will in fact be working carefully to make sure the right topics are addressed during the interaction while putting the participant at ease with a natural manner.
• Semi-structured interviews Semi-structured interviews are the most common type of qualitative research interview, combining the informality and rapport of an unstructured interview with the consistency and replicability of a structured interview. The researcher will come prepared with questions and topics, but will not need to stick to precise wording. This blended approach can work well for in-depth interviews.

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What are the pros and cons of interviews in qualitative research?

As a qualitative research method interviewing is hard to beat, with applications in social research, market research, and even basic and clinical pharmacy. But like any aspect of the research process, it’s not without its limitations. Before choosing qualitative interviewing as your research method, it’s worth weighing up the pros and cons.

Pros of qualitative interviews:

• provide in-depth information and context
• can be used effectively when their are low numbers of participants
• provide an opportunity to discuss and explain questions
• useful for complex topics
• rich in data – in the case of in-person or video interviews , the researcher can observe body language and facial expression as well as the answers to questions

Cons of qualitative interviews:

• can be time-consuming to carry out
• costly when compared to some other research methods
• because of time and cost constraints, they often limit you to a small number of participants
• difficult to standardize your data across different researchers and participants unless the interviews are very tightly structured
• As the Open University of Hong Kong notes, qualitative interviews may take an emotional toll on interviewers

Qualitative interview guides

Semi-structured interviews are based on a qualitative interview guide, which acts as a road map for the researcher. While conducting interviews, the researcher can use the interview guide to help them stay focused on their research questions and make sure they cover all the topics they intend to.

An interview guide may include a list of questions written out in full, or it may be a set of bullet points grouped around particular topics. It can prompt the interviewer to dig deeper and ask probing questions during the interview if appropriate.

Consider writing out the project’s research question at the top of your interview guide, ahead of the interview questions. This may help you steer the interview in the right direction if it threatens to head off on a tangent.

Avoid bias in qualitative research interviews

According to Duke University , bias can create significant problems in your qualitative interview.

• Acquiescence bias is common to many qualitative methods, including focus groups. It occurs when the participant feels obliged to say what they think the researcher wants to hear. This can be especially problematic when there is a perceived power imbalance between participant and interviewer. To counteract this, Duke University’s experts recommend emphasizing the participant’s expertise in the subject being discussed, and the value of their contributions.
• Interviewer bias is when the interviewer’s own feelings about the topic come to light through hand gestures, facial expressions or turns of phrase. Duke’s recommendation is to stick to scripted phrases where this is an issue, and to make sure researchers become very familiar with the interview guide or script before conducting interviews, so that they can hone their delivery.

What kinds of questions should you ask in a qualitative interview?

The interview questions you ask need to be carefully considered both before and during the data collection process. As well as considering the topics you’ll cover, you will need to think carefully about the way you ask questions.

Open-ended interview questions – which cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ – are recommended by many researchers as a way to pursue in depth information.

An example of an open-ended question is “What made you want to move to the East Coast?” This will prompt the participant to consider different factors and select at least one. Having thought about it carefully, they may give you more detailed information about their reasoning.

A closed-ended question , such as “Would you recommend your neighborhood to a friend?” can be answered without too much deliberation, and without giving much information about personal thoughts, opinions and feelings.

Follow-up questions can be used to delve deeper into the research topic and to get more detail from open-ended questions. Examples of follow-up questions include:

• What makes you say that?
• What do you mean by that?
• Can you tell me more about X?
• What did/does that mean to you?

As well as avoiding closed-ended questions, be wary of leading questions. As with other qualitative research techniques such as surveys or focus groups, these can introduce bias in your data. Leading questions presume a certain point of view shared by the interviewer and participant, and may even suggest a foregone conclusion.

An example of a leading question might be: “You moved to New York in 1990, didn’t you?” In answering the question, the participant is much more likely to agree than disagree. This may be down to acquiescence bias or a belief that the interviewer has checked the information and already knows the correct answer.

Other leading questions involve adjectival phrases or other wording that introduces negative or positive connotations about a particular topic. An example of this kind of leading question is: “Many employees dislike wearing masks to work. How do you feel about this?” It presumes a positive opinion and the participant may be swayed by it, or not want to contradict the interviewer.

Harvard University’s guidelines for qualitative interview research add that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask embarrassing questions – “if you don’t ask, they won’t tell.” Bear in mind though that too much probing around sensitive topics may cause the interview participant to withdraw. The Harvard guidelines recommend leaving sensitive questions til the later stages of the interview when a rapport has been established.

More tips for conducting qualitative interviews

Observing a participant’s body language can give you important data about their thoughts and feelings. It can also help you decide when to broach a topic, and whether to use a follow-up question or return to the subject later in the interview.

Be conscious that the participant may regard you as the expert, not themselves. In order to make sure they express their opinions openly, use active listening skills like verbal encouragement and paraphrasing and clarifying their meaning to show how much you value what they are saying.

Remember that part of the goal is to leave the interview participant feeling good about volunteering their time and their thought process to your research. Aim to make them feel empowered , respected and heard.

Unstructured interviews can demand a lot of a researcher, both cognitively and emotionally. Be sure to leave time in between in-depth interviews when scheduling your data collection to make sure you maintain the quality of your data, as well as your own well-being .

Recording and transcribing interviews

Historically, recording qualitative research interviews and then transcribing the conversation manually would have represented a significant part of the cost and time involved in research projects that collect qualitative data.

Fortunately, researchers now have access to digital recording tools, and even speech-to-text technology that can automatically transcribe interview data using AI and machine learning. This type of tool can also be used to capture qualitative data from qualitative research (focus groups,ect.) making this kind of social research or market research much less time consuming.

Data analysis

Qualitative interview data is unstructured, rich in content and difficult to analyze without the appropriate tools. Fortunately, machine learning and AI can once again make things faster and easier when you use qualitative methods like the research interview.

Text analysis tools and natural language processing software can ‘read’ your transcripts and voice data and identify patterns and trends across large volumes of text or speech. They can also perform khttps://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/research/sentiment-analysis/

which assesses overall trends in opinion and provides an unbiased overall summary of how participants are feeling.

Another feature of text analysis tools is their ability to categorize information by topic, sorting it into groupings that help you organize your data according to the topic discussed.

All in all, interviews are a valuable technique for qualitative research in business, yielding rich and detailed unstructured data. Historically, they have only been limited by the human capacity to interpret and communicate results and conclusions, which demands considerable time and skill.

When you combine this data with AI tools that can interpret it quickly and automatically, it becomes easy to analyze and structure, dovetailing perfectly with your other business data. An additional benefit of natural language analysis tools is that they are free of subjective biases, and can replicate the same approach across as much data as you choose. By combining human research skills with machine analysis, qualitative research methods such as interviews are more valuable than ever to your business.

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Interviews in Social Research: Advantages and Disadvantages

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Last Updated on September 11, 2023 by Karl Thompson

An interview involves an interviewer asking questions verbally to a respondent. Interviews involve a more direct interaction between the researcher and the respondent than questionnaires. Interviews can either be conducted face to face, via phone, video link or social media.

This post has primarily been written for students studying the Research Methods aspect of A-level sociology, but it should also be useful for students studying methods for psychology, business studies and maybe other subjects too!

Types of interview

Structured or formal interviews are those in which the interviewer asks the interviewee the same questions in the same way to different respondents. This will typically involve reading out questions from a pre-written and pre-coded structured questionnaire, which forms the interview schedule. The most familiar form of this is with market research, where you may have been stopped on the street with a researcher ticking boxes based on your responses.

Unstructured or Informal interviews (also called discovery interviews) are more like a guided conversation. Here the interviewer has a list of topics they want the respondent to talk about, but the interviewer has complete freedom to vary the specific questions from respondent to respondent, so they can follow whatever lines of enquiry they think are most appropriated, depending on the responses given by each respondent.

Semi-Structured interviews are those in which respondents have a list of questions, but they are free to ask further, differentiated questions based on the responses given. This allows more flexibility that the structured interview yet more structure than the informal interview.

Group interviews – Interviews can be conducted either one to one (individual interviews) or in a a group, in which the interviewer interviews two or more respondents at a time. Group discussions among respondents may lead to deeper insight than just interviewing people along, as respondents ‘encourage’ each other.

Focus groups are a type of group interview in which respondents are asked to discuss certain topics.

Interviews: key terms

The Interview Schedule – A list of questions or topic areas the interviewer wishes to ask or cover in the course of the interview. The more structured the interview, the more rigid the interiew schedule will be. Before conducting an interview it is usual for the reseracher to know something about the topic area and the respondents themselves, and so they will have at least some idea of the questions they are likely to ask: even if they are doing ‘unstructred interviews’ an interviewer will have some kind of interview schedule, even if it is just a list of broad topic areas to discuss, or an opening question.

The Strengths and Limitations of Unstructured Interviews 

The strengths of unstructured interviews

The key strength of unstructured interviews is good validity , but for this to happen questioning should be as open ended as possible to gain genuine, spontaneous information rather than ‘rehearsed responses’ and questioning needs to be sufficient enough to elicit in-depth answers rather than glib, easy answers.

Rapport and empathy – unstructured interviews encourage a good rapport between interviewee and interviewer. Because of their informal nature, like guided conversations, unstructured interviews are more likely to make respondents feel at ease than with the more formal setting of a structured questionnaire or experiment. This should encourage openness, trust and empathy.

Checking understanding – unstructured interviews also allow the interviewer to check understanding. If an interviewee doesn’t understand a question, the interviewer is free to rephrase it, or to ask follow up questions to clarify aspects of answers that were not clear in the first instance.

They are good for finding out why respondents do not do certain things . For example postal surveys asking why people do not claim benefits have very low response rates, but informal interviews are perfect for researching people who may have low literacy skills.

Practical advantages – there are few practical advantages with this method, but compared to full-blown participant observation, they are a relatively quick method for gaining in-depth data. They are also a good method to combine with overt participant observation in order to get respondents to further explain the meanings behind their actions. So in short, they are impractical, unless you’re in the middle of a year long Participant Observation study (it’s all relative!).

The Limitations of unstructured interviews

The main theoretical disadvantage is the lack of reliability – unstructured Interviews lack reliability because each interview is unique – a variety of different questions are asked and phrased in a variety of different ways to different respondents.

We also need to keep in mind that interviews can only tap into what people SAY about their values, beliefs and actions, we don’t actually get to see these in action, like we would do with observational studies such as Participant Observation. This has been a particular problem with self-report studies of criminal behaviour. These have been tested using polygraphs, and follow up studies of school and criminal records and responses found to be lacking in validity, so much so that victim-surveys have become the standard method for measuring crime rather than self-report studies.

Sudman and Bradburn (1974) conducted a review of literature and found that responses varied depending on the relative demographics of the interviewer and respondent. For example white interviewers received more socially acceptable responses from black respondents than they did from white respondents. Similar findings have been found with different ethnicities, age, social class and religion.

Practical disadvantages – unstructured Interviews may take a relatively long time to conduct. Some interviews can take hours. They also need to be taped and transcribed, and in the analysis phase there may be a lot of information that is not directly relevant to one’s research topic that needs to be sifted through.

There are few ethical problems , assuming that informed consent is gained and confidentially ensured. Although having said this, the fact that the researcher is getting more in-depth data, more of an insight into who the person really is, does offer the potential for the information to do more harm to the respondent if it got into the wrong hands (but this in turn depends on the topics discussed and the exact content of the interviews.

Sociological perspectives on interviews

Fo r Interactionists , interviews are based on mutual participant observation. The context of the interview is intrinsic to understanding responses and no distinction between research interviews and other social interaction is recognised. Data are valid when mutual understanding between interviewer and respondent is agreed.

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Qualitative Interview Pros and Cons

Interviews with members and nonmembers can help tell the story behind your quantitative research data, but only if done right. Find out how to make interviews effective and what pitfalls to avoid.

The proliferation of cheap, high-quality online survey tools has revolutionized our ability to conduct surveys to obtain quick snapshots of what our members are thinking. For all but the most complex projects, it is possible to begin and conclude a well-defined study of a subject of interest with the participation of a representative group of members within a 10-day timeframe. Perhaps more than any other development, this technology has made it possible for us to become "data driven" associations, as was put forth in 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't .

At the same time, we need to balance this easy source of quantitative data with a similar easy source of qualitative data. Why? Survey tools do a great job of providing us with definitive numbers and visuals to help tell our story, to ensure that our colleagues or committees understand and buy into our key findings. Databases also provide much better snapshots in the form of statistical reports and charts to help us document usage and sales baselines and trends. But to obtain greater insight into what actually determines these levels and drives changes, we often need to go deeper and directly engage representative members and customers in two-way dialogue. 

Structure and Method for Member Interviews

There are entire books regarding methodology for qualitative interviews, but as associations we often benefit by simplifying them considerably. Here are some suggestions:

Conduct only telephone interviews (rather than face-to-face), prescheduling from a small random sample of the members or other targeted constituency. This allows them to speak at their convenience, although speaking to them at home or on a cellphone undermines the quality of conversation.

Prepare a discussion guide in advance. Rather than treat this as an agenda or survey form, keep it broad and flexible. After all, an interview is two-way communication. The majority of each interview will probably consist of follow-up questions to probe initial responses more deeply.

Use (or be) good interviewers. Effective interviewers (and facilitators) are friendly and open, and they know how to probe effectively. Through active listening, surface level discussions rapidly give way to deeper motivations, and if the interviewer can demonstrate objectivity and candor, he or she can quickly establish a trusting relationship in the interview. You should welcome digressions, and don't worry if every interview is unique. The end product of aggregating all the interviews will be far more robust as a result.

Guarantee confidentiality. Ensure participants that no individual information or attribution will be released to others in transcripts or written reports.

Allow interviews to run long. Even with the shortest guides and most focused of objectives, we often find that interviews run 30 minutes or more. Members rarely get a chance to speak directly with their association. A member who begins an interview emphasizing their time constraints inevitably is the one who will speak the longest.

Don't do too many interviews. Since time is money, structure the interviews as a discrete project, with a limited number of conversations. For any specific topic, we find most issues converge within 10 to 15 interviews—that is, we begin to hear repeated comments and similar thinking so we are not learning much new information from each new conversation. As with all qualitative research, we are generally not trying to establish or force a consensus; instead we want to hear the widest range of perspectives possible and understand why members feel that way.

Strengths of Interviews

Often we think of focus groups when considering qualitative research. Group dynamics are sometimes important to measure, and focus groups have also migrated online to a certain extent, but there are several reasons why in-depth interviews are superior.

Relative absence of bias. Interviews generally have less observer or participant bias. Even a trained moderator will encounter subtle bias in membership focus groups. In associations people often know each other, which can lead to conscious or subconscious posturing or suppression of some comments. Groups may seem to have homogeneous participants, yet some factor differentiates them once they are in the room. For example, we may find while discussing a service with which two people have had negative experiences that they are overly eager to share. If they speak first, it can undermine the perceptions of those who speak later and have had no experiences, or only positive ones. In interviews, the member is rarely trying to impress the interviewer except by trying to be as articulate and well understood as possible.

Built-in flexibility. Although you lose some rapport and communications through phone contact, it is far more cost-effective, allowing you to efficiently conduct interviews back-to-back and to give members who miss an appointment to call back at their convenience. Too often we are constrained in focus groups by having members gathered at a conference or in their local area, which yields a sampling of only our most motivated “super-users” and cognoscenti, or group dynamics reflecting participants who are very familiar with one another.

An interview is two-way communication. The majority of each interview will probably consist of follow-up questions to probe initial responses more deeply.

"Feed" your survey. Often we design surveys based on our assumptions regarding what matters, drawn from internal management perspectives, questions from the last survey, or good ideas a consultant brought in. However, it is harder to get a candid take on current issues that are of greatest concern to members. Conducting interviews as part of the process of designing the survey helps provide timely, titillating observations, unproven hypotheses, and possible hidden connections between attitudes and behavior that you will want to quantify in the survey work.

Enough talk time for members. A 90-minute focus group allows each participant to speak perhaps eight to 10 minutes. Online surveys generally take between five and 15 minutes. Many members may only have only a few minutes of thought to share, but for subjects that do warrant more in-depth discussion and a clear understanding of their background, a 20- to 30-minute period for one person's feedback is more appropriate. Interviews lose a group dynamic, but they also spare interviewees from spending time listening to others—helpful particularly if your members have type A personalities and tend to equate "listening" with "waiting to speak again." (Yes, we all have many of them in our databases!)

Candor and intimacy. Even if you have never spoken to members regarding their inner feelings, don't worry—they will make it easy for you. Often members are flattered to be asked. They make the time to speak with you and they reward you with candor. Sometimes you may not like what you hear, but the more the interviewer plays the role of objective outsider, the better the process will be. As a market research director, I often introduced myself as "acting as an independent researcher today" and that's often all you need in order to pull yourself out of the equation and to put the focus of conversation where it belongs—on the member or customer you're interviewing.

Low-cost and easy interpretation. Even surveys that are easy to administer online require some statistical knowledge to properly interpret. To conduct and analyze, interviews require a finger to dial, an ear to listen, a telephone, and a keyboard or notepad. Like surveys today, interviews can launch in real time, and it is easy to share top-line reports in a day for time-sensitive projects.

Weaknesses of Interviews

Of course, interviews also have inherent weaknesses. These are a few of their  limitations:

Missing objectivity. There is a potential for observer bias in just about all qualitative research. If the people conducting the interviews are staff or service providers who can't maintain a strong sense of objectivity inside and out, the interviewee will pull their punches and not tell the whole truth, or the interpretation of the end results starts to resemble a process of hearing what you want to hear. Be on the lookout for what can be an almost subliminal bias.

Negative reactions. I often found that associations need to be prepared to accept what they hear. Not all of it is pleasant. The kneejerk reaction to negative feedback often can be outright rejection—a belief that the method just wasn't reliable enough. This may be true, but it is important to balance a sudden keen interest in valid methodology with an urgent need to cover one's backside. We are often politically sensitive and very PC, and when interviewees take advantage of glasnost to say exactly what they feel, it can be jarring. Sometimes you will need to smooth off the rough edges and edit the unadulterated stream of feedback, unless you are a big fan of Impromptu Job Loss or like being perceived as a traitor when you're only the messenger.

Open-endedness. Digressions and lack of standardization across interviews can be a good or a bad thing. When you try to make interviews "sum up" to a consensus or quantify them, you'll be disappointed. To push for consensus is to force interviews to do something they don't do well. It is best to accept this limitation, even to the point of managing your interviewee's expectations upfront. Sometimes an interviewee will refer to our "phone survey" and we gently correct them, since survey implies a rigid format. Interviews often yield digressions into arcane specialties, heretical opinions, conspiracy theories, and wildly inventive suggestions that each represent a unique viewpoint.

Subject to these caveats, qualitative interviews can be a valuable tool to help inform most association problems. Like some people we know, the feedback we receive may be amorphous, messy, and sometimes contradictory. However, regular use of the method can improve member and customer relations and provide a critical additional source of intelligence that we rarely obtain otherwise.

Editor’s Note: This article, originally published in 2009, has been updated.

Kevin Whorton is principal of Whorton Marketing & Research in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Email: [email protected]                       

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interviews in research advantages and disadvantages

Interviews are a widely used research method that allows researchers to gather valuable information directly from participants. This article explores the advantages and disadvantages of conducting interviews in research, providing insights into the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.

Advantages of Interviews in Research

1. rich and in-depth data:.

Interviews provide researchers with the opportunity to delve deep into a topic and obtain detailed information from participants. Through open-ended questions, researchers can explore various aspects and gain a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

2. Flexibility:

Interviews offer flexibility in terms of location, timing, and format. Researchers can choose to conduct interviews face-to-face, over the phone, or even through video conferencing. This flexibility allows for convenience and increases the likelihood of participation.

3. Probing and Clarification:

Unlike other research methods, interviews allow for immediate clarification and probing. Researchers can ask follow-up questions, seek elaboration, or request examples during the interview, ensuring a clearer understanding of the participant’s responses.

4. Personal Connection:

Interviews foster a personal connection between the researcher and the participant. This connection often leads to a greater level of trust, resulting in participants sharing more detailed and honest responses. It also provides an opportunity to observe non-verbal cues, gestures, and emotions that may contribute to the research findings.

5. Adaptability:

Researchers can adapt their interviews based on the participant’s background, knowledge, or cultural context. This adaptability allows for a tailored approach that enhances the quality and relevance of the data obtained.

Disadvantages of Interviews in Research

1. potential for bias:.

Interviews may introduce bias as the researcher’s personal presence and interaction can influence the participant’s responses. Researchers must remain impartial and minimize any potential bias or leading questions.

2. Time-consuming:

Conducting interviews can be time-consuming as it requires scheduling, preparation, execution, and transcription of the recorded data. Researchers must allocate ample time and resources to ensure thorough data collection and analysis.

3. Difficulty in Generalizing Findings:

While interviews provide rich and detailed data, it can be challenging to generalize the findings to a larger population. The sample size is often limited, making it difficult to draw broad conclusions from interview-based research.

4. Interviewer Influence:

The presence and behavior of the interviewer may impact the participant’s responses. Participants might alter their answers based on their perception of the researcher’s expectations, potentially leading to skewed or inaccurate data.

5. Resource-Intensive:

Conducting interviews requires significant resources, including time, manpower, and financial investment. Expenses may include travel costs, transcription services, and compensation for participants, making interviews a more resource-intensive research method.

Benefits of Knowing the Interviews in Research Advantages and Disadvantages

Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of interviews in research can significantly benefit researchers in several ways:

• Improved Research Design: Knowledge of the strengths and limitations of interviews helps researchers design studies that leverage the advantages while mitigating potential drawbacks.
• Informed Decision-Making: Researchers can make informed choices about when to use interviews as a research method and when to employ other techniques better suited to their objectives.
• Data Quality Enhancement: Awareness of the disadvantages allows researchers to implement strategies to minimize bias and increase the reliability and validity of the data collected through interviews.
• Ethical Considerations: Understanding the advantages and disadvantages helps researchers navigate potential ethical dilemmas during the interview process and ensures the protection of participants’ rights and well-being.

In conclusion, interviews offer valuable advantages in research, including rich and in-depth data, flexibility, probing capabilities, personal connection, and adaptability. However, there are also disadvantages to consider, such as the potential for bias, time consumption, difficulty in generalizing findings, interviewer influence, and resource intensiveness. By understanding these advantages and disadvantages, researchers can make more informed decisions, enhance their research methodologies, and ensure the validity and integrity of their findings.

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Research Design Review

A discussion of qualitative & quantitative research design, strengths & limitations of the in-depth interview method: an overview.

The following is a modified excerpt from Applied Qualitative Research Design: A Total Quality Framework Approach (Roller & Lavrakas, 2015, pp. 56-57).

An additional strength of the IDI method is the flexibility of the interview format, which allows the interviewer to tailor the order in which questions are asked, modify the question wording as appropriate, ask follow-up questions to clarify interviewees’ responses, and use indirect questions (e.g., the use of projective techniques ) to stimulate subconscious opinions or recall. It should be noted, however, that “flexibility” does not mean a willy-nilly approach to interviewing, and, indeed, the interviewer should employ quality measures such as those outlined in “Applying a Quality Framework to the In-depth Interview Method.”

A third key strength of the IDI method—analyzability of the data—is a byproduct of the interviewer–interviewee relationship and the depth of interviewing techniques, which produce a granularity in the IDI data that is rich in fine details and serves as the basis for deciphering the narrative within each interview. These details also enable researchers to readily identify where they agree or disagree with the meanings of codes and themes associated with specific responses, which ultimately leads to the identification of themes and connections across interview participants.

Limitations

The IDI method also presents challenges and limitations that deserve the researcher’s attention. The most important, from a Total Quality Framework standpoint, has to do with what is also considered a key strength of the IDI method: the interviewer–interviewee relationship. There are two key aspects of the relationship that can potentially limit (or even undermine) the effectiveness of the IDI method: the interviewer and the social context. The main issue with respect to the interviewer is his/her potential for biasing the information that is gathered. This can happen due to  (a) personal characteristics such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, and education (e.g., a 60-year-old Caucasian male interviewer may stifle or skew responses from young, female, African American participants); (b) personal values or beliefs (e.g., an interviewer with strongly held beliefs about global warming and its damaging impact on the environment may “tune out” or misconstrue the comments from interviewees who believe global warming is a myth); and/or (c) other factors (e.g., an interviewer’s stereotyping, misinterpreting, and/or presumptions about the interviewee based solely on the interviewee’s outward appearance). Any of these characteristics may negatively influence an interviewee’s responses to the researcher’s questions and/or the accuracy of the interviewer’s data gathering. A result of these interviewer effects may be the “difficulty of seeing the people as complex, and . . . a reduction of their humanity to a stereotypical, flat, one-dimensional paradigm” (Krumer-Nevo, 2002, p. 315).

The second key area of concern with the IDI method is related to the broader social context of the relationship, particularly what Kvale (2006) calls the “power dynamics” within the interview environment, characterized by the possibility of “a one-way dialogue” whereby “the interviewer rules the interview” (p. 484). It is important, therefore, for the researcher to carefully consider the social interactions that are integral to the interviewing process and the possible impact these interactions may have on the credibility of an IDI study. For example, the trained interviewer will maximize the social interaction by utilizing positive engagement techniques such as establishing rapport (i.e., being approachable), asking thoughtful questions that indicate the interviewer is listening carefully to the interviewee, and knowing when to stay silent and let the interviewee talk freely.

Krumer-Nevo, M. (2002). The arena of othering: A life-story study with women living in poverty and social marginality. Qualitative Social Work , 1 (3), 303–318.

Kvale, S. (2006). Dominance through interviews and dialogues. Qualitative Inquiry , 12 (3), 480–500.

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In-Depth Interviews – Advantages & Disadvantages

In-depth interviews are one of the most effective ways to learn more about your consumers. They are a qualitative research method, with the aim to explore each participant’s feelings, perspectives and points of view. They can be used as a standalone research method or in conjunction with others, depending on the type of project.

One to one interviews are ideal for research projects that may cover sensitive or divisive topics, or where it would be logistically difficult to get multiple participants in the same space for a focus group. They are also of great value when we need to truly understand the differences across different customer types on a granular level, which methods like focus groups do not deliver on.

Whether face to face or digitally the most important factor is that the researcher builds a rapport with the participant. The style of the interview itself will depend on the researcher, but the best ones will make sure the participant feels relaxed enough to give honest and open answers. You’d be surprised how open people are once they feel comfortable to share their feelings.

At Spark our team are experts at conducting in-depth interviews, and work with brands across all different industries. We are naturally curious, and maybe a little nosey, which means we love finding out how people interact with brands, products and services, whether that be a bank, a supermarket or a food / drinks outlet.

We have worked with all types of people, from age 6 to 86, across all different backgrounds, to provide insight that can help take your brand to the next level. Find out more about our in-depth interviews here .

The different types of in-depth interviews

Conducting interviews takes a lot of planning, and there are a variety of formats they can be in depending on what your ultimate objectives are.

In- depth interviews are not always one to one. In some instances, there may be the need to conduct a paired depth – such as an interview with a couple or a friendship pair

Sometimes all that we need is just to sit with people for 45-60 minutes to uncover a wealth of information that helps brands grow.  Other types of interviews are:

How we get the best out of our in-depth interviews

Warm up: We always start broad and get our participants in a relaxed and comfortable state of mind before probing on more detailed views. It’s important to build rapport and trust.

Flexible: We use a semi structured guide to keep us on topic, but our expert team know when something ‘off topic’ is worth exploring.

Iterative and Interactive: The iterative process is the practice of building, refining, and improving a project, product, or initiative . We learn and adapt according to our cumulative learnings. Even within each interview we must think two steps ahead to inspire further questions and exploration.

Deep: We have ways of making you talk!! We have lots of what we in the industry call ‘projective or enabling techniques’ that help our participants articulate their feelings. This might be as simple as projecting on to a third person, or object to remove the personal nature of a question.

Fun: This must be an enjoyable process, so where appropriate we will sprinkle in some fun questions or gamify the process a little to keep the energy high.

The advantages of in-depth interviews

There are many reasons why in-depth interviews are an excellent way to find out more about your target market.

Work alongside other methods

In-depth interviews can work well as a pre cursor to measuring opinions. All the information gathered means we can really hone the questionnaire into a more relevant set of questions and test hypothesis emerging from the Qual.

Deeper understanding of participants

Interviewers can gain incredibly deep insights due to the one-on-one nature of interviews. It allows for the exploration of topics that may not be explored in quantitative methods of data collection. It can also help build clear customer segments for our clients, which can then be measured.

Observing the unsaid as well as the said

If taking place face to face (or visually online), the interviewer can pick up on non-verbal cues from the participant and construe their emotions on different topics.

The disadvantages of in-depth interviews

As with every method of data collection, in-depth interviews have their own disadvantages which need to be considered.

Time intensive

In-depth interviews are one of the most time-consuming ways of collecting data, as they require a large amount of preparation beforehand. The interviews themselves take time, in addition to then transcribing them and analysing the results after the fact.

Trained interviewer

To be able to conduct effective research, interviewers need to be well-trained. This will allow them to gather rich and detailed information from each participant. They also need to be able to utilise the latest interview techniques and be personable so they can allow the participants to feel comfortable and give honest answers.

Lack of idea generation

In depths are not as useful when trying to generate new ideas or create new concepts. This is where a focus group format is usually preferred where participants can spark ideas off one another.

What is the purpose of in-depth interviews?

In-depth interviews allow brands to understand their target market, from their likes and dislikes to their behaviours. They can also really bring to light the highs and lows of a customer journey.  This allows brands to make well-informed decisions for things such as marketing strategies, product launches, store placement and customer service.

Businesses can also gain a better understanding of product demand and can design products that have higher potential for being accepted into the market. It’s fair to say that in-depth interviews have both advantages and disadvantages but can be an incredibly useful tool to help you achieve your brand goals.

Spark’s in-depth interviews

In-depth interviews are one of our favourite research methods! We like to keep them informal and friendly and call them ‘Chit Chats’. Time and time again they have proved fertile ground for potential for new marketing campaigns and can take your brand in new and exciting directions.

Our trained research experts are fantastic at diving under the surface and assigning meaning to even the most complex perceptions, behaviours, and experiences. Our focus is always on really moving beyond the ‘reported story’ to uncover the ‘real one’, that sometimes even the participants themselves are surprised at!

Spark Market Research is an award-winning company and we have worked with a variety of prestigious brands in a whole range of industries. Our core value is using innovative ways to gain meaningful consumer insights for our clients. We collaborate with our clients every step of the way in order to gain fruitful results that drive incredible marketing strategies. Find out more about In- Depth Interviews here .

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In the last section, we tackled the market research survey —that fixed set of questions you send out to a segment of your market for feedback on some aspect of your business. While surveys do pose qualitative (open-ended) questions, they’re used primarily for quantitative research. That is, they’re great for arriving at a consensus through loads of consumer data… but they won’t necessarily get you the deepest of insights.

Because let’s be honest: No one pours their heart out in a survey—no matter how many lines you offer them to fill in.

Enter the in-depth interview and the focus group for that information. Both market research techniques give you the opportunity to be in two-way communication with consumers—in a form unrestricted by question limits—and to establish a rapport with them. That sets the stage for deep and rewarding insights.

The Advantages of Direct Communication in Primary Market Research

“Direct contact” can mean many things, including conversations mediated by telephone, video conferencing , and chat platforms . Indeed, two great advantages of using these technologies for your market research are their expediency and their cost-effectiveness: You can cover a broad geographic area without anyone having to travel anywhere; and consecutive interviews can be conducted from the comfort of your own office. If you’re working within a budget, telephone interviews can be as insightful as in-person interviews… and the recommendations we offer below are just as applicable to that form of primary research.

Of course, in-person interviews and focus groups have their distinct advantages. In the first place, once you’ve got someone in a room, they can’t “hang up” on you: Both (or all) parties have signaled their commitment by arriving. What’s more, because you’re looking them directly in the eye, you’ll know your interviewees aren’t distracted by anything… and fully present participants are naturally going to give you the most sincere insights.

In the second place, when you get someone from your target market in a room, you have access to additional sources of information: body language, facial expressions, gestures, and so on. These non-verbal cues can sometimes reveal more about interviewees’ sentiments than they’d be willing to admit (or than they can even acknowledge to themselves ).

When the interviewer is adept at reading such non-verbal cues and putting interviewees at ease, these conversations lead to honest insights about emotions, opinions, and attitudes: Why did they really leave your business? How do they really use your product? What were they actually feeling when they moved through your purchasing funnel? What were the real psychic/emotional barriers?

As you can imagine, if you can get past the costs (travel, compensation, venue, moderator payment) and logistics of getting two or more people in a room for an hour or more, it’ll be well worth it. Not only will you get terrific qualitative insights to pair with your quantitative data; you’ll also gain a richer understanding of your customer personas , their journeys, motivations, and the language they use. (Of course, you’ll be looking out for “sticky” messages that you can use for future website or ad copy).

In-depth interviews and focus groups will fill in the emotional context for the numbers your surveys and secondary research give you. But remember that these are supplements —not substitutes —for those more quantitative research methods. While they’ll give you rich insights into unique individuals, be careful about generalizing from the information you get from these conversations. Your interviewees are representative of your target population, but they’re too small a sample size to draw statistical conclusions about your larger target market from. That’s what quantitative research is for.

But for now ? We’re talking quality over quantity.

In-Depth Interviews vs. Focus Groups: Which to Use?

In-depth interviews are often described as “focus groups of one,” and focus groups as “large-scale interviews.” In some ways, these are fair comparisons: Both methodologies revolve around semi-structured discussions whose core questions are designed to go deep , to help the business understand some problem. In both cases, respondents are respectfully treated as “experts” who can “teach” the business about its market’s feelings, perceptions, opinions, and hesitations.

But to state the obvious, dynamics change the moment a party of two becomes a party of three or more: Suddenly there are new interpersonal negotiations, sociocultural categorizings, hierarchies, and contentions. From a business perspective, you’ll have cost, time, and possibly location to account for. These may very well be factors in your decision, but so should the following:

When to use in-depth interviews

In-depth, one-on-one interviews can happen just about anywhere: at your business, at their home, or at a neutral location such as a rented venue. They can happen on the street while people are exiting a physical space—on their way out of a retail establishment, for example. They can happen in “captive audience” situations—during a conference, a workshop, or a public event.

This locational flexibility is one of the reasons in-depth interviews are among the most prevalent forms of primary research. Here are some of the reasons why you’d choose one over a focus group:

• When you’re gathering sensitive feedback . “Sensitive” might mean anything from disclosing personal information (finances or health issues) to more generally uncomfortable topics (birth control or personal hygiene products). If your research concerns topics that people might not feel comfortable discussing in a group, in-depth interviews should be your choice. (What’s more, if you’re looking for critique in a culture that tends to be more “polite” or less prone to debate, you might get more honest responses in a one-on-one inquiry.)
• When participants are competitors . Can you imagine hosting a focus group made up of competitors who are reluctant to share information for fear of losing whatever competitive advantage they might have? Unsurprisingly, these sorts of environments don’t foster open communication. You want participants who are willing to disclose information; so if they’re from the same vertical industry, you’d do best to meet with them separately.
• When you’re concerned about group hierarchy . Any time a focus group might present an inherent imbalance of power (bringing both workers and their supervisors into the same room, for example) you risk making some participants feel less at ease about sharing their views. Choose the one-on-one strategy for these situations.
• When you want feedback on isolated user experiences . Knowing how users perform individual activities, or what their individual experiences with products are, doesn’t require groupthink. Indeed, anytime you want to know anything about individual user experience (usability testing, decision processes, personal responses to ad campaigns, how much progress a client has made toward a goal, etc), one-on-one interviews are your best bet. They’ll get you honest, insightful feedback untainted by other participants’ responses.

When to use focus groups

There are plenty of advantages to getting a number of people (typically 6-10) together in a room so they can discuss a topic relevant to your business. More minds means more insight, information, and ideas. Memories get jogged; comments from one end of the table trigger ideas on the other end; solutions get fully developed through energetic collaboration. And since no one is required to answer every question, participants jump into the conversation spontaneously, when they have something insightful to say on that topic.

Here are some circumstances in which it makes sense to choose a focus group:

• When you need to brainstorm ideas . Focus groups are a terrific strategy for broad, exploratory topics, such as imagining new product features or working through ideas for your next ad campaign. Anytime you’re early on in the exploratory phase of a concept or topic (the what if…? phase), choose a focus group to assist with idea-generation and discovery.
• When you’re about to go live . This might mean just before you launch that ad campaign, or before that concept goes to market, or before you turn that prototype into The Real Deal and release it into the world. This is especially the case if you relied on secondary research to create that ad, concept, or prototype. The numbers might back you up… but you also want subjective, affective “data” describing why those numbers work. Refine before you release.
• When you want multiple perspectives, or to explore disparate views . You might be at a point in your decision-making process where two very different options seem feasible, and you want to hear representatives from your target market debate the pros and cons of each. Let your market generate the arguments for you. They might make a case for something you’d never considered before.
• When you want to better understand the complexities of your target market . While a single interviewee might give you great insights, they won’t be representative of your target market. Granted, focus groups won’t be either … but they will offer a broader range of representation. Collectively, the group can also help you understand the motivations behind more complex behaviors. Did your market say they wanted a product—but now they’re not buying? Focus groups can help you explore the apparent disconnect between declared desire and action.
• When you want to know more about your brand perception . Focus groups are great for brand insights. After all, it’s consumers who create your brand perception through shared experience (what they imagine about your business and how they speak about it); it’s not something your business makes . So go directly to the source for this intelligence.
• When you want to evaluate reactions . Have a new campaign ad to run by consumers? A new food product to test? These aren’t the “isolated user experiences” we discussed above; and the feedback is best collected through group discussion.

If you’re still unsure which method is best for your market research question, ask yourself: “How (or what ) will group dynamics contribute to my findings?”

Preparing for Your In-Depth Interview or Focus Group

Whichever method you choose, the event will take some pre-planning. Here’s what to consider:

Clarify your goal and structure

Never go into market research without a clear idea of your question, and what its answer will mean for your business. A SWOT analysis can help you home in on your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats so you can narrow down your research to a single topic. Remember: You’re going for depth—not breadth—here. What’s the problem you’re gathering information on? The clearer your answer, the more useful your questions will ultimately be.

Your goal will also help you decide whether a structured or unstructured interview will be more effective. Granted, if you’re hosting a focus group, your “interviewer” will be more a moderator than anything: They’re there to get participants discussing amongst themselves, rather than to adhere to a predefined list of questions. Focus groups are, by nature, more unstructured.

With in-depth interviews, however, you’ll make a conscious choice between these two types. In unstructured interviews, the interviewer arrives with a series of well-thought-out issues to address; but the questions take shape during the conversation. Structured interviews, on the other hand, are a bit like verbal surveys. Standardizing the Q&A in this way—asking the same questions in the same order, every time—ensures more consistent data between interviews.

Choose an appropriate location and time

You’ve got a nearly unlimited range of possibilities (including online “locations”) here. Consider your needs: A facility with access to cameras so you can record the interview? One-way mirrors for observers? The location you choose should be easy to get to, easy to park near, and the room should feel intimate and provide as few distractions as possible. If you’re hosting a focus group, all participants should be able to sit facing each other.

Then consider your participants. If you’re a B2B company, you might hold your focus group at a downtown location during work hours, setting the space up board-room style. If you’re hosting consumers, evening may work best, you may choose a more suburban venue, and the setup might look less formal. If your demographic involves consumers of a lower socio-economic status, consider a venue along public transportation routes. Consider religious holidays. You get the point. You know your personas better than we do. Imagine the venue they’d want.

Plan your documentation strategy

Tape recording? Video recording? Note-taking by the moderator or a third-party observer? Each of these strategies will affect the dynamics of the conversation differently, and will give you access to different information after the fact. (For instance, a tape recording won’t help you recall who said what, or what their facial expression was when they said it. But it will get you a full transcript.) Of course, you’ll need all participants’ permission before hitting a “Record” button of any kind.

While we’d recommend digital recording, note-taking is a useful backup plan in case of malfunction, dead batteries, or static on the recording. If your interviewer is your note-taker, ensure that they can take notes and listen simultaneously, and record in a low-key manner. Participants who see moderators jumping to the notebook and writing furiously might be influenced to answer subsequent questions similarly (or very differently!)

Select your interviewer or moderator

Of course, anyone in theory could take on this role: the business owner, an associate, or someone else in your organization. But remember that the best interviewer is an unbiased one; and the more that’s at stake for your interviewer in the outcome, the less impartial they’re likely to be. This will affect group dynamics, and it won’t get you the data you need. The same goes for a moderator who knows the participants: Where there’s an established relationship, participants are less likely to be critical.

That said, you might decide to hire an experienced moderator—for example, someone trained in psychology who can better observe and understand complex behaviors. Trained moderators can quickly create a permissive and nurturing environment and keep an active conversation going for the time allotted (typically 30 minutes to an hour for an in-depth interview, and 1-2 hours for a focus group), with the study’s objectives always at the forefront. Which isn’t quite as easy as it sounds.

Well-seasoned moderators can monitor the conversation and change course on the fly. They can recognize when participants are speaking out of a psychological pressure to respond in a particular way. They’re trained in drawing quieter participants out of their shells, giving time to slower thinkers, tamping down heated discussions, and tactfully curbing participants who are monopolizing the conversation. They can visualize how key pieces of information fit together, clearly identify when a topic has been sufficiently covered, and know when to skip questions that earlier comments have suggested are irrelevant to the person or group at hand. They can interpret body language, gestures, hesitations, and facial expressions. And they can do all this without being an expert on the subject.

If you have this person in your organization, that’s remarkable: Use them ! If not, you can find trained moderators through an online search, referrals, or by posting a query in an industry forum.

Select your participants

Your sample size will be a matter of how clear a picture you want of your target market. Naturally, the more participants you have, the stronger your sense of the segment will be. You’ll probably want to conduct more than one in-depth interview, and you may also want to hold more than one focus group to ensure consistency across gatherings. At some point, you’ll see common themes emerging in responses. That’s when you’ll know you’re moving toward sounder conclusions.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the participants you select should be in a position to answer all of your questions. Remember, they’re the “experts”: maybe because they fit a persona with particular buying habits, or because they have relevant experience with a product (“new mothers in their ’30s who live in Western Massachusetts” or “males between the ages of 18-25 who play at least 15 hours of video games a week”).

Due to their commonality of experience, your focus groups will necessarily have some degree of homogeneity. That said, consider that first example: If you’re looking to target all new mothers, maybe you’d split your groups by income (new mothers who make less than and more than $100k), education (new mothers with and without a college degree), or relationship status (single mothers versus partnered mothers). Different demographics may provide different responses. If you foresee this, split your groups along these lines.

Participants may already be your customers or followers, in which case you can contact them through your CRM or by putting a call out on social media platforms. You can also find them through Facebook groups, advertisements, social events that your target audience attends, or market research companies who can find focus groups that match the target demographic you want to reach.

If you want to ensure that these prospects really do meet your criteria, set up a screening process before you officially invite them as an interviewee or focus group member. Try to ensure that participants aren’t familiar with each other. (Familiarity affects group dynamics.) Finally, recruit more participants than you need: You’ll almost inevitably get “no-shows.”

Standardize your proceedings

There are a few other things you’ll want to determine early on to ensure uniformity across interviews. Decide whether participants will be told who’s sponsoring the study, what the purpose of the interview or focus group is, and how the data will be used to make decisions after the fact. Choosing to offer this information to one group or participant and not to another may lead to different responses and variations in data.

You’ll should also create a guide—or at least a list of questions—that the interviewer or moderator will use to guide the discussion and ensure all topics are covered. (We’ve got some recommendations on the questions and the structure of the interview or focus group in the next section.) If you’re hosting a focus group, establish clear session guidelines in writing. You’ll share these with participants so they know what’s expected of them.

And before The Big Day, you might even consider running a pilot test to ensure your guide is a viable support.

You’ve got your interviewee or focus group in the room… now what? In the next section, we cover best practices for these forms of primary research to follow on the day itself.

Lauren Shufran

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14 Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews

Interviews are a commonly utilized method in the hiring process between interviewer and interviewee.

They offer several advantages and disadvantages for both the interviewer and the interviewee.

This article will explore the different types of interviews, their advantages and disadvantages, and the potential biases that can arise during the interview process.

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• September 2, 2023
• Professional Development

Advantages of Interviews

• Rich Data Collection : Interviews allow for in-depth and rich data collection. They provide an opportunity to gather detailed information, insights, and nuances that may not be captured through other data collection methods.
• Personal Connection : Interviews create a personal connection between the interviewer and the interviewee, which can foster trust and open communication. This can lead to more honest and candid responses.
• Flexibility : Interviews can be structured or unstructured, allowing for flexibility in the questioning approach. Researchers or interviewers can adapt their questions based on the interviewee's responses, enabling a deeper exploration of topics.
• Clarification : Interviews provide an opportunity to seek clarification on unclear or ambiguous responses. Follow-up questions can help ensure that the interviewer fully understands the interviewee's perspective.
• Contextual Understanding : Interviews are useful for gaining a deeper understanding of the interviewee's context, experiences, and motivations. This is particularly valuable in research or investigative settings.
• Immediate Feedback : In employment interviews, immediate feedback can be provided to candidates, helping them understand their performance and areas for improvement.

Disadvantages of Interviews

• Subjectivity : Interviews can be subject to bias, both on the part of the interviewer and the interviewee. This can lead to skewed or inaccurate information.
• Limited Sample Size : Interviews are time-consuming and resource-intensive, making it challenging to conduct them with a large sample size. This limits the generalizability of the findings.
• Social Desirability Bias : Interviewees may provide responses that they believe are socially acceptable or that align with the interviewer's expectations, rather than their true opinions or experiences.
• Interviewer Effect : The skills and demeanor of the interviewer can impact the interviewee's responses. Some interviewees may feel more comfortable with certain interviewers, leading to variations in data.
• Time-Consuming : Conducting interviews can be time-consuming, both in terms of preparation and the actual interview process. This may not be practical for large-scale data collection.
• Resource Intensive : Interviews require resources such as trained interviewers, facilities, and equipment. This can make them costly compared to other data collection methods.
• Interviewee Discomfort : Some interviewees may feel uncomfortable or anxious during interviews, which can affect the quality and honesty of their responses.
• Limited Reproducibility : In research settings, interviews may be challenging to reproduce exactly, making it difficult to validate findings through replication.

Types of Interviews

Structured interviews.

Structured interviews are the most common type of interview. In this type of interview, the interviewer follows a predetermined set of questions and evaluates the responses based on a standardized scoring system. One of the advantages of a structured interview is that it allows for consistent evaluation of candidates, ensuring that each candidate is assessed on the same criteria. This makes it easier to compare candidates and make informed hiring decisions. Some interviews can be held online, which is an advantage of video conferencing .

However, structured interviews can also have disadvantages. Some candidates may feel that the interview is too rigid and does not allow them to fully showcase their skills and abilities. Additionally, the structured format may not provide enough room for the interviewee to ask questions or engage in a meaningful conversation with the interviewer.

Unstructured Interviews

Unstructured interviews are the opposite of structured interviews. In this type of interview, the interviewer does not follow a specific set of questions. Instead, they have a general topic or theme and engage in a more conversational style of interviewing. Unstructured interviews allow for a more relaxed atmosphere and give the interviewee the opportunity to express themselves more freely.

However, unstructured interviews can also have disadvantages. Since there is no set structure or scoring system, it can be difficult to compare candidates objectively. The lack of structure can also lead to personal biases on the part of the interviewer, as their own preferences and opinions can influence the evaluation process. Additionally, unstructured interviews can be more time-consuming for both the interviewer and the interviewee.

Panel Interview

A panel interview involves multiple interviewers and one interviewee. This type of interview allows for different perspectives and opinions to be considered when evaluating a candidate. Panel interviews can be particularly useful when hiring for a position that requires teamwork or collaboration.

However, panel interviews may also have disadvantages. The presence of multiple interviewers can be intimidating for the interviewee, which may affect their performance. Additionally, panel interviews can be more difficult to coordinate and schedule, especially if the panel members have conflicting schedules.

Overall, interviews are a great way to gather information about potential candidates for a position. They allow for a more personal interaction between the interviewer and the respondent, and they provide an opportunity for the applicant to showcase their skills and qualifications.

However, it is important to recognize the potential disadvantages of interviews. Personal biases on the part of the interviewer can impact the evaluation process, leading to a less objective assessment of candidates. Additionally, interviews can be time-consuming and may not always provide an accurate representation of a candidate’s abilities.

When conducting interviews, it is crucial to develop a structured and standardized approach to minimize personal bias and ensure fair evaluation of candidates. This can involve using a standardized set of questions, developing a scoring system, and involving multiple interviewers to provide different perspectives.

In conclusion, interviews are an important part of the recruitment process and offer several advantages and disadvantages. It is essential to understand the different types of interviews, their strengths and weaknesses, and the potential biases that can arise during the interview process. By acknowledging and addressing these factors, organizations can make more informed hiring decisions and find the right fit for their team.

Conclusion of Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews

In conclusion, to transcribe interviews are a valuable tool for collecting qualitative data and gaining insights into individuals’ thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. 

However, they have limitations related to subjectivity, bias, resource requirements, and potential issues with sample size and generalizability. Researchers and interviewers should carefully consider these advantages and disadvantages when choosing interviews as a data collection method and take steps to mitigate potential biases and limitations.

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Market Research Interviews: 7 Strategies for Success

Julia Kolomiiets

Aug 29, 2023

Customers are a valuable source of knowledge for any marketer. To learn what they think, how they feel, and how they behave, we can use Market Research Interviews. This tool of market research can help you collect valuable quantitative or qualitative information about your potential or existing customers.

Market research interviews are helpful for making right marketing decisions on expanding to new markets, launching new products, or changing the way a product or service is promoted.

Marketing research process identifies a set of practices used by a company to study its target market.

Market research process can help you with the following activities:

Study your competitors

Understand your current customers

Identify and study potential customers

Learn about new niches or markets

Keeping up with trends

Developing and introducing new products/services

Rebranding & changing marketing strategies

Altering the existing products/services

Creating or changing your positioning

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Types of market research, primary market research.

A business studies market, its trends, and TA, using surveys, interviews, etc. It requires a large budget, time and dedicated specialists.

Secondary market research 

A business uses existing market research (from several sources) to compile one document. It is usually conducted when the budget for research is tight.

Methods of market research

Roundtables

Focus Groups

Observation

Goals of marketing research process

Make marketing decisions, like launching a new product, targeting a new market, etc.

Identify new opportunities for business

Provide information for potential investors

Mitigate business risks and avoid mistakes

Benefits of marketing research process

Data-driven marketing

Better understanding of your competitors, products, and TA.

The ability to cater your marketing activities to meet the customer needs.

Better planning and ability to improve ROI of marketing activities.

Steps in marketing research process

Outline the subject you’re going to research. For example, we need to study the features that the competing tools provide.

Develop the playbook for your research. It will contain the subject of research and the type of data you need to gather, the methods (e.g., interview), the necessary resources (time, budget), the timeline, and the step-by-step plan.

Approve the plan with top management and allocate the necessary resources.

Implement the research plan and gather the data.

Analyze the data and develop your recommendations for the business.

Present the marketing research to the management.

Market research interview is one of the tools of market research that enables you to learn the feelings, opinions, and behavioral patterns of your chosen target audience.

Types of market research interviews:

Market research interviews are categorized in several ways.

By the level of interviewee’s personal involvement:

Face-to-face 

The interviewee and the interviewer have a face-to-face appointment in real life. It’s a great method as it enables the researcher to build rapport and analyze the non-verbal cues. The main disadvantages is the budget, the location limitations, and general unwillingness of people to go somewhere to participate in an interview.

Online video conferencing

This method has most of the advantages of a face-to-face appointment. However, it’s cheaper. You’re not limited by geography and your participants are more willing as they do not need to spend their time on the trip to your office and back. Similar to the previous method, it’s perfect for open-ended questions and qualitative research.

Telephone interviews are a relatively cheap and fast method. However, the possibilities for building rapport and listening to non-verbal cues are limited. It’s best for close-ended questions.

Form fill-out

The interviewee fills out a questionnaire and submits it to the interviewer. This method requires least time and engagement from the interviewee. It’s the cheapest method. And it’s generally good for quantitative research.

However, there’s no opportunity to build a rapport with the interviewee, and no space for insights. Sometimes this method is categorized as a separate method of market research process.

By the data:

Qualitative - you learn how interviewee feel and what they think (e.g., which services people consider the most important).

Quantitative - you only learn data in numbers (e.g., how many times per week a person uses the application).

Mixed - you learn moth qualitative and quantitative data

By organization:

Structured - all questions are premeditated and close-ended.

Unstructured - questions are open-ended and the interview relies on spontaneity.

Semi-structured - the middle ground between unstructured and structured interviews.

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Pros and cons of market research interviews.

Interview as a method of market research has several benefits:

1. It enables you to obtain in-depth information about your target audience, their feelings, ideas, and behaviors.

2. It can give you unexpected insights into your product/service or separate features, especially if you have one-on-one interviews and use semi-structured or unstructured surveys.

3. You can ask the interviewee to test the product /service right on spot.

4. You can observe non-verbal cues if you conduct face-to-face or video interviews.

5. You can build rapport and turn an occasional customer into a loyal one.

The disadvantages of an interview as a method of market research include:

It provides subjective data

The interviews are self-reporting surveys. And we know from psychological research that the results of a self-reporting survey can change with time and is influenced by multiple factors that researchers cannot control.

To mitigate this risk, try to create a neutral environment for your interviewees and build a rapport with them. If you have a team of researchers, try to find the researcher that fits the target group. For example, ask a teammate with children to conduct interviews if you specifically research parents.

The obtained data might not be relevant to your target group

To obtain correct data, the researchers must form the researched group according to certain rules (e.g., have a certain age representation). To provide a statistically correct result you need at least 100 participants.

Obviously, many business researchers are limited in their resources and 100 participants is an unattainable number. It might happen so that most of the research participants turn out to be uncommon to your TA. 

For example, you want to research the users of XBox consoles. According to this research , most users are 25-44 years old and do not own Playstation 4. However, the participants of your research are predominantly 44 years-old owners of both competing consoles. As you can see, your group is not representative of your target audience unless you want to find out how to make more owners of Playstation 4 buy your console.

To mitigate this risk, analyze your demographics and come up with different incentives for participation. You should also try to word your request differently for every group. 

Interviewer’s bias and interpretation error

Many researchers have their hypotheses and expectations. And sometimes it’s hard to abandon them even if the data proves you’re wrong. When you’re in a position of power, the temptation of breaking rules and tweaking the results is great. To the point when we can do it subconsciously.

This is especially critical for open-ended questions and qualitative research, when the answer is subject to wide interpretation. To minimize the bias we suggest recording and transcribing the interviews. We also suggest asking an opinion of other team members.

Preparation for the market research interview is a critical step in the market research process.

Identifying the market research objectives

This step will create a solid foundation for your market research interview. You will use it for all the next steps in the process. It will impact the format of the interview, the audience, the guide and the tools you will use.

The objective of the research is the answer to one or several questions about your customers, product, service or brand.

For example, a company is launching a new product. They need to understand how to promote it in their target market. The questions can be: “What are the three criteria for choosing the product?” “What do you use this product for” “What associations do you have with this product?”

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Choose the format of your market research interview.

At this stage you choose the type of interview you want to conduct. Will it be one-on-one meeting in real life or an online call or will a survey be enough? What types of questions do you want to ask, close-ended or open-ended?

The format also will depend on the available budget that you have.

Outline the market research target audience

As mentioned above, the target audience (TA) for your research is critical to get a correct result and correct predictions. 

First, identify the demographics of your TA (age, gender, income, geography, etc.). You might have more than one homogeneous group. 

Second, identify how many people you can interview. It will depend on the format of interview you chose. The reply rate for the request to participate in marketing research is quite low.

You need to remember that you’ll have to request at least 10 times as many potential participants. Generate a list of potential participants to whom you will send the request. Compile the request message that you will use to ask people to participate in your market research process.

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Create market research interview guide.

You know how they say that the best improvisation is the one prepared and rehearsed in advance. You might be a natural communicator. Still it’s best to have a clear plan and understand what to say and when. 

That’s why you need a Market Research Interview Guide. Think of it as your playbook for conducting the interview. If you have a truly interesting interlocutor, bright and knowledgeable, the guide will help you not to get carried away and achieve your points. If you have a bad day and your memory plays tricks, it will remind you of the next question. All in all, it’s a must have for a good market researcher.

The Market Research Interview usually consists of four parts:

1. Intro & Warm up

This is the part where you build rapport with your interviewee. Generally, you present yourself, thank them for their time and effort and remind them of the reward. You need to explain shortly how the interview will go. Next, you ask some neutral questions about themselves. This way they will feel valued and seen. The questions will also make them more open up and relax.

2. General Questions

Once you feel that your interviewee feels comfortable and at ease around you, you can start asking questions relative to your market research. Remember these are not the questions that serve your objective. 

Examples of general questions are “Do you know the brand ABC?” “Which brands of this product do you know?” 

We suggest preparing 10-20 of these questions. It’s not necessary to ask all of them. Usually, you’ll be able to ask up to 6. But sometimes you’ll need more to get a person to talk. These questions can be unique to each of the subgroups that you have.

3. Core Questions

The core questions are the questions that serve the objective of your marketing research. It’s critical to ask all of them to each interviewee. The number of core questions should be limited to up to 5. 

It’s important to end the interview on a positive note. Ask them what they think about the topic of the interview. Ask if they have anything else to add to what has already been said. Give them a reward if it is immediately available or explain how the reward will be delivered (ask address or other relative information if necessary).

Thank them for the interview and express hope (e.g., that they will continue to use your product).

Prepare the Tools

Many market researchers omit this step or do not pay enough attention. In the end, lack of good toolkit can harm your market research overall. Let’s take a quick look at the tools that can help you in your work.

General tools for market research interview

First thing first, the reward for participating in the survey is your major interview tool. Many people would only participate in hope of getting something in return. You need to communicate it clearly. You also need to think about the ways to deliver the reward to the participants.

It is also critical to get management’s approval for the award beforehand. Finally, you need to understand if the award is deliverable at all. This is especially critical for IT companies. Marketers love to come up with ideas on how to lure potential customers with freemium. However, in practice the development team is not able to implement all of their ideas.

Next, you will need the printed-out survey for one-on-one interviews and working pens. You will have to prepare at least two copies per person just in case (e.g., a coffee spills over). Remember that some people tend to take the pens they used for writing with them. They do not do it on purpose. But by the end of the day you might find yourself without a critical tool.

You will also need the online communication solutions, if you conduct a survey online. Most likely it will be email. However, you can also reach out to people via LinkedIn or Facebook, or via messengers.

If you plan a mass send out with a request to participate in your marketing research interview, make sure you use appropriate tools. For example, CRMs will spread out your emails in time so that email providers do not mark them as spam.

If you don’t have or do not want to use a CRM, no worries. In 2023, Gmail launched functionality for mass send outs. It enables you to send the same email to multiple people and they won’t see other senders. Gmail will automatically insert their names in the necessary slots in your email.

Quantitative market research

Quantitative market research requires several additional tools:

1. The online survey form. Most quantitative surveys have closed questions with several answer options to choose from. Tools like Google Forms enable you to automate your survey with drop-down lists, check boxes, etc. It will ease the market research process both for your interviewee (easy fill-out) and for you (easy data gathering).

2. The tool for processing the data. Depending on the research it can be Google Sheets / Excel or more complex SAS.

Qualitative market research

The additional tools for quantitative market research are:

1. Recording device and text-to-speech program for offline interviews. You’ll need a recording device to capture the interview information precisely. Simple note-taking can change the meaning of the original speech. As a result, you might come to the wrong conclusions and it can cost a lot for your company.

The text to speech program will help you transcribe your recorded interview. We suggest using it because text format has multiple advantages over audio recording. First, you can easily find any piece of information you like using the search function or just scanning the text with your eyes. Second, you can copy the key phrases to a separate document or highlight them in the text. And you won’t need to return to the audio recording and listen to them over and over. Third, most people perceive visual information better than audio.

2. Video-conferencing tools for online interviews. When choosing a video-conferencing tool, several aspects need to be considered:

The ability to record the call

The limitations (e.g., 40-minute limit in Zoom free version).

The possibility to add a person who isn’t registered in the application (without the necessity to do it).

3. Meeting transcription tool for online surveys. Tools like Noty integrate with video-conferencing tools and enable you to transcribe your interviews in real time. As a result you get a full transcription of your interview with speakers and time-stamps along with all the benefits of a text over audio recording. 

Furthermore, you can pin important parts of your interview and type quick notes right in the Noty widget in Google Meet.

Additionally, they have AI capabilities to summarize the call. You can use custom prompts to get the data you need from the interview in a couple of seconds.

Unleash the Potential of Your Market Research with Noty.ai

Maximize the effectiveness of your market research interviews with Noty.ai. From transcription to analysis, let Noty.ai do the heavy lifting. Discover trends and insights faster and more accurately.

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What is the first step in the marketing research process.

The first step in the marketing research process is outlining the subject of your research.

What type of interview is commonly used for market research?

Most common type of interview used for market research is semi-structures, open-end question online interview.

How do I prepare for a market research interview?

You need to understand the key objective of the research, choose the interview format, outline target audience, create the Market Research Interview Guide, and prepare the tools.

What to expect in a market research interview?

You can expect that your hypothesis might be wrong and you need to accept it. You can expect that an interviewee can be interrupted or the conversation will go into the wrong direction. You need to prepare for these scenarios in order to mitigate the risks.

How can I improve my market research skills?

It depends on the skills you need to improve. Market research process requires strong analytical and strong communication skills as well as a profound knowledge of data analysis tools. Not all people have both. One of the great ways to boost your communication skills is to take theater classes. They teach you how to read non-verbal cues, how to interact with a partner as one, and how to control your body language, facial expressions, and voice. Analytical skills can be boosted through solving logic puzzles and mathematical problems. You can also take courses in marketing analysis. Finally, to get a good grip of data analysis tools you can either take online courses or use YouTube videos.

What are the main questions in a market research interview?

There are three types of questions you will need to ask during the market research interview. Start with icebreaker questions that will help you establish your rapport with the interviewee. Next, ask general questions related to the market, their experience with brands and products, etc. Finally, ask the core questions related to the market research objectives.

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20 Advantages and Disadvantages of Survey Research

Survey research is a critical component of measurement and applied social research. It is a broad area that encompasses many procedures that involve asking questions to specific respondents.

A survey can be anything from a short feedback form to intensive, in-depth interviews that attempt to gather specific data about situations, events, or circumstances. Although there are several methods of application that researchers can apply using this tool, you can divide surveys into two generic categories: interviews and questionnaires.

Innovations in this area in recent years allow for advanced software solutions to provide more data to researchers because of the availability of online and mobile surveys. That means the people who are in the most challenging places to reach can still provide feedback on critical ideas, services, or solutions.

Several survey research advantages and disadvantages exist, so reviewing each critical point is necessary to determine if there is value in using this approach for your next project.

List of the Advantages of Survey Research

1. It is an inexpensive method of conducting research. Surveys are one of the most inexpensive methods of gathering quantitative data that is currently available. Some questionnaires can be self-administered, making it a possibility to avoid in-person interviews. That means you have access to a massive level of information from a large demographic in a relatively short time. You can place this option on your website, email it to individuals, or post it on social media profile.

Some of these methods have no financial cost at all, relying on personal efforts to post and collect the information. Robust targeting is necessary to ensure that the highest possible response rate becomes available to create a more accurate result.

2. Surveys are a practical solution for data gathering. Surveys or a practical way to gather information about something specific. You can target them to a demographic of your choice or manage them in several different ways. It is up to you to determine what questions get asked and in what format. You can use polls, questionnaires, quizzes, open-ended questions, and multiple-choice to collect info in real-time situations so that the feedback is immediately useful.

3. It is a fast way to get the results that you need. Surveys provide fast and comfortable results because of today’s mobile and online tools. It is not unusual for this method of data collection to generate results in as little as one day, and sometimes it can be even less than that depending on the scale and reach of your questions. You no longer need to wait for another company to deliver the solutions that you need because these questionnaires give you insights immediately. That means you can start making decisions in the shortest amount of time possible.

4. Surveys provide opportunities for scalability. A well-constructed survey allows you to gather data from an audience of any size. You can distribute your questions to anyone in the world today because of the reach of the Internet. All you need to do is send them a link to the page where you solicit information from them. This process can be done automatically, allowing companies to increase the efficiency of their customer onboarding processes.

Marketers can also use surveys as a way to create lead nurturing campaigns. Scientific research gains a benefit through this process as well because it can generate social insights at a personal level that other methods are unable to achieve.

5. It allows for data to come from multiple sources at once. When you construct a survey to meet the needs of a demographic, then you have the ability to use multiple data points collected from various geographic locations. There are fewer barriers in place today with this method than ever before because of the online access we have around the world.

Some challenges do exist because of this benefit, namely because of the cultural differences that exist between different countries. If you conduct a global survey, then you will want to review all of the questions to ensure that an offense is not unintentionally given.

6. Surveys give you the opportunity to compare results. After researchers quantify the information collected from surveys, the data can be used to compare and contrast the results from other research efforts. This benefit makes it possible to use the info to measure change. That means a questionnaire that goes out every month or each year becomes more valuable over time.

When you can gather a significant amount of data, then the picture you are trying to interpret will become much clearer. Surveys provide the capability of generating new strategies or identifying new trends to create more opportunities.

7. It offers a straightforward analysis and visualization of the data. Most surveys are quantitative by design. This process allows for the advantage of a straightforward analysis process so that the results can be quickly visualized. That means a data scientist doesn’t need to be available to start the work of interpreting the results. You can take advantage of third-party software tools that can turn this info into usable reports, charts, and tables to facilitate the presentation efforts.

8. Survey respondents can stay anonymous with this research approach. If you choose to use online or email surveys, then there is a fantastic opportunity to allow respondents to remain anonymous. Complete invisibility is also possible with postal questionnaires, allowing researchers to maximize the levels of comfort available to the individuals who offer answers. Even a phone conversation doesn’t require a face-to-face meeting, creating this unique benefit.

When people have confidence in the idea that their responses will not be directly associated with their reputation, then researchers have an opportunity to collect information with greater accuracy.

9. It is a research tool with fewer time constraints. Surveys have fewer time limits associated with them when compared to other research methods. There is no one on the other end of an email or postal questionnaire that wants an immediate answer. That means a respondent can take additional time to complete each answer in the most comfortable way possible. This benefit is another way to encourage more honesty within the results since having a researcher presence can often lead to socially desirable answers.

10. Surveys can cover every component of any topic. Another critical advantage that surveys provide is the ability to ask as many questions as you want. There is a benefit in keeping an individual questionnaire short because a respondent may find a lengthy process to be frustrating. The best results typically come when you can create an experience that involves 10 or fewer questions.

Since this is a low-cost solution for gathering data, there is no harm in creating multiple surveys that have an easy mode of delivery. This benefit gives you the option to cover as many sub-topics as possible so that you can build a complete profile of almost any subject matter.

List of the Disadvantages of Survey Research

1. There is always a risk that people will provide dishonest answers. The risk of receiving a dishonest answer is lower when you use anonymous surveys, but it does not disappear entirely. Some people want to help researchers come to whatever specific conclusion they think the process is pursuing. There is also a level of social desirability bias that creeps into the data based on the interactions that respondents have with questionnaires. You can avoid some of this disadvantage by assuring individuals that their privacy is a top priority and that the process you use prevents personal information leaks, but you can’t stop this problem 100% of the time.

2. You might discover that some questions don’t get answers. If you decide to use a survey to gather information, then there is a risk that some questions will be left unanswered or ignored. If some questions are not required, then respondents might choose not to answer them. An easy way to get around this disadvantage is to use an online solution that makes answering questions a required component of each step. Then make sure that your survey stays short and to the point to avoid having people abandon the process altogether.

3. There can be differences in how people understand the survey questions. There can be a lot of information that gets lost in translation when researchers opt to use a survey instead of other research methods. When there is not someone available to explain a questionnaire entirely, then the results can be somewhat subjective. You must give everyone an opportunity to have some understanding of the process so that you can encourage accurate answers.

It is not unusual to have respondents struggle to grasp the meaning of some questions, even though the text might seem clear to the people who created it. Whenever miscommunication is part of the survey process, the results will skew in unintended directions. The only way to avoid this problem is to make the questions as simple as possible.

4. Surveys struggle to convey emotions with the achievable results. A survey does not do a good job of capturing a person’s emotional response to the questions then counter. The only way to gather this information is to have an in-person interview with every respondent. Facial expressions and other forms of body language can add subtlety to a conversation that isn’t possible when someone is filling out an online questionnaire.

Some researchers get stuck trying to interpret feelings in the data they receive. A sliding-scale response that includes various levels of agreement or disagreement can try to replicate the concept of emotion, but it isn’t quite the same as being in the same room as someone. Assertion and strength will always be better information-gathering tools than multiple-choice questions.

5. Some answers can be challenging to classify. Surveys produce a lot of data because of their nature. You can tabulate multiple-choice questions, graph agreement or disagreement in specific areas, or create open-ended questions that can be challenging to analyze. Individualized answers can create a lot of useful information, but they can also provide you with data that cannot be quantified. If you incorporate several questions of this nature into a questionnaire, then it will take a long time to analyze what you received.

Only 10% of the questions on the survey should have an open-ended structure. If the questions are confusing or bothersome, then you might find that the information you must manually review is mostly meaningless.

6. You must remove someone with a hidden agenda as soon as possible. Respondent bias can be a problem in any research type. Participants in your survey could have an interest in your idea, service, or product. Others might find themselves being influenced to participate because of the subject material found in your questionnaire. These issues can lead to inaccurate data gathering because it generates an imbalance of respondents who either see the process as overly positive or negative.

This disadvantage of survey research can be avoided by using effective pre-screening tools that use indirect questions that identify this bias.

7. Surveys don’t provide the same level of personalization. Any marketing effort will feel impersonal unless you take the time to customize the process. Because the information you want to collect on a questionnaire is generic by nature, it can be challenging to generate any interest in this activity because there is no value promised to the respondent. Some people can be put off by the idea of filling out a generic form, leading them to abandon the process.

This issue is especially difficult when your survey is taken voluntarily online, regardless of an email subscription or recent purchase.

8. Some respondents will choose answers before reading the questions. Every researcher hopes that respondents will provide conscientious responses to the questions offered in a survey. The problem here is that there is no way to know if the person filling out the questionnaire really understood the content provided to them. You don’t even have a guarantee that the individual read the question thoroughly before offering a response.

There are times when answers are chosen before someone fully reads the question and all of the answers. Some respondents skip through questions or make instant choices without reading the content at all. Because you have no way to know when this issue occurs, there will always be a measure of error in the collected data.

9. Accessibility issues can impact some surveys. A lack of accessibility is always a threat that researchers face when using surveys. This option might be unsuitable for individuals who have a visual or hearing impairment. Literacy is often necessary to complete this process. These issues should come under consideration during the planning stages of the research project to avoid this potential disadvantage. Then make the effort to choose a platform that has the accessibility options you need already built into it.

10. Survey fatigue can be a real issue that some respondents face. There are two issues that manifest themselves because of this disadvantage. The first problem occurs before someone even encounters your questionnaire. Because they feel overwhelmed by the growing number of requests for information, a respondent is automatically less inclined to participate in a research project. That results in a lower overall response rate.

Then there is the problem of fatigue that happens while taking a survey. This issue occurs when someone feels like the questionnaire is too long or contains questions that seem irrelevant. You can tell when this problem happens because a low completion rate is the result. Try to make the process as easy as possible to avoid the issues with this disadvantage.

Surveys sometimes have a poor reputation. Researchers have seen response rates decline because this method of data gathering has become unpopular since the 1990s. Part of the reason for this perception is due to the fact that everyone tries to use it online since it is a low-cost way to collect information for decision-making purposes.

That’s why researchers are moving toward a rewards-based system to encourage higher participation and completion rates. The most obvious way to facilitate this behavior is to offer something tangible, such as a gift card or a contest entry. You can generate more responses by creating an anonymous process that encourages direct and honest answers.

These survey research advantages and disadvantages prove that this process isn’t as easy as it might see from the outside. Until you sit down to start writing the questions, you may not entirely know where you want to take this data collection effort. By incorporating the critical points above, you can begin to craft questions in a way that encourages the completion of the activity.

Pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews: an in-depth review

19 may 2016 • 987 words, 4 min. read Latest update : 4 may 2020

By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab

Our guide to market research can be downloaded free of charge

Last update: March 2020.

In an earlier article we discussed the major differences between focus groups and face-to-face interviews . Today we’d like to compare both methodologies and discuss the pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews.

If you are interested in market research in general, and qualitative techniques in particular, don’t miss out our step-by-step guide to market research in which we discuss a thorough approach to all types of marketing questions. The guide can be downloaded for free here .

Feel free to watch the video below (undertitled in English) where our founder, Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab, sums the differences, advantages and inconvenients of focus groups vs. qualitative interviews.

Table of contents

• Advantages of focus groups

Advantages of qualitative interviews

Disadvantages of focus groups.

• Disadvantages of qualitative interviews
• Pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews : an overview

How to choose?

Advantages of focus groups.

Focus groups are especially suited when you want to confirm your analysis with a wide variety of consumers’ profiles. Focus groups are indeed the best way to exchange viewpoints and discuss disagreements between consumers. This dynamics will not be captured in a face-to-face interview. In addition focus groups may be less expensive than interviews, provided the analytical treatment remains light. Most market research institutes have indeed removed the costly part of the process (i.e. transcriptions and coding ). For more information on the budget part, please read our ultimate guide to market research price .

An interview will allow you to go much deeper, in particular thanks to a longer speaking time. More insights are likely to be collected, which will be useful for a later quantitative phase. We find it easier to analyze individual interviews than focus groups (especially if you decide to code your interview in a software like Maxqda )

Last but not least, the role of the interviewer is usually less important in interviews than in focus groups; the expected bias, if an interviewing guide has been well prepared, will therefore be lower too.

Speaking times: the differences between focus groups and interviews

One aspect that is often overlooked is the speaking times differences between focus groups and interviews. A focus group usually gather around 8 participants for 2 hours. An individual interview is usually around 45-60 minutes. Divide 2 hours (120 minutes) by 8 and you obtain 15 minutes speaking time per participant in a focus group vs. 45 to 60 minutes in a face-to-face individual interview. This is 3 to 4 times less. That’s why individual interviews are usually seen as an exploratory market research technique, whereas focus groups are more confirmatory by nature.

Whereas focus groups are easy to organize with consumers, they are much more challenging in a B2B context. Have you ever tried to get 8 or 10 busy professionals around one table outside of business hours?

Whatever the setting, the role of the moderator is key to make people speak and interact. The risk to fail is considerably higher than when you follow a well-prepared interview guide.

If you want to learn more about moderator’s bias please read this article . We highlight in particular one academic research by  Grønkjær et al. (2011) which state that :

Our analyses identified how interaction can come to a dead-end, including the risk of hierarchical issues. Based on the analyses from this study, the moderator’s ability to pursue the participants’ utterances may be the reason for coming to a dead-end.

Disadvantages of face-to-face interviews

The logistics side of the interviews is complicated, especially if you have to travel meet the interviewees. Writing an interview guide is a process that is also certainly more time-consuming for an individual interview than for a focus group.

Moreover, analyzing all interviews requires skills (and tools) that are neither easy nor cheap to acquire. Finally face-to-face interviews can be especially challenging to organize in a B2B setting (in some cases we even had to refuse B2B market research projects because we thought they were not feasible).

Pros and cons of focus groups vs. interviews: a summary

It may seem challenging to choose between individual interviews and focus groups. Qualitative interviews are best suited if you want to gather specific experiences and opinions that you can explore in more depth with your interviewer. This format allows respondents to feel free to confide in you without judging their answers (feeling of trust and closeness to the interviewer) and avoids bias.

Focus groups will be of particular interest to challenge an idea to different experts, consumers or prospects, on the concept of a brainstorming session. In particular, it will be interesting to invite people with complementary experiences to identify the crucial points you will need to work on in the future.

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More From Forbes

Pros and cons of resonant and dissonant leadership and when dissonant is best.

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Carol J. Geffner is president of CB Vision and a sought-after coach and consultant. She is the author of Building a New Leadership Ladder.

On the surface, dissonant leadership may appear to be entirely undesirable, but in the world of leadership, few things are clear-cut.

Resonant leaders are leaders who pay close attention to the emotional lives of their organizations and employees. They are aware of and strive to build trusting relationships and collaborations while prioritizing employee learning and growth. By contrast, dissonant leaders are, above all else, more authoritative. Stereotypically, they are leaders who adopt a command-and-control style focused on driving results and invest little time in relationship building.

While resonant leadership is far more desirable than dissonant leadership, neither approach is inherently bad. In fact, problems tend to arise when leaders lean too far into one style, especially if it happens to be on the dissonant side of the leadership spectrum.

Advantages And Drawbacks Of Resonant Leadership

Since the early 2000s, resonant leadership, with its focus on individuals and relationships, has been favored by many leaders and encouraged by most leadership coaches and scholars. There are many reasons why this style has become mainstream, including evidence-based research highlighting the positive effects resonant leadership has on the bottom line and employee engagement. In my experience, resonant leadership also plays a significant role in building diverse, inclusive and psychologically safe work environments, all of which have been linked to improved performance, employee retention and other measures of a healthy and productive workplace.

While resonant leadership has been widely embraced and garnered considerable praise, it is still a mistake to disregard dissonant leadership. Despite showing up as an old-school approach, there are conditions under which dissonant leadership can be necessary and desirable.

Columbia University President Resigns After Months Of Criticism Over Handling Of Campus Protests

Columbia university president minouche shafik resigns, gen z: the dangerfield generation, advantages and drawbacks of dissonant leadership.

Dissonant leaders are frequently praised for being highly objective and logical. They are the type of leaders who demand that work must be delivered and executed according to specific instructions on a specific timeline. For this reason, dissonant leaders are generally praised for being excellent at getting tasks done. In short, they know how to set goals, command team members’ attention and track success.

While dissonant leadership can be effective, this leadership style can be or appear to be authoritarian, cold and uncaring. After all, even when it is not overtly authoritarian, dissonant leaders tend to maintain a social and emotional distance from team members.

For example, in practice, a resonant leader might make a point of knowing all team members’ names and expressing care about how they are doing, and as a result, hold regularly scheduled check-in meetings. By contrast, a dissonant leader may make a point of doing neither, especially if they oversee a large team. Indeed, not getting to know team members (i.e., keeping work impersonal) may be viewed as the best way to remain objective and well-positioned to make decisions on behalf of the larger organization rather than individuals.

When Dissonant Leadership Works Best

Dissonant leadership may not be the default style of most contemporary leaders for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which are the preferences of (especially younger) workers for healthy workplaces in which individual needs are valued. Still, there are a few situations in which dissonant leadership can be effective and may even be the best approach.

Addressing A Financial Crisis

When a company is facing a financial crisis, both fiduciary and legal conditions usually call for decisive action. If time is of the essence, and urgency and confidentiality are real factors, there may be a greater need for emotional distance and an authority figure to make difficult final decisions. A cautionary note is that this should be a rare occurrence, and the crisis must be one that demands strict confidentiality among a small group of individuals.

Responding To Market Shifts

Like it or not, it can be hard for employees who have spent years working at an organization to accept that their work has become or soon will become redundant or too costly. At times like these (and with the rise of artificial intelligence, we’re currently in just such a time), leaning into a more command-and-control decision-making approach can be valuable. Focusing on the long-term health of an organization—what will enable it to remain viable over time—rather than the immediate needs of individual team members is sometimes the only way to make the tough calls and steer an organization toward its next chapter.

Resetting After A Leadership Vacuum

From time to time, organizations operate under the direction of a weak leader. There are a number of reasons why this dynamic might emerge, from wishy-washy leaders who can’t make decisions to well-intentioned leaders who over-index on consensus to leaders who don’t stay long enough to achieve results. Whatever the scenario, when an organization hasn’t had a strong leader for an extended period, it is often necessary for an incoming leader to adopt somewhat of a dissonant style for a short time to reset the culture and start driving results again.

Although resonant leadership has many strengths and may be an impactful default style under most conditions, there are times when dissonant leadership can be both an appropriate and even preferable way to tackle specific fiscal, market and organizational challenges.

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