For this assignment, we went to an Indian
temple situated at Arang Road. We asked for permission to conduct our interview
and were granted. 2 respondents were provided to each of us. My respondent was
a 36 years old lady named Jayah and also an aged 45 man, Narayanan.
Among these 2 interviews I conducted, the
best interview was with Jayah. She was in a hurry but had participated in the
interview actively. All my questions were answered and she gave examples and
elaborations with her answers. Even though there were interruptions in between
the interview process, it did not affect her participation. She was patient
with my questions and answered them according to her beliefs and experience.
She gave examples based on her real purchases and told me what she thinks of
discount and how she usually response to it. I think it could have been better
if she wasn’t in a hurry and I am not that nervous. She was the first outside
interview I conducted. She also co-operated by providing her contact number
when I requested for it.
The worst interview was the second
interview I did with Narayanan. He was also co-operative at first when I asked
for his contact number for future reference. He responded actively in the first
few minutes of the interview. There was however and interruption in between,
which is a phone call from his son, as he indicates. After the interruption, he
became impatient in answering my questions and only gave short answers without
any further examples or elaboration. He would agree with what I suggested and
only provide minimal gestures.
The possible errors that could have arisen
during these 2 interviews were respondent error. Under response bias, the
respondent may have done deliberate falsification. For the worst interview, this
error may have occurred because the respondent became impatient and gave
answers just so that he could end the interview quickly. Another error that may
have occurred is unconscious misrepresentation. This error may have occurred in
the best interview where the respondent may have forgotten the exact detail to
the answer they have provided. This results in a best-guess estimate which may
result in unconscious misrepresentation.
