Designing an Interview Schedule and Evaluate It - Case Study Example

Design an interview schedule and evaluate it INTRODUCTION Man needs to travel from one place to another in order to buy, sell, eat, drink, to study and other reasons. Transportation has advanced from the early creation days when people had to walk to their destination. Currently, people can ride the ships, fly the plane, drive a car or just simply walk to their intended destination. The distances between two points have been cut short in terms of the number of hours of travel. This study focuses on the pattern of travel of the Newcastle College students as they travel from work or home to Newcastle and back. Newcastle has been home to many foreign students from around the world, especially the United States. The number one problem of the students is to adjust to the lifestyle and culture of the Newcastle community. Newcastle college has been offering study programs for students from outside its shores. Thus, Newcastle has been the foreigners’ favorite school to enroll in. Sad to say, the city has also its share of student problems. Harassment of students(especially foreigners) because of their age, religion, ethnicity and others are common in Newcastle. Despite these scenes, the city administrators have given their best efforts to make studying in Newcastle very relaxing and fruitful. BODY “What is the pattern of transport use in Newcastle amongst the student population”. Design an interview schedule to establish peoples views on this topic. Interview questionnaire for Newcastle Students. Age ? 16 and below ( ) 17 ( ) 18 ( ) 19 ( ) 20 and above ( ) Gender? Male ( ) Female ( ) Religion? Catholic ( ) Protestant ( ) Others ( ) What is your major course of study? Business ( ) Engineering ( ) Medical ( ) Others ( ) Explain ______. Year level? First Year ( ) Second Year ( ) 3rd Year ( ) 4ht & above yrs ( ) Course or Major of Study? Years of stay in Newcastle College? 1 year or less( ) 2 years ( ) 3 years ( ) 4 years or more ( ) Residence? UK ( ) NSW ( ) Scotland ( ) Nationality? UK ( ) Others ( ) if foreigner, country of origin?_______ What time of day do you normal use your type of transport? morning ( ) Afternoon ( ) Evening ( ) Status? Single ( ) Married ( ) Divorced ( ) Widowed ( ) What is your mode of transport to school? Why do you use going to school? Bicycle ( ) walk ( ) drive own vehicle ( ) public Transport ( ) How often do you use the public transport? Everyday ( ) 3 times a week ( ) 2 times a week ( ) 1 times a week ( ) other answer ( ) What is the Income Status of your family?: Rich ( ) middle class ( ) poor ( ) Do you have work? Yes ( ) No ( ) How do you pay for your study: Scholarship ( ) work ( ) Parents or relatives ( ) Others ( ) explain_______. How do you find the people in the Newcastle: Friendly ( ) Unfriendly ( ) Other answer ( ) explain _______. What do you feel about the traffic situation in Newcastle: Excellent ( ) Above average ( ) Average ( ) Poor. Explain why?_______ What suggestions will you make if you think there should be an improve to the pattern of transport in Newcastle?: Private companies should help ( ) The city government should help ( ) the people in the community should help ( ) Other answer ( ) Explain.____ IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY The interview questionnaire(Mays, 2007) above is very important because the data that will be gathered from the above questions will be used for generating the data needed for computation and interpretation of the data. Then, the findings will then be the product of the interpreted data. Lastly, the conclusion will be drawn up. The data gathered from the questionnaire above will generate a very realistic or even accurate information. A wrong information base will often result to a wrong conclusion. Furthermore, there are many advantages of using interview questionnaires(Pope, 2007). The interview questions are not very cost. Also, the interview questions are very effective because they specify in advance the necessary questions that will be used in the face-to-face interviews. In fact, this is very true for studies that will use huge sample sizes and cover respondents from a wider land area. Clearly, written interview questionnaires increase the lowering of cost as the number of research questions increases. Also, questionnaires are definitely very important as basis for the interpretation, conclusion and recommendation processes(Meyer, 2000). For, the encoding of data and computation for nearly all surveys can be easily done with the advent of computer software like SPSS and others. Furthermore, pre-typed interview questionnaires decrease bias. For, there is a uniform question presentation that do not threaten the respondents. Also, the researchers own opinions will not influence the respondent to answer questions in a certain manner. Clearly the pre-done questions do not give verbal or visual clues to influence the respondent as compared to impromptu oral questions given(Savage,2000) . Further, the questionnaires are less invasive to the right of privacy of the respondents as compared to the telephone or face-to-face surveys. In essence, the oral interviews have the added advantage of a "flavor of the response" because the respondents often can expound on their answers. For ninety percent of all communication is visual. The interview questions will be deeply confirmed by seeing the body actions and reactions as well as the facial expressions of the respondents when they are being interviewed. For visual cues seen in interviews are not available with the written questionnaires, procedure alone. The personal touch such as the voice of the person will exemplify the questions being asked. Also, there are questions(Caspar, 1999) will touch on personal convictions like “how do you feel about the traffic situation in Newcastle?” In addition, another advantage is that interviews(Mueller, 1989) get higher responses as compared to the written and mailed questionnaire process. For, the recipient of the mailed questionnaire may just shoot the questionnaire into the waste basket due to its disturbing appeal to the receiver of the mail. Also, another advantage of pre-done interview questionnaires is the ability to probe responses. Personal interviews all the researcher(Kadushin, 1997) to field additional questions to draw out clarification on the interviewee’s answers. The results of the interview can be used by the city of Newcastle, the school administration of Newcastle and the Community as a basis for improving the pattern of transport in the city of Newcastle(No author, 2007). Questionnaire Design In the design of the questionnaire, the well-defined goals are the best way to assure a good questionnaire design. For, the goals of this Newcastle research is expressed in a few clear and concise sentences, it is easier to the design of the questionnaire becomes considerably easier. The questionnaire for Newcastle here has been developed to directly address the goals of the study. For the best way to clarify the Newcastle research study goals is to decide how such data could be used. The data focused are indicated in the questionnaire above. This was done prior to the actual interview of the respondents(Dillman, 1995). Each of the questions above refer to the study goal which is learn the nuances of the transport system in Newcastle. As a general rule, with only a few exceptions, long questionnaires get less response than short questionnaires. Keep your questionnaire short. In fact, the shorter the better. In addition, the response rate is the single most important indicator of how much confidence the research can put on the outcome of the survey. Normally, the researcher must generate many respondents as possible in order to come up with a reliable conclusion. For, a low response rate can be destructive to the Newcastle research. Therefore, everything must be done to maximize the response rate. One of the most effective methods of maximizing response is to shorten the questionnaire(Camino, 1995). For, a brain storming of what question will be included was initiated. Then, questions that were irrelevant to the topic of transport pattern in Newcastle were cast out. The suggestions of thesis, research and dissertation experts were taken into account in the formulation of the interview questions(Kadushin, 1972). After the data from the interviews will be taken, the statistical analysis will start. The question of significant and the relationship of the different question outcomes will then be segregated according to age, sex, gender, educational attainment, economic status in life and others segments. Then, the statistical data will be interpreted. For the statistical tool of analysis of variance will be used to determine if there is a significant difference in the collated data. Whereas, the chi square statistical tool will be used to determine if there is a significant relationship between the age, sex, gender, educational attainment, economic status in life and other segments. After, the findings that have resulted from the findings will be used to come up with a conclusion(Willis, 1994). Lastly, the conclusions will be used to determine the recommendations that the researcher will make. The questions will use simple and direct questions(Cooper, 2004). The questions will be clearly understood the interviewee. The questions will be brief as possible. In short, brief interviews will lessen the misunderstanding between the researcher and the interview respondents. One way to eliminate misunderstanding to use crucial words mean what should be meant. Also, a good interview gives the respondents enough time for his or her clarification, comments and suggestions on each question thrown at him or her. Also, then information asked from the interview will start with the most important data such as age, gender and the like so that in case the interview is cut, then the important data are collected(Steenstra, 2000). The interviewer should hold the interviewee’s interest to continue with the questioning by continually smiling and showing “friendliness’’ and “thank you” attitudes to the respondents. The question sets should be divided into coherent categories. As seen from the questionnaire above, the questions are coherently organized for smooth flow of the questions. After each set of questions, the interviewee is thanked for his or her cooperation. The respondent will be told that his or her responses will heal a great deal to improve the lives of the community he or she lives in. In this study, the interview will be made to understand that his or her important inputs will be used to improve the traffic condition as well as the travelling time of the students of Newcastle just like the interviewee. For, the questioning procedure must make the respondent want to complete the questions. Naturally, the final test of a questionnaire is to test it on representatives of the target audience. The test of our survey questions will be ask two Newcastle students to answer the questions. And, the errors almost always show up if there are problems with the questionnaire. The research must observe as the respondent is answering each question in order to determine if there are glitches that have to be resolved. The research will then tell the interview that it is okay to ask the researcher for clarification of any item in the survey. The questions the respondents will ask are indicative of problems in the questionnaire such as the vagueness of the questions. How you decided on the content and structure of the interview, I have decided on the content and the structure of the interview by researching on the proper way to construct an interview question. After forming the questionnaire, I then tried to answer the questions myself. For, this will give me that gut feeling whether the questionnaire will give me the results that I needed. Next, I will now fill up the following dimension to the questions. These are the time questions. Next I will ask the place questions. Then, I will ask the Age question. Furthermore, I will ask the Income questions. Then I will ask the how do you feel questions. This method of questionnaire formulation is the standard method done in most questionnaire making thesis, dissertation or research. After making the questions, I then make choices for the answers. The answers are then provided with check mark blanks so that the members of the entire transport population in Newcastle chosen to answer the questionnaire will have narrower choices to check. In turn, these choice selections will make the grouping of data and interpretations thereof easy to interpret. After being satisfied with my work of art, I then produce several copies and then do proceed to the target area. The target area is the students in the schools in Newcastle. The target area is the school in Newcastle. Conducting the interview The interview was conducted inside the premises of Newcastle College and outside the school premises. I randomly stopped a student from a group of classmates who were waiting for the next class to start in order to interview him or her. Also, the interview were done without forcing the students to answer in case they prefer not to. And, the students who gave us a yes were interviewed in a part of the school where he or she could not be influenced by other students. For, privacy was the main factor in interviewing a student. Thereby, the students freely gave their comments, suggestions and other insights on the question of the pattern of traffic in Newcastle because here were privately interviewed away prying eyes of other students. The questions asked requested for the students’ personal opinions irregardless of the opinions of other students. The pre-typed questionnaires were given to the students. The students then answered orally the questions. Additionally, additional questions were infused enticing the students to explain deeper their opinions or dismay regarding the sad traffic pattern in Newcastle. The answers were recorded by the researcher in a Sony voice recorder. The answers were later tallied and interpreted. CONCLUSION The use of the voice recorded increased the speed of interviewing many respondents. The interpretation of data gathered were derived from the taped oral answers of the interviewed students to the typed questions given to the interviewees. The over-all sentiments of the Newcastle college students were then extrapolated using the analysis of variance, frequency of age, gender, year level etc., and chi – square of the students. Based on my own bias on the outcome of the survey results, I was able to glean all the relevant information that I wanted to include in my interpretation of data. The survey procedures went on as predicted by me because I felt that my own bias is also the bias of most of the students of Newcastle College. The outcome of the analysis of variance, the chi square and the chi –square proved that my bias is similar to the bias of the students of Newcastle College. In conclusion, the researcher only acted as moderator, and collector of answers to the questions. The questions and the processes done by the researcher were of superior quality because the much needed data were gathered. The much needed data were used in the next step which is the interpretation of data. The researcher was able to voice tape the interviewee’s answers because the questions were pre-chosen before the actual interview. The researcher’s speed and tact in gathering the voice taped answers help speed up the researcher’s gathering of answers, interpretation of data, conclusion and the recommendations. REFERENCES: Mays, N., Pope, C., Qualitative Research in Health Care, Retrieved May, 2007 Pope, C., Ziebland, S., Mays, N., Qualitative Research in Health Care: Anaysing qualitatitve data, May 5, 2007 Retrieved may 5, 2007 Meyer, J., Qualitative Research in Health Care, Using qualitative methods in health related action research, City University, St. Bartholomew School of Nursing and Midwifery, London. January 15, 2000 Savage, J., Education and debate, Ethnography and Health Care, Royal College of Nursing, London, December 2, 2000 Caspar, R., Lessler, J., Willis, G., Reducing Survey Error through Research on the Cognitive and Decision Processes in Surveys., London, 1999 No author, Welcome to E – Pack retrieved May 14, 2007 Dillman, D., Jenkins, C., Towards a Theory of Self-Administered Questionnaire Design, Survey Measurement and Process Quality, Wiley – Interscience, New York, 1995 Camino, L., Zeldin, S., Payne-Jackson, A., Basics of qualitative interviews and focus groups. 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