Some Practical Hints For Social Interviewers

Abstract

These guidelines are based on many years of experience with interviewing in the fields of marketing and low-cost housing. It has been my experience that the interviewer may face . similar difficulties, no matter what the particular subjects of the interviews are. The following pages contain just guidelines for interviewing, not very hard and fast rules. In most social surVtys the respondents are selected beforehand by an objective method (sampling). The sociologists select the respondents without knowing them personally. He gives a list of houses or persons to the interviewer. For scientific purposes it is jmportant that the interviewer interviews only the selected persons. It is up to the interviewer to persuade the respondents to be interviewed when he meets them in the field. I will tell you more about this procedure in the few pages of my guidelines.