Understanding Forms and Effective Interview Techniques
UNIT 2: Forms
What are Forms?
Forms are essential tools for data transport and come in various shapes and sizes. They serve diverse purposes, such as:
- Ordering supplies for a restaurant
- Presenting bank account balances
- Generating manufacturing reports
- Facilitating applications for registration certificates
- Conducting examinations
Interviews
Interviews are crucial for gathering information. The type of information sought is directly related to the interviewee’s seniority level.
- Decision-making level: Seek information about the organization’s overall picture, objectives, policies, problem perspectives, and responsible functions and personnel.
- Executive level: Focus on material and information flows, relationships with other areas, and major problems encountered.
Five Steps for Interview Preparation:
- Defining Objectives: Clearly define the information you aim to obtain.
- Planning: Identify interviewees based on objectives and plan relevant questions.
- Setting the Stage: Schedule appointments in advance, informing interviewees about the interview’s purpose.
- Realization: Introduce the interview topic and the project’s nature.
- Evaluation: Summarize gathered information for self-assessment and monitoring.
Open Interviews:
Open interviews encourage free expression, allowing interviewees to elaborate on their ideas. This approach often yields broader and more relevant information.
Advantages:
- Creates a comfortable environment for the interviewee
- Allows interviewers to assess the interviewee’s vocabulary and communication skills
- Provides detailed and spontaneous responses
- Facilitates clear and precise questions
Disadvantages:
- Risk of eliciting unimportant information
- Potential loss of interview control and time due to lengthy answers
- Reliance on the interviewer’s ability to guide the conversation
Closed Interviews:
Closed interviews utilize questions with limited response options, often binary choices like “YES – NO,” “true – false,” or “AGREE – DISAGREE.”
Advantages:
- Saves time and ensures focused responses
- Maintains interview control and prevents excessive questioning
- Facilitates the collection of specific and relevant data
Disadvantages:
- Can feel impersonal and limit the interviewee’s input
- May not uncover the full depth of the interviewee’s knowledge or perspectives
- Potential for a less engaging interview experience
Choosing the Right Question Type:
- Open questions are suitable when seeking detailed information and encouraging interviewees to express themselves freely.
- Closed questions are appropriate for time-saving and targeted information gathering.
Avoiding Problematic Questions:
Carefully craft questions to avoid:
- Leading questions: Questions that steer the interviewee toward a specific answer.
- Double questions: Questions that combine multiple inquiries, making it difficult for the interviewee to address each point.
Interview Structures:
Pyramid Structure:
Starts with detailed, often closed-ended questions, gradually expanding to broader, open-ended questions. This approach helps establish a specific focus before exploring broader perspectives.
Funnel Structure:
Begins with open-ended, general questions, narrowing down to more specific, closed-ended questions. This method creates a comfortable starting point and allows interviewees to share their thoughts freely.
Diamond Structure:
Combines elements of both pyramid and funnel structures, starting with specific questions, broadening to general inquiries, and concluding with specific points. This approach maintains engagement and facilitates a comprehensive understanding.
Questionnaires:
A useful tool for high level information to a relatively low cost and in less time. Its use is fast and efficient.
4situaciones suitable for use: Remove any influence on who answers, the information is honest because it can be anonymous, fast and efficient only feasible way to relieve a large number of people or large distances between the source and the interviewer.
3) Basic Questions: Depending on the degree of freedom of response: Open: When given freedom to the interviewee to answer with words and express their ideas.
They are easy to formulate questions but the answers are difficult to record and tabulate: Closed: those where no freedom is given to the respondent to answer in their own words and is forced to choose between a set of alternatives.
4) The scaling is the process of assigning numbers or other symbols to an attribute or property for purposes of measurement. The scales are often arbitrary and in some cases are not unique.