Glossary Q

Qualitative Interviews

 

These use largely open-ended questions to explore issues at some depth and length. The interviewer needs to build up trust and confidence.

Note:

  • Also called In-Depth Interviews

Qualitative methods

Techniques designed to understand not just what individuals or stakeholders believe, but why.  Such methods are intended to illustrate the range of opinions, and are not meant to be statistically significant.

Quantitative Analysis

An analysis that aims to find out not only what views people have but also why they have those views.

Quantitative methods

Techniques designed to produce statistically valid data capable of measuring the extent to which opinions are held.

Questionnaires

Can be simple, with only Yes or No options, or more complicated, asking for wider opinions. In both cases some background information must be included.

See also Questions and Recruitment Questionnaires

Note: Might be via:-

  • Post
  • Telephone
  • Face-to-face
  • The Web

Questions

Many types. Typically used in consultation questionnaires are:-

  • A Closed question - can be answered “yes” or “no”
  • An Open question - asks the respondent to think and reflect. Will give the interviewer opinions and feelings.
  • Grid or Matrix questions - The questions are placed one under the other, forming a matrix with response categories along the top and a list of questions down the side.
  • Multiple-answer – a question that can have more than one answer
  • Multiple-response – possible answers are listed and the person has to choose one or more
  • Scaled questions - Responses are graded from, say, 1 to 10

Quota Sampling

A type of stratified sampling in which selection of sampling units within strata e.g. age, sex is done by interviewers on a non-random basis, controlled to some extent by quotas allocated to different strata. Each interviewer is given an assignment of interviews, specifying how many of them are to be with men and how many with women, how many with people in various age groups and so forth. These quotas are calculated from available data (e.g. Census) to arrange that, for the sampling unit, the sexes, age groups and social class are represented correctly.

Note:

  • Also known as Non-probability Sampling