Computer-assisted personal interviewing

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Computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) is an interview technique in which respondents or interviewers use computers to answer questions. This is similar to a telephone interview with a computer, except that the interview is done directly instead of over the phone. This method is usually preferred over telephone interviews when the questionnaire is long and complicated. It has been classified as a personal interview technique because an interviewer is usually present to serve as a host and to guide respondents. If no interviewer is present, the term Computer-Assisted Self Interviewing (CASI) can be used. An example of a situation in which a CAPI is used as a data collection method is the British Crime Survey.

Characteristics of this interview technique are:

• Either the respondent or the interviewer sat at the computer terminal and answered the questionnaire using a keyboard or mouse.
• A help screen and a polite error message are provided.
• Colorful screens and off-the-scenes stimuli can increase the interest and involvement of respondents in the task.
• This approach is used in shopping centers, preceded by intercept and filtering processes.
• It is also used to conduct business-to-business research at trade shows or conventions.

Video Computer-assisted personal interviewing

Benefits

This form of interview is much cheaper when a large number of respondents are needed, because:

• No need to hire or pay the interviewer. Respondents can fill out their own questionnaires (only applicable to CASI).
• No need to write the results into a computer. Computer programs can be constructed so as to place results directly in a format that can be read by statistical analysis programs such as PSPP or DAP.
• The program can be placed on a website, potentially attracting audiences around the world.

Maps Computer-assisted personal interviewing

Loss

• Surveys may only attract "computer-savvy" respondents, thus introducing potential biases in surveys.
• This survey may skip the quality feedback and clarification/control that can be provided by private interviewers. For example, questions that must be interpreted in some way, but may also be interpreted differently, may raise questions for respondents. If no interviewer is present, these questions will not be answered, potentially causing bias in the questionnaire results (only applicable to CASI).
Computer-Assisted Self Interviewing (CASI)

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Video-CASI

Video-CASI is often used to make complex questionnaires easier to understand for the people interviewed. With video-CASI, respondents read the questions as they appear on the screen and enter their answers with the keyboard (or some other input device). Computers handle "housework" or administrative tasks for respondents. The advantages of video-CASI are automatic control of complex question routing, ability to customize queries based on previous responses, real-time control of out-of-range and inconsistent responses, and general standardization of interviews.

Video-CASI has significant losses. Most obviously, CASI's video demands that respondents be able to read with some facilities. The second, more subtle disadvantage is that, at least with the character-based view of many video-CASI apps today, the visual and reading loads imposed on respondents seem to be much larger than those of attractively designed paper. Character size and other quality of the computer user interface seems to demand more reading experience and computer screens than those of many who may be competent printers. Graphical user interface (GUI) can reduce or eliminate this problem, but this software is used to develop video applications-CASI usually does not have this feature.

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Audio-CASI

Audio-CASI (sometimes called Telephone-CASI) asks respondent questions by hearing. Audio-CASI has the same advantages as Video-CASI as it can make a complex questionnaire easier to understand by the interviewee. It provides the privacy (or anonymity) of responses equivalent to self-administered questionnaire (SAQs). Unlike Video-CASI, Audio-CASI offers this potential advantage without limiting the collection of data to the educated segment of the population.

By adding simultaneous audio rendering of each question and instructions aloud, audio-CASI can remove the literacy barrier for self-administration of either Video-CASI or SAQ. In audio-CASI, an audio box is attached to the computer; respondents wear headphones and listen to questions and answer choices when displayed on the screen. Respondents have the option of turning off the screen so that people entering the room can not read questions, turning off the sounds if they can read faster than spoken questions, or keep both sound and video when they answer questions. Respondents can post responses at any time and move on to the next question without waiting for the completion of audio questions and answer choices for a question.

The audio-CASI advantage, then, is that the addition of audio makes CASI fully applicable to a very wide range of respondents. People with limited or inadequate reading ability can listen, understand, and respond to the full content of survey instruments. Audio-CASI interview observers also often report that even with seemingly powerful readers, audio-CASI interviews seem to be more effective and fully capture the concentrations of respondents. This may be because wearing headphones enhances the insulation of respondents for external stimuli, and can also be explained by the fact that the human voice recorded in the audio component evokes a more personal interaction between respondents and instruments.

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Research on computer-assisted interview

Computer-assisted interview methods such as CAPI, CATI, or CASI, have been the focus of a systematic review of the effects of computer-assisted interviews on data quality. The review shows that the computer help method is accepted by the interviewer and the respondent, and this method tends to improve the quality of the data. Waterton and Duffy (1984) compared reports of alcohol consumption under CASI and personal interviews. Overall, reports of alcohol consumption were 30 percent higher under the CASI procedure, and the alcohol consumption report was 58 percent higher.

In a study comparing Audio-CASI with paper SAQs and Video-CASI, researchers showed that both Audio-and Video-CASI systems work well even with subjects who do not have a wide familiarity with computers. Indeed, respondents prefer Audio- and Video-CASI to SAQ papers. The computerized system also eliminates errors in the execution of the "skip" instructions that occur when the subject completes the paper SAQs. In some cases, computerized systems have also emerged to encourage the reporting of more complete sensitive behaviors such as the use of illegal drugs. Among the two CASI systems, respondents rated Audio-CASI better than Video-CASI in terms of interest, ease of use, and overall preference.

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See also

• Web interview with computer help

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References

Source of the article : Wikipedia