Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a form of research tool used for surveys and statistical studies in which a list of questions is composed or published together with the respondents’ options for answers (Jensen, 2020). It consists of a defined collection of questions that are placed in a specific order on a form and sent or personally delivered to the respondents for completion. The respondents are expected to read the questions, understand them, and then respond in the area provided.

Interviews

The interview is a way of gathering data in which the interviewer and respondent have a direct, in-depth discussion. One-on-one communication serves a variety of purposes, including surveying, researching, and so on, and is carried out with the active participation of both parties (Zhang et al., 2017). Under this strategy, oral-verbal stimuli are delivered and oral-verbal replies are generated in response.

Key Differences between Questionnaire and Interview

1. The questionnaire method of collecting data involves emailing questionnaire to respondents in a written format. On the contrary, interview method is one wherein the interviewer communicates to the respondent orally (Zhang et al., 2017).
2. In contrast to the subjective nature of the interview, the questionnaire is objective.
3. When conducting an interview, it is common practice for the interviewer to ask the respondent open-ended questions. In contrast to this, a questionnaire will only ask you questions that have predetermined answers.
4. Since the only costs involved in collecting data through questionnaire are those associated with creating and distributing the questionnaire, this method of data collection is quite cost-effective (Zhang et al., 2017). In comparison, an interview is a rather costly procedure because respondents must either go to the interviewer or the interviewer must travel to the respondents individually in order to collect data.

The procedure of completing a questionnaire takes significantly more time than conducting an interview. This is due to the fact that, during an interview, the comments that are provided are impromptu, whereas when completing a questionnaire, the respondent may spend as much or as little time as he or she sees fit (Zhang et al., 2017).