Qualitative Interviewing of Respondents in Large Representative Surveys

Olaf Groh-Samberg and Ingrid Tucci

No 143, RatSWD Working Papers from German Data Forum (RatSWD)

Abstract: Large representative surveys are using mixed methods to an ever-increasing degree. Biomarkers, register data, and experiments, for example, provide different types of data that can be linked with survey data. The use of qualitative interviewing of participants in longitudinal surveys is still rare, however, in the social sciences. Yet qualitative methods have proven just as valuable as quantitative methods in providing insights into social reality by reflecting the multidimensionality of individual life courses and lived realities. Furthermore, indepth interviews can provide a better understanding of individual decision-making processes and behavior resulting from more or less unconscious strategies. They also provide insights into decisive turning points in people’s lives. Finally, by linking quantitative and qualitative data, the reliability of longitudinal information can be analyzed thoroughly in terms of accuracy as well as meaningfulness.

Keywords: mixed methods; qualitative data; longitudinal data; life course (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C81 C83 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 11
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.konsortswd.de/wp-content/uploads/RatSWD_WP_143.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rsw:rswwps:rswwps143

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in RatSWD Working Papers from German Data Forum (RatSWD) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by RatSWD ().