Collection of Data — Economics STD 11 Commerce — Question

Ans. "Indirect Interview" method is a method of primary data collection used when it is not possible to gather the required information from the other sources. This may be due to the respondents being reluctant to open up on touchy or personal issues. So, the investigator approaches third party' who knows about the issue/ problem being studied. A list of questions relating to the investigation is prepared and asked from the third party and the answers are duly recorded.
For example, to conduct a study of the eating habits (say junk food consumption of the students of a particular school) direct interview will not help us but an Indirect Interview through a third party' shall be suitably conducted. Third party in this case may be a bakery shop selling pizzas, burgers, noodles etc. near the school.

• The difference between the Indirect Interview and Personal Interview lies w.r.t. the area of investigation. Through Indirect Interview a large area of investigation can be covered, whereas through a personal interview very limited area is covered up. In terms of reliability factor, the third party may not be a authentic source whereas in case of personal interview the reliability and accuracy of the study is more.
• In terms of cost involved, Indirect Interview is relatively less expensive than the Personal Interview method.