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ESTIMATED COSTS OF CENTRAL-LOCATION INTERCEPT INTERVIEWS, 2002
The central-location intercept interview cost estimate below assumes that you question
100 respondents from the general population for 15 to 20 minutes each.
Develop questionnaire
Produce questionnaire, schedule facility,
phones, and mail
Screen/conduct interviews
Provide respondent incentives
Code/enter data/tabulate
Analyze and report results
Total
$ 460 – 4,025
$ 400 – 600
$1,955 – 4,025
$ 345 – 575
$ 805 – 1,495
$1,495 – 4,025
$5,460 – 14,745
Questionnaire Contents
Unlike focus groups or in-depth interviews,
the questionnaire used in central-location
intercept pretesting is highly structured and
contains primarily multiple choice or closedended
questions to permit quick response.
Open-ended questions, which allow freeflowing
answers, should be kept to a
minimum because they take too much time
for the respondent to answer and for the
interviewer to record. Questions that assess
the intended audience’s comprehension and
perceptions of the pretest materials form the
core of the questionnaire. A few additional
questions, tailored to the specific item or
items being tested (“Do you prefer this
picture—or this one”), may also be
included to meet your program planners’
particular needs. The questionnaire should
be pretested before it is used in the field.
See Appendix A for a sample questionnaire.
Interview Setup
A number of market research companies
throughout the country conduct centrallocation
intercept interviews in shopping
malls. You can also conduct these interviews
in clinic waiting rooms, religious institutions,
Social Security offices, schools, work sites,
train stations, and other locations frequented
by members of your intended audience. Be
sure to obtain permission well in advance of
the time you want to set up interviewing
stations in these locations.
If you are using a market research company
to conduct the interviews, you will need to
provide screening criteria, test materials,
and the questionnaire. In some cases,
market research companies have offices in
shopping malls, and you can watch the
testing through a one-way mirror.
146 Communication Research Methods