SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE

Schedule is the tool or instrument to collect data from the respondents while interview is conducted. Schedule contains questions, statements (on which opinions are elicited) and blank spaces/tables for filling up the respondents. Schedule is a formalized set of questions, statements and spaces for answer, provided to the enumerators who ask questions to the respondents and note down the answers.

Schedule is one of the very commonly used tools of data collection in scientific investigation. According to P. V. Young (2014, p. 186), “The schedule has been used for collection of personal preferences, social attitudes, beliefs, opinions, behaviour patterns, group practices and habits and mush other data.” The increasing use of schedule is probably due to increased emphasis by social scientists on quantitative measurement of uniformly accumulated data.

Schedule is very much similar to questionnaire and there is very little difference between the two so far as their construction is concerned. The main difference between these two is that whereas the schedule is used in direct interview on direct observation and in it the questions are asked and filled by the researcher himself, the questionnaire is generally mailed to the respondent, who fills it up and returns it to the researcher. Thus the main difference between them lies in the method of obtaining data. According to Goode and Hatt (2018, p. 133), “Schedule is the name usually applied to a set of questions which are asked and filled by an interviewer in a face-to-face situation with other person.” According to Webster (2014, p. 186) defines a schedule as “a formal list, a catalogue or inventory and may be a counting device, used in formal and standardized inquiries, the sole purpose of which is aiding in the collection of quantitative cross-sectional data.”

From the above discussion it is clear that in schedule method interview occupies a pivotal place and plays an indispensable role. So the success of schedule largely depends on the efficiency and tactfulness of the interviewer rather than the quality of questions posed. Because the interviewer himself asks all the questions and fills the answers all by himself, here the quality of question has less significance.

OBJECTIVES OF SCHEDULE

P.V. Young (2014, p. 187) has emphasized on the following objectives of the schedule. According to her a researcher “makes the schedule a guide, a means of delimiting the sense of his enquiry, a memory tickler, a recording device.” These may be discussed elaborately.

1. Aids to delimit the scope of the study:

The schedule always focusses on a definite item of inquiry, single and isolated subject, rather than a subject in general. The researcher asks about one item and writes down answers about it. Therefore schedule delimits and specifies the subject of inquiry. It also focuses the attention of the interviewer on salient points of the study.

2. Acts as a memory tickler:

Another objective of schedule is to act as a memory tickler. In interview, the interviewer has to ask a wide range of questions to the respondent. While doing this he may forget to ask about some important aspects of the research problem and then may require to go for the whole process again to collect that missing information. Usually most persons do not have good memories. Because of this there is always a possibility of missing certain important points. But in the schedule method an interviewer is not dependent upon his memory. Because the schedule is all planned, a formal written document of various questions which keeps the memory of the interviewer or observer refresh and keeps him reminded of the different aspects of the study which are to be observed. It also economises the time, money and effort of the interviewer and observer.

3. Helps in classification and analysis:

Another objective of schedule is to help in the work of tabulation classification and analysis. In case of narrative interview, the interviewee provides the information in a story form. It becomes very difficult afterwards to sort out the important points and classify them into different categories for purpose of further analysis.

The researcher may ask different types of questions. So the answers collected from the respondents are also varied. All these varieties of replies are classified under various heads. The schedule puts the entire thing in a structured form and facilitates in better tabulation and analysis.

4. Standardised device:

Schedule also provides a standardised device for observation and interview. In a structured schedule every respondent gives reply to the same question, put in the same language, in the same sequence. So the entire process of interview on observation takes place under standardised conditions. The data received from this is perfectly comparable and helps in an objective study.

TYPES OF SCHEDULE

The schedules used in the social research may be classified into five groups according to its use.

1. Observation schedule:

Schedule is one of the important tools for objective and standardised observation. Usually these schedules are used for observation as a objectifying device. Here it consists of several blank tables where the observer can fill up various events, that he has observed. It also contains with some significant topics upon which the observer has to focus on. It makes the observation more pointed and accurate by focussing on the most relevant area of observation. When mass observation has to be done through the field workers, schedule appears to be very useful. Observation schedule provides an opportunity to the observer for uniform classification and recording of various activities and social situations. By using this kind of schedule one observer can secure several data uniformly. According to P.V. Young (2014, pp. 187-190) an observation schedule usually serves several purposes simultaneously. They are : (i) it is a specific memory tickler, (i) it is an objective recording device which makes possible accurate accumulation of large quantities of data, (il) it is a standardised device and (iv) it aids to delimit the scope of the study and to concentrate on the circumscribed elements essential to the analysis.

2. Rating schedule:

These schedules are used for economic, social and psychological research in order to assess the preferences, attitudes, performances, ideas, thought, view etc. of the people. As it is apparent from the term ‘rating’, in these schedules the value and trend of the above mentioned qualities are measured.

3. Document schedule:

These are used for securing data from various written documents like autobiography, biography, diary, case history, or official records maintained by the government. According to P.V. Young (2014, pp. 187-190), items included in this schedule are limited to those that can be uniformly secured from a large number of case histories or other records. For example, in order to study the criminal behaviour, the document schedules are used to study the items such as the types of offence, number and type of their earlier crime, the personal data of criminals like their school leaving age, age at the time of first crime, the level of education, their socio-economic status and other factors that influence their criminal behaviour. Such schedules are used for preparing the source list of securing preliminary information about the respondents.

4.Institutions or Evaluation schedule:

This schedule as is evident from the name is used to gather data about specialised institutions or agencies. It is used to analyse the problems faced by a given type of institution. The length of such schedule depends upon the nature and complexity of the problems of an institution. More complex the problem, bigger is the size of the schedule. For example, the American Public Health Association used 38 pages long evaluational schedule and included many items of basic information as well as many complex items related to community facilities for the study and appraisal of Community Health Programmes.

5. Interview schedules:

These schedules are used for the interview purposes. These are the most common and important schedules used by many researchers to secure information from the interviewees. It consists of some standard questions which the interviewer asks to the respondents and then fills up the form after getting the information from the respondents.

STEPS OR PROCEDURES FOR FORMING A SCHEDULE

A good schedule requires certain planning and preparation. In most of the cases schedule is combinedly used with the interview method. So this is more than a series of casual questions and their replies. Rather it is a dynamic, interpersonal experience that has to be done carefully. The researcher should follow certain procedures and take certain precautions before framing a schedule. Some of the steps which are to be followed by the researcher in this regard are:

1. Knowledge about the different aspects of problem:

While framing the schedule the first step is to have proper knowledge about the different aspects of the problem. The researcher has to put a great deal of thought into the selected research problem.

However, the following are the some of the necessary factors, one should take into consideration before framing a schedule on a particular topic.

(i) the researcher must have interest in the topic of research.

(ii) the nature of the problem or topic must have some social reference.

(iii) he should understand the problem thoroughly.

(iv) the problem must be defined in clear and explicit manner.

(v) the problem must be defined unambiguously, so that it will help to differentiate relevant data from irrelevant ones.

(vi) existing literature on the subject should be studied.

(vii) the problem under study should be split up into various aspects, the determination of these aspects depends upon the clear understanding of the problem. Thus, for example, if the survey of the effect of family disorganisation upon the criminal behaviour of children is to made, then the different aspects of the problem would be the family background of the children, the parental relation, the socialisation process, family value, the authority structures etc. The researcher has to study all these aspects in complete details before framing a schedule.

2. Knowledge about the information to be studied:

While framing a good schedule the second important step is to decide what information is necessary for a valid generalisation on each aspect of the problem. An extensive literature survey usually helps the researcher to get a proper knowledge about different aspects of the research problem. By studying the previous studies in the related field the researcher gets knowledge about relevant information needed for his current study. He can again subdivide each aspect of the topic. Thus, in the above illustration family value may be further subdivided into respect for morals, tolerance, fear of religion and authority, adjustment with others, learning manners, building character and personality etc. Required information may be collected about each of them.

3. Framing the actual questions:

The third step is the framing of the actual questions. This is the most essential part of the schedule and any error in it may invalidate the whole research study by providing biased, incorrect, incomplete or irrelevant information.

While framing the actual questions in a schedule the following are the some of sub-steps one must take into consideration.

(a) Nature of questions to be given

For framing a schedule there is no exclusive rules and regulation regarding the selection of nature of questions to be asked. It all depends on the nature of the research topic, the skill of the researcher, kinds of respondents and other factors. The following points are some of the general guidelines about the nature of questions.

(i) Specific questions

A common error is to ask a general question when an answer on a specific issue is wanted. For example, if one is interested specifically in a canteen’s meal prices and the quality of its service, the question “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your canteen ?” is unsatisfactory. In the above example, the general question was framed because it failed to specify the required frames of references. But when there are occasions when no required frame of reference is needed, the general question may be appropriate. However, the researcher should try to give specific questions to the respondents as much as possible. One way to make questions more specific is to frame them in terms of the respondent’s personal experience rather than in general terms.

(ii) Simple language

In choosing the language for a schedule, the population being studied should be kept in mind. The aim in question wording is to communicate with respondents as nearly as possible in their own language. A survey of the members of a particular profession, for instance, can usefully employ the profession’s common technical terms. Not only such terms form a part of the informant’s common language but they also normally have a single precise meaning. Technical terms and jargons are however obviously to be avoided in surveys of general population. The first principles in wording are that the questions should use the simplest words that will convey the exact meaning and that the phrasing should also be as simple and informal as possible.

It is not indeed enough to know that a word or phrase is commonly used, one must equally be sure that it is used in the same sense by all groups of respondents. Even a common word ‘book’ has different meanings in different parts of the country. A simple case is the ‘book’ which in some parts of the population is taken to include magazines. Hence while forming a schedule an interviewer should ask-”During the past week, roughly how many hours you spent reading books, I mean books, not magazines or papers?”

Clarity can still be further ensured by remembering that a simple question is more readily understood than a long complex one. So rather than relying on a single complex question, a series of simple questions should be asked. The number of such questions depends on the degree of simplicity required. Household composition is generally a complex subject. To present it in a simple way, a series of descriptive indices are required. The information can usually be best obtained by using a ‘household box’ on the schedule in which the household members are listed together with their relevant characteristics viz. age, sex, marital status, working status, educational status etc.

(iii) Attention to be given to questions involving memory

Most factual questions, to some extent, involve the respondent in calling information. His degree of success in presenting this accurately is thus a basic determinant of the quality of his response. With certain questions such as “Are you married, single or widowed?”, there is no such problem, but with a large range of survey questions recalling information does bring a problem, the severity of which depends on what is to be recalled. Two factors of primary importance in memory are the length of time since the event took place and the event’s importance to the respondent.

Even what the respondent considers insignificant are likely to be forgotten almost immediately and even the re-collection of significant events decreases as time elapses. Moreover, for events not forgotten completely, memory acts selectively, retaining some aspects and losing others, thus producing distorted images. For questions dealing with the past, serious attention must therefore be given to the respondent’s ability to recall the required information accurately and to the ways by which they can be helped to do so.

(iv) Questions must be within the intellectual capacity of the respondent

The questions included in the schedule should be within the respondents intellectual capacity to give answer. The researcher should not expect any reply which is beyond his informational scope. For example, an illiterate cannot replay about e-commerce, internet etc.

(v) Inter-relation of questions

Various questions asked by the researcher should be inter-related with each other. They should be asked in a proper order, so that it will be systematic, interesting and continuous one.

(vi) Cross-checking questions

In a schedule the researcher should include certain questions for cross checking. It will provide a scope of verification to the researcher and he can check the incorrect or bias answers of the respondents

(b) Questions to be avoided

Following types of questions should be avoided for a better response in schedule.

(i) Ambiguous questions

Ambiguous questions are to be avoided at all costs. If an ambiguous word creeps in, different people will understand the questions differently and will in effect be answering differently to the some question. The following example is taken from a University Research Survey.

“Is your work made more difficult because you are expecting a baby ?” The question was asked to all women in the survey, irrespective of whether they were expecting a baby or not. What then, did a ‘No’ answer mean? Depending on the respondent, it might have meant-”No, I am not expecting a baby” or “No, my work is not made more difficult by the fact that I am expecting a baby.” Such ambiguity has to be avoided in any social research, otherwise it will minimise the objectivity of research.

(ii) Double barrelled questions

Ambiguity may also arise with double barrelled questions, such as the following question on public transport, “Do you like travelling on trains or buses ?” Respondents liking one and disliking the other would be in a dilemma in answering this question. Clearly it needs to be divided into two separate questions, each concerned with a single idea, in this case with a single mode of transport.

(iii) Vague words

Vague questions encourage vague answers. If the respondents are asked whether they go to the cinema regularly or occasionally, the meaning of their answers will be vague. (This common choice of alternatives is strictly illogical. Because the word “occasional” refers to frequency, the word ‘regular’ does not. However this may be the case where logic can give way to common usage). But the meaning can easily be made more precise, if the researcher will ask “How often these days do you go to the cinema? Would it be nearer to twice a week or more often, once a week, once a fortnight, once a month, three or four times a year, less often, or do you never go these days?”

Vague words and phrases like ‘kind of’, ‘fairly’, ‘generally’, ‘often’, ‘many, ‘much the same’, ‘on the whole, etc. should be avoided. If one asks- “What kind of house do you have”? Without specifying a frame of references, some people will answer that is semi detached, others that it is sub-urban, others that it is very pleasant and so on.

A similar type of vagueness occurs in ‘why’ questions. In answering the question “Why did you go to the cinema last night ? Some respondents will say that they wanted to see that particular film, some that they did not want to stay at home , others that ‘the wife suggested it’ or that ‘they had not been since last week’. The word ‘why’ in this question—as the phrase ‘Kind of’ in the previous one—can mean so many different things and thereby produce a useless mixture of answers.

(iv) Leading or Suggestive questions

Leading or suggestive type of questions should be avoided as they result in biased answers. A leading question is one which, by its content, structure or wording, leads the respondent in the direction of a certain answer. For example “You don’t think ..... do you?” as obviously leads to a negative answer and the question form like “Should not something be done about ....?” leads to a positive one.

In addition to leading word’, there is the risk that the general context of a question, the control of these preceding it and the tone of the whole schedule or interview can lead the respondent in a given direction and may bring bias in research. Therefore, while framing a schedule, the interviewer should try to avoid these type of leading questions as far as possible.

(v) Presuming question

While forming a schedule, the researcher should not presume anything about the respondent. For example questions like “How many cigarettes you smoke a day?” or “How did you vote in the last election ?” are best asked only after a ‘filter question’ has revealed that the respondent does smoke cigarettes and did vote in the last election. Without knowing this the researcher should not presume anything about the respondent. Otherwise the respondent may feel insulted and become reluctant to provide various information on research topic.

(vi) Hypothetical questions

Hypothetical question like “Would you like to live in a flat ?” one of very limited value. Another kind of hypothetical question is “Would you like a more frequent bus service?” or “Would you like an increase in wages?” Such questions are unlikely to be of any value because the respondent is being asked if he would like something for nothing. It is hard to see how he could possibly say “No”. If he did, it could be because he has taken into account some hidden factors of his own, or because he has failed to understand the question.

(vii) Personal questions

Questions regarding personal, private or secret things of a respondent should be avoided unless they are relevant for the inquiry. People are usually reluctant to disclose their personal matters regarding marital or sex life, various diseases etc. to a stranger.

(viii) Embarrassing questions

Questions that may put the respondent in an embarrassing position should also be avoided. Subjects which people do not like to discuss in public creates a problem to the schedule designer. Respondents are often embarrassed to discuss their personal matters, to give low-prestige answers, and to admit to socially unacceptable behaviour and attitudes. If, for instance, questions on sexual behaviour, frequency of taking bath, cheating in examinations or attitudes to communism were asked in the usual way, many respondent would probably refuse to reply and other would distort their answer.

One method of reducing the threatening nature of a question is to express it through a third person, instead of asking the respondent for his views. Here he can be asked about the views of others. An example from market research of an indirect question of this sort is- “Some women who use this cleanser find a lot of faults with it, I wonder if you can guess what they are objecting to.” The purpose of this wording was to make the housewives feel free to criticise the product. The aim of such questions is to obtain the respondent’s own views but he may, of course, answer the question asked, and give what he believes to be views of others. For this reason it is often advisable to follow the indirect questions.

There are several other indirect methods which can be useful in dealing with embarrassing topics. The respondent can, for instance, be shown a drawing of two persons in a certain setting with “baloons” containing speech coming from their mouth, as in comic strips and cartoons. One person’s baloon is left empty and the position of that person and to fill in the missing words.

Another method is that of sentence completion; the respondent is given the beginning of a sentence and is asked to complete it, usually in a limited time to ensure spontaneity. Beison (1968) describes a study of randomly derived sample of London teenage boys on the sensitive subject of stealing. A variety of procedures were employed in this study to make it easier for the boys to admit that they had stolen things. On arrival at the interviewing centre a boy chose a false name to the interviewer, who know him only by that name. After an extended initial phase the interview proceeded to the card-sorting technique by which the information on stealing was to be obtained. The interviewer and the boy sat on either side of a table, with a screen in between so that they could not see each other. Through a slot in the screen the interviewer passed to the boy a card on which one type of stealing (e.g. I have stolen cigarettes) was recorded. The boy was asked to put the card in a box labelled Yes’ if he had ever done what was recorded on it and in a box labelled “Never” if not. This was repeated for 44 kinds of theft. At the end of this sorting stage, the interviewer went through a procedure which tried, to reduce the force of a boy’s resistances and to strengthen his feeling of willingness, to admitting thefts. Then the boy was asked to resort all the cards he had put in the ‘never’ box. Finally he was asked for further details or each type of theft he had admitted. This detailed procedure elicited reports of many types of theft from many boys with, for example, 69% of boys admitting “I have stolen something from a shop”, and 58% “I have stolen money” at least once in their life.

(ix) Too long questions

Too long questions are boring and respondents do not follow it easily. If a researcher feels the necessity of giving a long question then he should break it into some interrelated parts, so that it will be easier on the part of the respondent to reply it.

(x) Question causing suspicion

Question which creates suspicion in the mind of the respondent like question about one’s private relation, neighbourhood relations, monthly income, accumulation of wealth etc. should be avoided as far as possible unless they are absolutely necessary.

(xi) Question on sensitive issue

Question creates ill feeling for others or hurt one’s emotion like “Are religious practices unscientific?” “Is Islam religion better than Hinduism?” etc. should be avoided.

(xii) Question against universally accepted norms

Every society is having its own accepted normative structure. The members of that particular society always show respect to these norms. In case a schedule contains some questions which go against these accepted norms it creates dissatisfaction among the respondents. So these questions should be avoided by the researcher as far as possible.

(c) LANGUAGE

While framing a schedule the researcher should be careful about the proper wording or language. Following types of word should be avoided as far as possible.

(i) Abbreviation

In order to reply a question the respondent should understand it clearly. A particular abbreviation given in schedule may be known to the researcher but the respondents may not understand it. Therefore, the researcher should try to avoid such abbreviations. If such abbreviations are used then its meaning and full form should be given in the schedule for the better understanding of the respondents.

(i) Value-loaded words

Words carrying different values viz. good and bad should be avoided as far as possible.

(iii) Native or unusual words

The researcher should try to avoid highly localised languages in his schedule. It is always better to use the words which can be understand by everyone.

(iv) Multi-meaning words

Words carrying different meanings should be avoided.

(d) Sequence of Questions

Although no hard and fast rule exists for giving a particular sequence, still in order to get a proper response the sequence of questions in a schedule needs to be planned. A proper sequence of questions may reduce the refusal rate and there is plenty of evidence that it may also influence the answer obtained. One can take into account the following factors for preparing a perfect sequence of questions.

(i) It is always good to start with a simple, general and broad questions about the topic and then to narrow down to the specific issues, using what is known as a “funner sequence” of question. Thus a general open question on the achievement of the present government may be the beginning of a sequence, then leading to specific questions on the government’s action in the field of labour relations.

(ii) Unambiguous and uncontroversial questions should be included in the initial page of a schedule. Usually the researcher should start from a simple question and then proceed towards complex questions. Because if complex or ambiguous questions are included in the initial pages, the respondent may refuse to give interview.

(iii) At the start of the interview the respondent is unsure of himself and so the opening questions should be one to put him at ease and build up rapport between him and the interviewer. They should be interesting questions which he will have no difficulty in answering. These should not be on sensitive topics, otherwise he may refuse to continue with the interview.

(iv) Question seeking the advice of the respondents may be given in the beginning, so that the respondent will feel that his information is valuable and he will be more willing to extend his co-operation for rest of the interview.

(v) It is always better to divide the entire schedule into some sections and each section should deal with a particular topic.

(vi) The entire schedule should be regarded as a coherent unit. There should be a proper co-relation between each question and different sections of schedule. Various parts of the questionnaire should be arranged in such a way that they wouldn’t be different from each other rather would make an entire schedule as an integrated whole.

(vii) The shift from one section to another section should be very natural or smooth. Sudden jumping from one topic to another may badly affect the response of respondents.

(e) Types of Questions

(i) Open end question

The open form, open end or unrestricted type of questions call for a free response in the respondent’s own words. The respondent is having much freedom here to provide his own response. No clues are provided. It probably provides for gathering depth of response. The respondent reveals his mind, provides his frame of reference with the reasons for his responses. This type of question is sometimes difficult to interpret, tabulate and summarize in the research report. When the respondent is allowed to give free response, his expression may take any unique direction which may not find any uniformity with other responses.

However they are used mostly in pilot studies to get an idea about the research area and the possible replies. The following are the some of the examples of open end questions :

Example—1 : What is your view about the current budget?

Example-2 : Is it beneficial for the poor people ?

Example—3 : Here question 3 (b) is a typical open question not only in its form and content but also in that it opens the interview. It is often desirable to start the interview with an open question to get the respondent talking and to make him feel at ease.

3 (a) I am from the Survey Research Unit and we are trying to find out a few things about what people do in their spare time.

Would you mind telling me, are there any things which you would like to spend more time on ?

Yes-1

No-2

Don’t know-3

3 (b) If answer yes (1) to question 3 (a), what for instance? (Tell in details).

(ii) Closed form of question

The questions that call for short, limited responses are known as restricted or closed form of questions. They provide for marking a yes or no, a short response, or checking an item out of a list of given responses. It restricts the choice of response for the respondents. He has simply to select a response out of supplied responses and has not to frame responses in his own way. The following are the illustrations of closed form of questions.

Example 1: Are you literate? Yes/No.

Example 2: Are you a housewife? Yes/No.

Many of the questions here are opinion questions, in which the respondents are given choice between ‘good’ and bad’, ‘very bad’, ‘important’, ‘very important’ and ‘not at all important’. Such questions are very common in Opinion Research.

(iii) Factual question

George A. Lundberg has mentioned this type of question. It requires certain information of facts from the respondent without any reference to his opinion or attitude about them.

(iv) Opinion question

This type of question collects data about one’s opinion, attitude or preferences regarding some phenomena.

(v) Dichotomous question

When a question is given with only two possible alternative answers, that is called dichotomous questions For example, Do you belong to reserve category? Yes/No. (vi) Multiple choice questions : These questions are otherwise known as cafeteria questions. These are just opposite of previously described dichotomous questions. In these questions the reply is not confined to two alternatives only, but to a number of possible alternatives. For example What, according to you is an important cause of poverty in India? (a) population growth (b) lack of education (c) lack of governmental initiative for its eradication (d) illness of people (e) lack of industry (f) any other (specify).

 

MERITS OF SCHEDULE

Schedule as a method of social research has been used extensively everywhere. Following are the chief merits of the schedule.

1. Higher percentage of response

In fact the return of the questionnaire depends exclusively on the goodwill of the respondents. If they have slightest doubt or suspicion they would not respond. But in the schedule the research worker is present, who can explain and clear the doubts and motivate the respondents to give replies. Therefore, getting responses in schedule method is much higher than other methods.

2. Personality of research worker motivates respondents

In case of schedule the research worker is takes the job of filling the schedule. He is a well-educated and trained person in the concerned field. Here the researcher also knows the general habits, attitudes, behaviour, likes, dislikes etc. of the respondents.

This prior knowledge about the respondents and his own presence in the field always help him to get proper responses from the respondents. With his pleasant personality and contact the researcher can also get very sensitive and personal data from the respondents.

3. Personal contact

Only a good researcher who is able to establish sympathetic contact with the respondents can better elicit proper responses. researcher should create enthusiasm in the respondent towards the research topic. This can be done through a personal contact with the respondent. Schedule as a method of data collection provides enough scope for an interviewer to establish rapport or a healthy primary relationship with the respondents. By establishing rapport he comes to know about many details of respondent’s life. His personal contact also helps him to collect many valuable information, private, secret and personal data from the respondents.

4. Creates a proper atmosphere for getting response

A proper atmosphere for research is very much essential in order to get correct replies. Through a schedule an interviewer may initiate different kinds of informal and formal discussions, clear the doubts of the respondents, motivate them for participating in the entire research project.

5. Schedule requires less time to be filled

In case of questionnaire, it is sent to the respondents by post, the respondents take their own time to fill it. Sometimes they donot fill it. So it takes lot of time. The difficulties of bad writings, spelling mistakes etc. may lead to the problem of response in questionnaire. But in case of schedule it is filled by the investigator himself. He may follow any means or any shortcut method of recording. So the interview can take place quickly and data collected without any unnecessary delay.

6. Human touch

In other methods, the respondents do not feel a human touch because the researcher is not present there. Again sometimes reading a thing does not impress so much. But when the same is listened or spoken by experts, it becomes more effective. When the respondents listens to the samething from an expert, they rather feel the importance of the issue and it greatly helps the researcher in eliciting a better response.

7. Minimises errors

In case of schedule the answers are filled by the research workers who are socially and technically trained for this job. So they commit less error. But in case of questionnaire the responses are filled by the untrained respondents and therefore they are likely to commit more errors.

8. Applicable to all

Questionnaire is limited to the educated people. But schedule is applicable to all types of people.

9. Sampling errors can be corrected

Here the personal contact of the field worker may unmask any defect in the sampling method. Even if some significant cases are not covered in sampling, that can be included later at the time of actual interview with the help of a schedule.

10. Leftout questions can be discussed

If any important questions have been left out in a questionnaire, the researcher may not be able to get any response for that question but if some important questions or important aspects of the topic have been left out in schedule, the same can be discussed by direct conversation with the respondents during the visit of the researcher.

11. Doubts can be cleared

In questionnaire if the respondent cannot understand the meaning of a question, he either leaves it blank or fills that with some biased answers. But in schedule if there is some doubt, it can be made clear by the interviewer. He can also check other biases through different cross examination or by asking various cross questions.

 

DEMERITS OF SCHEDULE

Inspite of the above mentioned merits of the schedule method, it also has some limitations like any other method. The following are some of the important limitations or demerits of schedule method.

1. Expensive

As compared to questionnaire, schedule is quite costly. The cost for a case is much higher in the schedule than in case of questionnaire. This is again a serious problem when the respondents are not found in a particular region but scattered over a wide spread area. To approach them all is always expensive for a researcher. Schedule needs a large number of field workers for the collection of information from the respondents. Extra staff may also be required to supervise other works. All these need a lot of expenditure, but the investigator with limited finance a faces lot of difficulties to meet these expenses.

2. Time consuming

In comparison with the mailed questionnaire schedule is time consuming. Here the researcher has to spend much time for a respondent also.

3. Adverse effect of personal presence

Whereas the personal presence is helpful in getting the response, it is also a source of bias in the interview. Sometimes the respondent may be influenced by the investigator and gives replies not of his own but provides only that answer which the interviewer wants.

4. Less area

When the respondents are spread over a larger area, it is difficult on the part of an interviewer to contact each respondent for the interview. It requires a lot of time, money and energy of the researcher. So a researcher may face much difficulty to cover a large area through schedule method.

5. Uncomfortable for respondents

Many people can write down certain facts on paper’s but can not say them comfortably in the presence of others.

References

Kar, P. K., & Pandi, S. R. (2010). Social Research Methodology and Technique. Kalyani Publishers.

Goode, W. J., & Hatt, P. K. (2018). Methods in Social Research. Asia Law House.

Young, P. V. (2014). Scientific Social Surveys and Research (4th ed.). PHI Learning Private Limited.