A new fashion to choose from
The choice of the appropriate survey method is often not only a question for researchers when designing a study, but also for the respondents themselves. In the mix of methods, target persons can now often decide for themselves in which form they take part in scientific surveys. The decision in favor of a particular survey method depends on various characteristics, such as the age and gender, but also the origin of the target persons (Malina et al., 2023). In addition to the already established survey methods, infas has now introduced a new survey method in which target persons can be interviewed via video interview.
Video calls and conferences have established themselves as a digital form of communication in everyday professional and private life since coronavirus at the latest. This development has not gone unnoticed in empirical social research either, and video surveys are proving to be a good alternative to traditional interviewer- or externally administered survey methods. Video interviewing, also known as CALVI (Computer-Assisted Live Video Interview) or CAVI (Computer-Assisted Video Interview), was already widely used in the UK and Australia immediately after the first lockdown measures in 2020 to conduct face-to-face surveys virtually despite contact restrictions. In recent years, CALVI has been used more and more frequently in social science studies, although still mainly in English-speaking countries (Durrant et al., 2024). In Germany, video interviews have not yet been used in larger social science surveys, partly due to the technical requirements for which infas has now developed solutions.
What are the advantages of video interviews?
Video interviews can be seen as a hybrid form of the classic survey forms of face-to-face and telephone interviews. In contrast to face-to-face interviews, the interview takes place in a virtual room, but unlike telephone interviews, the interviewer and the target person can see each other. This creates a more personal contact and, thanks to functions such as screen transmission, even more complex questions can be conveyed to the target person as easily as possible. With video interviews, online-savvy target groups in particular have the opportunity to conduct complex surveys with special technical features under the guidance of an interviewer, but still online. This allows target persons and interviewers a high degree of flexibility in terms of time and location.
To conduct video interviews, infas uses its own video conferencing system based on the GDPR-compliant OpenTalk software. As the system is operated by infas on its own servers, video interviews can be conducted securely and without access by third parties. OpenTalk was recently the first service provider for video conferencing services to receive the IT security mark from the German Federal Office for Information Security.
The user interface is also designed with its own infas branding, which is why we also refer to the target persons as the infas video conferencing system. This has the advantage that target persons do not participate in the survey due to a preference or aversion to another, better-known system. Should a provider of video conferencing software become the subject of a data protection scandal that attracts media attention, the conduct of our study will not be jeopardized by this incident, although such reports may have a negative impact overall. Target persons can participate in a video interview with the infas system via all common web browsers and end devices without having to install additional apps or create a user account.
Who conducts the video interviews?
Video interviews can be conducted by our face-to-face and telephone interviewers. This system was connected via API to the other systems required for the survey in both fields so that operation is as simple as possible for the interviewers. The logic of the two fields had to be taken into account accordingly. In the face-to-face field, a case is always assigned to an interviewer who then processes it. In the telephone field, on the other hand, a case is only assigned during the survey process itself.
As always, the interviewers can contact the target persons to arrange an appointment for the interview, in this case a video interview. As part of the contacting process, the interviewer then takes an e-mail address from the target person, to which the invitation to the corresponding video interview appointment is then sent. The invitation email contains all the essential information about the appointment: a calendar entry and the personalized link to the video interview. In the face-to-face field, the interviewer who arranged the appointment also conducts the video interview. In contrast, an interviewer who is available at the time of the appointment and is qualified for the study conducts the video interview in the telephone field. This means that the basic logic of the two fields is also retained in the context of video interviews.
In the telephone field, target persons can also book their appointment for a video interview themselves online. The infas appointment booking system was also developed for this purpose as part of the introduction of video interviews. We based this on familiar booking systems that target persons are probably already familiar with from reserving a table in a restaurant or booking an appointment with a doctor.
The appointments available in the appointment booking are managed in such a way that it is ensured that every available appointment can also be used by an interviewer. However, the mode of interviewing in the telephone studio – i.e. CATI or CALVI/CAVI – does not play a role here. Appointments can be booked online for each mode. This makes it easier and more flexible for target persons to select an appointment. In addition, appointments that have already been booked can also be rescheduled or canceled by the target person themselves via the system. This is possible because the target persons receive individualized access to the appointment booking system with the cover letter.
In the context of video interviews, the system was also linked to the infas video conferencing system via an API so that a video conference is also created when an appointment is booked and the target person receives an email immediately after booking to the email address provided during the booking process, which then contains all the necessary information, as described above. The new mode was introduced in close cooperation with the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). The SOEP is researching CALVI in a mixed-mode design within the DFG-funded infrastructure program “New Data Spaces for the Social Sciences”. In fall 2024, infas will begin the first two CALVI surveys as part of the SOEP and NEPS.
Read more
Durrant, G., et al. (2024): Live Video Interviewing: Evidence of Opportunities and Challenges Across Seven Major UK Social Surveys.
Malina, A., Link, S. & Ruland, M. (2023): Choice by origin – Who prefers which survey route? Findings of the NaDiRa.panel. Lagemaß No. 13, 2023
Video interviews as part of the Socio-Economic Panel on the DIW homepage: https://www.diw.de/soep-is/calvi
This article was first published in Lagemaß 14 “wählen”.