Q. When do you use One-on-One Interviews instead of Focus Group Discussions?

A. One-on-One Interviews (often called “IDIs” or Individual Depth Interviews) can be more effective than Focus Groups in several situations:

• When you don’t want one or two group members to bias others — This is the reason IDIs are often used in advertising testing. In the “real world” people usually react to advertising individually, not in groups.
• When the subject is intimate — I have used IDIs to explore ideas about and emotional issues related to such subjects as cosmetic surgery and feminine hygiene products.
• When the subject is controversial or extremely provocative — When the subject is political, sexual or both, IDIs are the answer.
• When it would be difficult or impossible to gather together a qualified group of respondents — Sometimes clients, particularly in business-to business applications, would love the give-and-take of Focus Group Discussions with their customers. But the people who would be qualified for such a group are scattered all over the country. In this situation, the interviewer goes to them one-on- one. These can sometimes be done by telephone.

There are a few cautionary notes in doing IDIs. These will be outlined in the next FAQ (#4).

Do you have a comment or research-related question? Send it to me for future FAQs!