Is it something I said? An examination of apprehension and adaptation communication traits on field interviewer performance

Abstract

This study explores whether field interviewers’ adaptation and apprehension communication traits – which explain how, why, and when individuals communicate in a given situation – can predict how a field interviewer performs and analyzes how traits relate to performance on large national studies that use in-home, computer-assisted personal interviewing techniques. Additionally, we examine whether a specific trait’s presence or absence can predict performance. Results show significant correlations between cognitive flexibility, communication apprehension, and interpersonal communication competence with overall field interviewer performance, and a predictive relationship between communication apprehension and overall field interviewer performance, meaning this trait can be used, in part, to predict success.