The indirect questionnaire as a tool for sociological research

Samenvatting

An account of a new type of questionaire developed by Bulgarian sociol'ts. The 'indirect questionaire' is filled out not by the S but by the investigator. The latter acquaints himself with the S's life, work, fam situation etc, talks to at least 2 or 3 people who know him well, &, if necessary, interviews the S without revealing his purpose. This method was first worked out in an enquiry into the religiousness of the Bulgarian people led by Zhivko Ochavkov (1962); it was also used in an investigation of Sofia youth in 1966. It is claimed that the method produces results comparable to the use of the direct questionaire. A comparative check for 20,675 S's whose religiosity was investigated produced a discrepancy of only 2%. The indirect questionaire method has certain specific advantages: it is specially useful for facts which are both part of individual consciousness & of the consciousness of others & in cases where a negative evaluation of the S is possible; it makes possible the investigation of persons selected according to a certain criterion; it may be used in small pop centers where people know each other intimately & in Ur areas where individuals have multiple org'al ties; it synthetizes information produced from varied sources. I. Langnas.