Citation

Conrath DW, Higgins CA, McClean RJ. Soc. Netw. 1983; 5(3): 315-322.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1983, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0378-8733(83)90031-X

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The crucial role that communication plays in organizations has led to the development of various methodologies to collect communications data. Two of the more common techniques are one-shot questionnaires and self-recording diaries completed at the time of the interaction. Questionnaires are often viewed as unreliable since they are based on the memory and perceptions of the participants. Diaries, on the other hand, are considered to be more reliable since they are completed immediately following an interaction when the event is still fresh in the individual's mind. This paper compares the cross-recorder reliability of these two data collection instruments. A reliability measure which indicates the degree to which an individual concurs as to the occurrence of interactions across all individuals is introduced. The results, based on studies in three organizations involving 49, 61 and 110 participants respectively, indicate that diary data are significantly more reliable than data obtained from questionnaires.