A school canteen wishes to know what sort of food to sell to students. It carries out interviews with a number of students to find out their opinions. Here is the transcript of the interviewer’s conversation with one of the students. 

Interviewer: Hello. The school is trying to find out what sort of food it should sell to students. Can you tell me the sorts of foods you like and whether you would consider eating school food?

Student: Hi. At the moment I don’t eat school food very often. I usually bring in my own packed lunch although sometimes, if I forget my packed lunch or if my friends are all going to the canteen, then I will eat school food. When I do buy school food, I try not to spend too much, usually only about $3 or $4, but if I’ve had sport in the morning then I’ll be really hungry and probably spend more. I like most foods, like pasta, pizza and curry, but wouldn’t want to eat it every day.

a. What problems will the interviewer have when analysing this answer? 

b. What is wrong with the question asked by the interviewer? 

c. If you were the interviewer, what would your first question have been? 

d. The interview lasts 20 minutes. Assuming all the questions are answered properly, give one of the main advantages of this method of data collection. 

e. The interviewer interviews 20 students in total. Give one of the main disadvantages of this method of data collection.