Linda Leo is a system analyst at 10 Pearls, a large company that sells computer hardware and software via telephone, mail order, and the Internet. It processes several thousand transactions per week on a three-shift operation and employs 100 full-time and 150 part-time employees. Lately, the billing department has experienced an increase in the number of customer complaints about incorrect bills. During the preliminary investigation, she learned that some 10 Pearls representatives did not follow established order entry procedures. She feels that with more information, she might find a pattern and identify a solution for the problem.

Linda is not sure how to proceed. She came to you, her supervisor, with two separate questions. First is a questionnaire the best approach, or would interviews be better? Second, whether she uses interviews, a questionnaire, or both techniques, should she select the participants at random, include an equal number of people from each shift, or use some other approach? As Lindas supervisor, what would suggest, and why?