or lightly structured. If it is intended to extract information about a more complex
problem, test-based psychological examination in addition to investigation is
recommended.
In counselling, investigation is used for getting to know the person and the significant
people in his/her life: parents, teachers, colleagues, etc.
Questionnaires destined for parents or teachers contain questions targeting the
clarification of objectives, same as in the questionnaire or discussion with the student
subject: professional qualifications of the parents, social and economic situation of the
family, opinions regarding the intellectual, educational, and vocational capacities of the
child.
Educational agents are usually questioned about the student’s rank in the class
(intellectually, social conduct), individual characteristics, difficulties in adaptation,
dominant interests, recommended school or occupational domain. The questions must be
adapted to each case.
Method presentation
The stages of organizing a standard social investigation are:
- previous documentation;
- defining concepts;
- deciding upon the topic and formulating the aims;
- operationalisation and quantification;
- identifying population to be investigated;
- establishing investigation techniques and procedures;
- drawing up work instruments;
- carrying out a pilot investigation;
- building the team of investigators / field operators;
- drawing up the calendar of the investigation;
- data collection;
- verification of data collected;
- selecting valid questionnaires / forms in view of processing;
- coding information;