183 15.12 Telephone
Trained interviewers call potential respondents on the telephone, often through random / automated dialing, and ask them a set of survey questions.
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Advantages:
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lower cost than face-to-face
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non-response rate is relatively low because interviewers can keep calling back until the respondent is home
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interviewers can collect a large amount of data in a short time.
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Disadvantages:
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some portions of the population do not have access to a telephone
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increasing numbers use a mobile phone exclusively and FCC rules say that automated dialing to mobile phones is illegal
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many respondents are suspicious of telephone interviews, consider them a sales pitch
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long or complicated questions are inappropriate over the phone
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increasing numbers of people have put themselves on federal “do not call” lists that prohibit researchers from calling
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Evaluating telephone interview survey data:
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Were the questionnaire and individual questions appropriately brief?
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Were the telephone banks staffed in a central location? (Telephone interviewers who work from home are subject to less supervision, obviously)
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What instructions were the interviewers given about who in the household they should interview?