SURVEY RESEARCH: COMMUNICATING WITH RESPONDENTS

Chapter 10

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LEARNING OUTCOMESLEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Summarize ways researchers gather information through interviews

2. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of conducting door-to-door, mall intercept, and telephone interviews

3. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of distributing questionnaires through the mail, the Internet, and other means

4. Discuss the importance of pretesting questionnaires

5. Describe ethical issues that arise in survey research

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After studying this chapter, you should be able to

Interviews as Interactive Communication

• Interactive Survey Approaches– Those that allow spontaneous two-way interaction

between the interviewer and the respondent.– Can be either personal or electronic.

• Noninteractive Media– Those that do not facilitate two-way

communication and are largely a vehicle by which respondents give answers to static questions.

• Tradition forms with less flexibility• Self-administered mail and Internet surveys

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Personal Interviews

• A personal interview is a form of direct communication in which an interviewer asks respondents questions face-to-face.– Versatile and flexible– Truly interactive

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Advantages of Personal Interviews

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PersonalInterviews

PersonalInterviews

Opportunity for Feedback

Probing Complex Answers

Length of Interview

Completeness ofQuestionnaire

High Participation

Props and Visual Aids

Disadvantages of Personal Interviews

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CostCost

Interviewer Influence

Interviewer Influence

Lack of Anonymity of Respondent

Lack of Anonymity of Respondent

Personal Interviews

Personal Interviews

Door-to-Door Interviews

• Personal interviews conducted at respondents’ doorsteps in an effort to increase the participation rate in the survey.

• Callbacks– Attempts to recontact individuals selected for a

sample who were not available initially.

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Door-to-Door Interview Characteristics

• Speed of data collection: moderate to fast

• Geographical flexibility: limited to moderate

• Respondent cooperation: excellent

• Versatility of questioning: quite versatile

• Questionnaire length: long• Item nonresponse: low• Possibility of respondent

misunderstanding: lowest

• Degree of interviewer influence of answer: high

• Supervision of interviewers: moderate

• Anonymity of respondent: low• Ease of call back or follow-up:

difficult• Cost: highest due to travel costs• Special features: visual materials

may be shown or demonstrated; extended probing possible

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Mall Intercept Personal Interview

• Personal interviews conducted in a shopping mall.

• Interviewers typically intercept shoppers at a central point within the shopping center or at the main entrance.

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Mall Intercept Interview Characteristics

• Speed of data collection: fast• Geographical flexibility: confined,

urban bias• Respondent cooperation:

moderate to low• Versatility of questioning:

extremely versatile• Questionnaire length: moderate

to long• Item nonresponse: medium• Possibility of respondent

misunderstanding: lowest

• Degree of interviewer influence of answers: highest

• Supervision of interviewers: moderate to high

• Anonymity of respondent: low

• Ease of call back or follow-up: difficult

• Cost: Lower than door-to-door

• Special features: taste tests, viewing of TV commercials possible

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Personal Interviews

• Global Considerations– Variations in willingness to participate

• Sensitivity to interview subject matter

• Beliefs about appropriate business conduct

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Telephone Interviews

• Telephone Interviews– Personal interviews conducted by telephone.– The mainstay of commercial survey research.– “No-call” legislation has limited this capacity.

• Mobile Phone Interviews– In U.S., no telemarketing can be directed toward mobile

phone numbers.– Recipient of call is even more likely to be distracted.– Area codes not necessarily tied to geography.– Phones have varying abilities.

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Phone Interview Characteristics• Speed

• Cost

• Absence of face-to-face contact

• Cooperation

• Incentives to respond

• Representative samples

• Callbacks

• Limited duration

• Lack of visual medium

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Types of Telephone Interviews

• Central Location Interviewing– Conducting interviews from a central location allowing firms to hire a

staff of professional interviewers and to supervise and control the quality of interviewing more effectively.

• Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)– Allows answers to telephone interviews to be entered directly into a

computer for processing.

• Computerized Voice-Activated Telephone Interview– Combining computerized telephone dialing and voice-activated

computer messages to allow researchers to conduct telephone interviews without human interviewers.

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Telephone Interview Recap• Speed of data collection: very fast• Geographical flexibility: high• Respondent cooperation: good• Versatility of questioning:

moderate• Questionnaire length: moderate• Item nonresponse: medium• Possibility of respondent

misunderstanding: average• Degree of interviewer influence

of answer: moderate

• Supervision of interviewers: high, especially with central location interviewing

• Anonymity of respondent: moderate

• Ease of call back or follow-up: easy

• Cost: low to moderate

• Special features: fieldwork and supervision of data collection are simplified; quite adaptable to computer technology

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EXHIBIT 10.1 Self-Administered Questionnaires Can Be Either Printed or Electronic

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Mail Questionnaires

• Characteristics of Mail Questionnaires– Geographical flexibility– Cost– Respondent convenience

– Anonymity of respondent

– Absence of interviewer

– Standardized questions

– Time is money

– Length of mail questionnaire10–17

Self-Administered Questionnaires

• Response Rate– The number of questionnaires returned or

completed divided by the number of eligible people who were asked to participate in the survey.

• Factors that Bias the Response Rate– Persons who will complete questionnaires versus

those persons who will not.– Person filling out survey is not the intended subject.

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Increasing Response Rates for Mail Surveys• Cover letter• Money helps• Interesting questions• Follow-ups• Advance notification• Survey sponsorship• Other techniques• Keying mail questionnaires

with codes

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EXHIBIT 10.2

A Cover Letter Requesting

Participation in a Survey

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EXHIBIT 10.3 Plots of Actual Response Patterns for Two Commercial Surveys

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Fax Surveys

• A survey that uses fax machines as a way for respondents to receive and return questionnaires.

• Advantages– Reduce sender’s printing and postage costs– Is quicker than traditional mail surveys

• Disadvantage– Only respondents with fax machines who are willing

to exert the extra effort will return questionnaires.

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E-Mail Surveys • Surveys distributed through electronic mail.• Ways to contact respondents:

– Include a questionnaire in the body of an e-mail.– Distribute questionnaire as an attachment.– Include a hyperlink within the body of an e-mail.

• Advantages– Speed of distribution– Lower distribution and processing costs– Faster turnaround time– More flexibility– Less handling of paper questionnaires

• Disadvantage– Not all e-mail systems have the same capacity

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Internet Surveys• A self-administered questionnaire posted on

a Web site. – Respondents provide answers to questions

displayed online by highlighting a phrase, clicking an icon, or keying in an answer.

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Internet Survey Characteristics

• Speed and cost effectiveness

• Visual appeal and interactivity

• Respondent participation and cooperation

• Representative samples• Accurate real-time data

capture

• Callbacks• Personalized and flexible

questioning• Respondent anonymity• Response rates• Security concerns

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Other Approaches• Kiosk Surveys

– Placed in high-traffic locations (e.g., airports).

• Mixed-Mode Survey Research– Employs any combination of survey methods.

• Text-Message Surveys– May use SMS (short-message service) or MMS

(Multi-Media Service).

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Selecting the Appropriate Survey Approach

• Questions to be answered:– Is the assistance of an interviewer necessary?– Are respondents interested in the issues being

investigated?– Will cooperation be easily attained?– How quickly is the information needed?– Will the study require a long and complex

questionnaire?– How large is the budget?

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Pretesting Survey Instruments• Pretesting

– Screening procedure that involves a trial run with a group of respondents to iron out fundamental problems in the survey design.

• Basic Ways to Pretest:– Screen the questionnaire with other research

professionals.– Have the client or the research manager review the

finalized questionnaire.– Collect data from a small number of respondents.

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Ethical Issues in Survey Research

• Many ethical issues apply to survey research:– Respondents’ right to privacy– Use of deception– Respondents’ right to be informed– Need for confidentiality– Need for honesty in collecting data– Need for objectivity in reporting data

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