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A Telephone survey is survey conducted over the telephone system and is a flexible research method, particularly in consumer research

Aspects[]

    • use of interviewers encourages sample persons to respond, leading to higher response rates.[1]
    • interviewers can increase comprehension of questions by answering respondents' questions.
    • fairly cost efficient, depending on local call charge structure
    • good for large national (or international) sampling frames
    • cannot be used for non-audio information (graphics, demonstrations, taste/smell samples)
    • three types:
      • traditional telephone interviews
      • computer assisted telephone dialing
      • computer assisted telephone interviewing
  • Mail
    • response rate 5% - 30%[How to reference and link to summary or text]
    • the questionnaire may be handed to the respondents or mailed to them, but in all cases they are returned to the researcher via mail.
    • cost is very low, since bulk postage is cheap in most countries
    • long time delays, often several months, before the surveys are returned and statistical analysis can begin
    • not suitable for very complex issues
    • no interviewer bias introduced
    • large amount of information can be obtained: some mail surveys are as long as 50 pages
    • response rates can be improved by using mail panels
      • members of the panel have agreed to participate
      • panels can be used in longitudinal designs where the same respondents are surveyed several times

See also[]

References[]

  1. Groves, R.M. (1989) Survey Costs and Survey Errors. New York: Wiley.
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