Telephone Interviews
| Time – can
be quickly turned around – faster to conduct than in postal and
face-to-face (with appropriate resource). |
Bias –
obvious bias of just those with telephone numbers included in
the sampling frame. Possibly increasing problem with Telephone
Preference Service growth and move to mobiles (number of
residents replacing land-line with mobiles). Response bias needs
to be addressed by calling at evenings and weekends. |
| Respondent
– can be more personal than postal. Some probing possible. |
Fieldwork
– trained team needed; systems needed to improve efficiency. |
| Response –
co-operation rates can be better than postal; these can be
improved by initial letter announcing the survey and asking for
co-operation. Call-backs needed to boost response. Immediately
available data if Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing used. |
Respondent
– can be considered intrusive by some (this seems to be age
related). |
| Literacy –
problems reduced by telephone interviews. Need for bi-lingual
team in some cases. |
|
| Design –
can be more complex with routing etc. Limited opportunity for
using additional materials. |
|
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