Chapter 10

SURVEY RESEARCH: COMMUNICATING WITH RESPONDENTS

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to
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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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

Opportunity for Feedback High Participation Personal Interviews Probing Complex Answers

Props and Visual Aids

Length of Interview

Completeness of Questionnaire

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Disadvantages of Personal Interviews

Interviewer Influence Lack of Anonymity of Respondent

Personal Interviews

Cost
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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 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

Questionnaire length: moderate

Item nonresponse: medium Possibility of respondent misunderstanding: average

Degree of interviewer influence of answer: moderate

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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 questionnaire
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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 senders 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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 Questions to be answered:

Selecting the Appropriate Survey Approach

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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