Professional interviewers who are trained to keep respondents focused on the subject of the survey administer telephone surveys.

Telephone Survey: Methodology

The following are the typical steps when a telephone survey is selected:

• Meetings between the client and RPG to determine

  • The research objectives of the study,

  • The questions to be addressed, and

  • The profile of the participants;

• Based on the above input, a survey is developed by RPG and submitted to the client for review;
• A telephone list is purchased that reflects the target market
• RPG’s professional staff telephone participants until the desired sampling number is reached
• Telephone interviews are designed to be conducted in 10 minutes or less to avoid respondent fatigue
• RPG analyzes the information and prepares a complete, written report
• A presentation of findings is scheduled if desired

Top

Telephone Survey: The Benefits

Relatively inexpensive

Has the potential to produce a high-quality sample

There are some drawbacks to phone interviews and they may not be the best method in all cases:

• Rising costs due to respondents’ unwillingness to participate.
• Visual props cannot be used to obtain feedback on products or concepts.
• Increased use of telephone screening devices (answering machines, do-not-call lists, call blocking, caller ID, and distinctive phone rings) also increases costs of telephone surveys.
• Visual props cannot be used to obtain feedback on products or concepts unless respondents are recruited ahead of time so that a package may be mailed in time for the actual interview.
• Limitations on the quantity of information that can be obtained.