This document discusses methods for conducting survey research, including interviews and self-administered questionnaires. It compares the advantages and disadvantages of different survey methods such as telephone, mail, internet, and personal interviews. Key points covered include pretesting questionnaires, ethical issues in survey research, and selecting the appropriate survey approach based on the research questions, budget, and other factors.

1. SURVEY RESEARCH:
COMMUNICATING WITH RESPONDENTS
Chapter 10
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2. LEARNING 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

3. 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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4. 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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5. Advantages of Personal Interviews
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Personal
Interviews
Opportunity
for Feedback
Probing Complex
Answers
Length of
Interview
Completeness of
Questionnaire
High
Participation
Props and
Visual Aids

6. Disadvantages of Personal Interviews
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Cost
Interviewer
Influence
Lack of
Anonymity of
Respondent
Personal
Interviews

7. 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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8. 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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9. 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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10. 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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11. Personal Interviews
• Global Considerations
– Variations in willingness to participate
• Sensitivity to interview subject matter
• Beliefs about appropriate business conduct
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12. 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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13. 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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14. 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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15. 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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16. EXHIBIT 10.1 Self-Administered Questionnaires Can Be Either Printed or Electronic
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17. 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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18. 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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19. 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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20. EXHIBIT 10.2
A Cover Letter
Requesting
Participation in
a Survey
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21. 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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22. 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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23. 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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24. 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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25. 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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26. 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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27. Advantages and Disadvantages of Typical
Survey Methods
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28. Advantages and Disadvantages of Typical
Survey Method
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29. 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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30. 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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