Telephone interviews play a pivotal role in the development and prosperity of the modern society. Technological changes have continued to transform and enhance better telephone communication. For example, the teleconferencing and mobile phones have shaped the modern communication industry tremendously. The telephone interview is also an emerging trend in communication, holding important insights for practical application in academics and the workplace. The Earl Survey Research Lab (ESRL) shows various ideas about telephone interviews.
Computerized telephone interviews bring a significant improvement in the accuracy and the efficiency of data collection. Mostly, telephone interviews collect its data using a centralized phone bank. For instance, ESRL uses the WinCATI telephone interviewing application from Sawtooth Technologies. Primarily, the WinCATI provides significant flexibility in the methodology of the survey. Technically, the tool can facilitate a change of the appearance and language in a survey. Additionally, it enables the control and management of the sample population, including placement and handling of the calls (Telephone Surveys par 6).
Telephone surveys have different pros and cons. One of the advantages of the telephone interviews is that it enhances efficiency. Compared to the questionnaires, the telephone surveys allow for immediate and simultaneous response and recording of the respondents answers. Consequently, the spontaneous capturing of the clients answers helps to save on time. Positively, the telephone survey is not subject to physical barriers. As such, this aspect increases their efficiency in covering a wide geographical area. Compared to the other methods of survey, the telephone interviews facilitate branching. For instance, the WinCATI facilitates complex branching. As such, they facilitate a seamless sieving of questions to enhance the interview. For example, if the client says he is not married, the telephone interview automatically rules out questions about the marriage. As such, branching in the telephone survey is seamless and invisible to the client (Telephone Surveys par 2). Accordingly, compared to methods such as the emails and the web, the telephone interviews enjoy a higher response rate. Thus, in so doing, the telephone interviews have the capacity to yield better and more reliable conclusions compared to the self-administered questionnaires in the webs and the mail. However, this is not automatic, as the researcher must make prior arrangements to ensure high response rate (Telephone Surveys par 2).
In terms of sampling methodology, the telephone survey uses the Random Digit Dialing method (RDD). Primarily, the RDD contains software that randomly generates particular phone numbers, based on the area code. As such, the system can generate the numbers for the relevant population of the respondents, both within the local vicinity and nationally. Incredibly, the RDD helps to develop a representative sample for the survey. To make the information representative, the RDD sample for the households pick the most eligible member of the household. Accordingly, this method of sampling also allows the researchers to screen out the people who may not be relevant to a particular study. In practice, this occurs at the respondent selection stage. RDD sampling methodology is vital for the studies that require generalization of the results. Undoubtedly, the RDD sampling can generate other types of sampling procedures. For instance, projects targeting a limited population can select their desired population from a members list. As well, the researchers can generate the list from a directory of the relevant projects (Telephone Surveys par 5).
Telephone surveys mainly use the closed-ended and the open-ended questions. The latter refer to the questions having a pre-determined response while the former are questions whose answers are varied. As such, the open-ended questions give the client room to answer, as they would wish. Opinion questions are a good example of the open-ended questions. In practice, the interviewer usually records the client's responses to the open-ended questions in the course of the conversation. Later, the answers are coded numerically for appropriate quantitative analysis if the client may require it (Telephone Surveys par 3).
However, the telephone interviews rely mostly on the verbal part of the communication. The non-verbal aspect of communication is the most significant in getting the main message that the respondent. Notably, the telephone interviews miss the non-verbal part of the communication, denying them a significant portion of the client's message. Practically, this makes the message deficient of an important aspect. Another shortcoming of the telephone survey is that it may miss some respondents. Primarily, some prospective respondents may miss picking the phone while others may be unavailable at the time of the interview. As such, this lowers the ability of the data to be representative, thus rendering the findings applicability low. Thus, the ability to generalize the survey findings to the larger population is dependent on the response rate of the interviewees. Accordingly, the non-response can lead to a compromised sample population on grounds such as demographics. However, the researchers can reduce the non-response rate by scheduling the calls at different times of the day in the course of the interview. Accordingly, that method helps the researchers to avoid hitting the same dead end at the same time of the day and day of the week (Telephone Surveys par 5). The researchers can use various ways to reduce the number of potential clients who decline a study. For instance, they can train the interviewers on practical communication skills such as how to encourage the respondents' change of mind. Also, they can train them on how best to introduce the subject matter in the conversation to win the clients commitment (Telephone Surveys par 6).
Despite its technicalities, the telephone surveys create a better and more convenient work platform, both in the academic and formal sector. Given proper investment in the telephone surveys, significant changes can be realized in the learning environments, businesses, and the larger economy of the society. However, this calls for proper planning and training of the researcher and the interviewers on how to use the method.
Works Cited
“Telephone Surveys.” Earl Survey Research Lab. Texas Tech University, 2007. Web. 13 Jun. 2015.
