Studies of Welfare Populations Data Collection and Research Issues (2002) / Chapter Skim
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2 Methods for Obtaining High Response Rates in Telephone Surveys
2 Methods for Obtaining High Response Rates in Telephone Surveys
Pages 55-85
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From page 55... ...
The National Academy of Sciences panel observed that many of the states are conducting telephone surveys for this purpose and that it would be useful to provide them with information on the best methods for maximizing response rates. The information provided in this paper is intended to assist these individuals, as well as others, to either conduct these studies themselves or to evaluate and monitor contractors conducting the studies.
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From page 56... ...
The following discussion reviews the common issues as well as the unique aspects related to each type of survey. In the next section, we discuss methods to increase response rates on telephone surveys, placing somewhat more emphasis on issues related to conducting surveys from lists of welfare clients.
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From page 57... ...
It is also useful to consider obtaining the subject's informed consent as needed to access databases that require consent at the same time as contact information is obtained. It is hard to state when and how consent might be used given the differences in state laws, but we assume that, at a minimum, state income tax records fall into this category (if they are assessable at all, even with
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From page 58... ...
Data to Be Provided to the Contractor with the Sample In addition to the subject's name, address, telephone number, Social Security number, and all contact information, consideration should be given to running the subject through other state administrative databases (Medicaid, food stamps, etc.) prior to the survey.
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From page 59... ...
In the end it helps to determine those methods that were the most and least cost effective for searching for the population of interest, and this knowledge can be used for planning future surveys. Each of the tracing sources is discussed briefly in the following paragraphs.
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From page 60... ...
checks where permitted. Checks with one or more of the credit bureaus require the subject's Social Security number, and they are more costly than other database searches.
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From page 61... ...
This includes all original contact information and results from all database searches. At this point tracing becomes expensive.
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From page 62... ...
should be made before moving to a tracing mode. If contact information is available, checking with the contact may be cost effective earlier in the process.
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From page 63... ...
present results from an experiment on an establishment survey that shows significant improvement in cooperation rates once interviewers are provided with detailed training on how to handle reluctant respondents. This training consisted of drill1A related concern is whether respondents are using caller ID in a similar way.
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From page 64... ...
The length of a telephone interview may not be mentioned unless the respondent asks, so the respondent may not know how long it will take. This fact further confuses the relationship between interview length and response rates.
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From page 65... ...
why the study is important. Research in an RDD survey context has not found any general design parameters for the introduction that are particularly effective in increasing response rates.
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From page 66... ...
Comparisons between the use of express delivery to a first class refusal conversion letter show a difference of 10 percentage points in conversion rates on an RDD study and a difference of 15 to 20 percentage points if an incentive is enclosed. These results are not likely to be as dramatic for a survey of welfare leavers.
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From page 67... ...
STUDIES OF WELFARE LEAVERS Table 2-1 summarizes the procedures discussed previously. It is organized around the three primary activities required to conduct a study: (1)
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From page 68... ...
· Telephone tracing; in-person tracing · In-person tracing Contacting Subjects · Prenotification · Incentives and continued contact · Call scheduling Obtaining Cooperation · Interviewer training and experience · Questionnaire design · Survey introduction · Refusal conversion Try to collect consent to search other databases Start with the least expensive methods Review tracing record and follow leads Send letter prior to making contact Repeated mailings to subjects Spread out calls over day/night; weekdays/weekends Very expensive and requires specialized skills Use express delivery if possible Provide interviewers with Try to use experienced answers to common questions interviewers with good records Minimize redundant questions Pretest questions and allow Keep length as short as for time to revise after the possible pretest Keep initial introduction as short as possible Prenotify with express mail and incentives
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From page 69... ...
The ability to search the "other databases" was possible because in all cases the research organizations had the Social Security number of the respondent. In discussions with different organizations, we got a clear sense that the original contact information was not of high quality.
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From page 72... ...
In study #1, where a 30percent response rate was obtained, only telephone and limited tracking was done from a central office. Study #2 instituted a number of additional tracing steps, but also added a field component.
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From page 73... ...
Similarly, study #14 completed all interviews over the telephone and achieved a 72-percent response rate. The study did not offer a monetary incentive and did not conduct refusal conversion.
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From page 74... ...
However, only two of the studies have tracing contact information, containing the names and phone numbers of at least one person, preferably someone who the subject does not live with, who is likely to know where the person is at any point in the future. These two studies both achieved response rates above 75 percent.
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From page 75... ...
At that time, tracing contact information had been collected. This population lived in highly urbanized, poor neighborhoods and could be considered comparable to those being traced in the welfare-leaver studies discussed previously.
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From page 76... ...
Low response rates on RDD surveys are partly an issue of credibility. Relative to a survey of welfare leavers, the issue of credibility places more emphasis on design features that motivate respondents to participate in the survey (vis-a-vis trying to locate respondents)
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From page 77... ...
For example, asking detailed household rosters, or collecting information on jobs or material possessions likely would reduce the screener response rate. A second issue related to sample design on an RDD survey is the coverage of low-income households.
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From page 78... ...
The use of this method also may be of interest to those conducting telephone surveys with persons from a list of welfare clients. Rather than being viewed as a way to reduce coverage error, however, they could be used when trying to impute missing data for high nonresponse rates.
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From page 79... ...
This constraint is difficult to get around. A more effective and cost-efficient method to improve contact information is to collect tracing contacts when the subjects initially enter the program.
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From page 80... ...
Contact information, for this example, would have been obtained during the intake process and delivered to the data collector with the sample. The table may be somewhat deceptive because, for purposes of illustration, we have forced the two samples to have approximately the same location rate in order to compare the level of effort.
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From page 81... ...
Other variable labor costs include all clerical functions related to mailing and maintaining the case management system, and all direct nonlabor costs. These include, but are not limited to charges from database management companies to run files, directory assistance charges, telephone line charges, field travel expenses, and postage/express delivery charges.
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From page 82... ...
Similarly, use of express delivery, at least when there is some confidence in the validity of the respondent's address, may also be a cost-effective way to provide respondents with information about the survey that would eventually increase their motivation to participate. Incentives are also being used in the studies mentioned previously.
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From page 83... ...
The surveys implemented by states to this point have been discovering this as they attempt to locate and interview respondents. Improving response rates will require attention to increasing the information used to locate respondents, as well as making it as easy as possible for respondents to participate.
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From page 84... ...
Everett 1989 Effects of Interviewer Affiliation and Sex Upon Telephone Survey Refusal Rates. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research, Chicago.
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From page 85... ...
Weiss 1997 An Investigation of Methods for Matching RDD Respondents with Contact Information for Validation Studies. Unpublished paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Norfolk, VA, May 15-17.
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