Cambridge Business Association
The Telephone Interviewer's Handbook
Book

The Telephone Interviewer's Handbook

How to Conduct Standardized Conversations

Patricia A. Gwartney
Jossey-Bass, 2007
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Being a telephone survey interviewer is tough, but the work is necessary. Many organizations use research data to gauge public opinion and make strategic decisions. However, people may resent calls that intrude into their private time at home, so they can react negatively when telephone interviewers call. Luckily sociologist Patricia A. Gwartney is here to help. This comprehensive guidebook compiles her findings from more than 30 years of experience as a survey analyst. She elaborates on how to conduct telephone surveys that get results and provides templates for tricky situations. Gwartney’s technical guide leaves no stone unturned. It fully explains even the most straightforward concepts in great detail with the aid of numerous tables (sometimes, too numerous for smooth reading). getAbstract recommends Gwartney’s essential manual to telephone interviewers and those who train them. This comprehensive handbook covers the field of telephone interviewing from Aabbott to Zymroz.

Summary

Why Are Surveys Important?

Each survey has the same goal: to collect data in order to “solve a problem.” Surveys help “researchers, policy makers and businesses” understand their constituencies. All kinds of public, private and nonprofit organizations need strategic information, so they conduct surveys or hire professional research firms to do it for them.

Telephone surveys involve six steps: “1) study design and planning, 2) survey instrument design, 3) sampling, 4) data collection and entry, 5) data analysis” and “6) reporting.” Each stage in the process is important, but the primary purpose of a survey is professional data collection and entry. This is where the telephone interviewer enters the picture: Without the work of telephone interview professionals, securing meaningful survey results would be extremely difficult. Many people will not fill out questionnaires, or become frustrated or impatient with written surveys. Moreover, more than 20% of Americans have reading and writing difficulties, as do many other people, including those dealing with material in a second language. Written surveys do not adequately represent their viewpoints. With telephone interviews...

About the Author

Patricia A. Gwartney teaches sociology at the University of Oregon, where she is associate head of the sociology department. She was the founding director of the University of Oregon Survey Research Laboratory (OSRL).

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