The Telephone Interviewer's Handbook

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...