Telephone survey is one of the most commonly used data collection methods in marketing and case studies, along with street and online surveys. This is a quantitative research method that uses structured questionnaires that include both “open” and “closed” questions.
Telephone survey (CATI)
Surveying respondents via phone calls using specialized
software and hardware
A telephone survey is a personal interview. The interviewer asks questions from the questionnaire by phone and enters the answers into the database through the program interface.
Telephone survey is conducted using software and hardware, it’s called “CATI” (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview). This system allows in semi-automatic mode (with the direct participation of the operator) to contact a large number of respondents in a short amount of time.
Rusopros marketing agency has its own CATI center, with professional operators, at least 80% of whom have a sociological education. The advantage of our employees is specialization in conducting sociological research (as opposed to large call centers, which mainly provide incoming call processing and cold sales services).
In addition to mass consumer segment surveys, our company has extensive experience in conducting CATI surveys of enterprises and organizations of various profiles (b2b segment).
Frequently Asked Questions:
When should the telephone survey be used?
CATI is effective when conducting surveys of client customers (telephone base), mass segment, and the older generation (city phone numbers). Our company also has unique opportunities for conducting surveys of company representatives (b2b segment).
What are the advantages of telephone surveys?
The advantage of CATI surveys is the simplicity of control (audio recordings of each interview are provided), as well as efficiency (in the case of customer surveys).
What are the limitations of a telephone survey?
Telephone survey questionnaires are significantly shorter and simpler than street or online survey questionnaires. Questionnaires with a duration of more than 7 minutes significantly reduces the quality of the data collected (respondents get tired of answering questions). The number of questions should not exceed 10 (a larger number is hard to perceive by ear). There is no possibility to use questions with tables and show the respondent lists, images, or the use the multimedia capabilities (as in online surveys or polls in the street with tablets). In addition, CATI is not always possible to apply in the absence of a telephone base.
How telephone bases are formed?
For mass polls with simple sampling requirements, a random phone number generator is used. For surveys that require equitable coverage, for example, city areas, local telephone networks bases are used. To interview company representatives, telephone lists are formed based on business directories. Internet resources can be used to search for representatives of specific professions (for example, painters, foremen, system administrators), in which the specialists offer their services or post a CV. Our company also has its own structured telephone directories.
