What Can 179 Million Phone Calls Indicate About the Possibilities for the Future of Telephone Data Collection?

• Activity Number: 185
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 2, 2010 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Daniel Evan Williams*+ and Edward Paul Johnson
• Companies: Western Wats and Opinion Outpost
• Keywords: Disposition Codes ; Telephone Data Collection ; Disconnects ; Individual Based Sampling

Abstract

Over a year of outbound phone calls on thousands of phone survey research projects, what can we learn from analyzing the outcomes and disposition codes of all the calls put together? How can the existing trends help us with innovative potential solutions for improvement in the future? We explore the disposition outcomes searching for ways to improve sample utilization and connectivity. Particular focus is placed on understanding the major categories of Interviews, Eligible (Non-Interviews), Non-Eligible and Unknown Eligibility (Non-Interview) and how they break down so that technological innovations can be used to improve the contacting process in the future. How long do disconnects stay disconnected? Is it possible to use past dispositions to predict best time to reach respondents, and is it legal or ethical? What do we know about current trends and how can we use it to improve?