Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Implementing Proper Telephone Surveys To Gather Data

By Martin Fisher


Telephone surveys cannot be beat when a business wants an immediate reaction. Businesses that utilize these kinds of information gathering techniques can gather a large sampling of data quickly. These large data samples can be analyzed and a course of action can be decided on quickly.

Using the phone as an information gathering vehicle is often times not correctly understood. It is the use of a market research agencies with a correctly designed questionnaire that gathers and record information over the phone. The important part of this data collecting technique is that the business can custom tailor the sample. A business can choose a large sampling allowing the research firm to contact anyone or they can choose to contact a demographic.

Hiring a market research agencies of trained professionals to conduct these surveys is critical. The data can be quickly gathered and the quality of the information is more reliable versus other forms of information gathering. Many business have chosen to conduct research via the internet. The data received from these gathering techniques are not as easily verifiable compared to those gathered during an interview conducted over the phone. Respondents find it more difficult to skew data when they are being asked by a human operator.

Businesses can either design their own questionnaires or hire someone to assist in the design of the right questionnaire. Many research facilities will assist in making the questionnaire better. This assisting will make the data collected of higher value. Look for a research facility that will test the proper wording and go over the questionnaire to test its effectiveness before using it on the target or general audience. The research company also needs to ensure the questionnaire is easily understood.

The computer has entered the phone survey as well in the form of a program called CATI. These programs are designed to assist the interviewer during the survey. Research firms that use this type of software can immediately cut down on the number of common errors found during an interview. The CATI system has quality control measure built in to ensure proper data collection. Finally utilizing this computer assisted program will be able to monitor the quality of the interview without human supervision.

Telephone surveys have proven over time to be the most reliable and quickest way to gather important data. The use of specially trained interviewers asking important questions on a well designed questionnaire will return quality usable data. This data is gathered is accurate and can be analyzed quickly by the company.




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