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SEN-Services - Sen Surveys Services

Our survey company offers a menu of services including study design, questionnaire writing, survey administration, online research, mail surveys, telephone surveys, statistical consulting, and comprehensive report writing. We are one of the leading survey companies for full-service projects, offering exceptional expertise and highly competitive pricing so that our clients can maximum their return on research investments and target their clients.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of mail surveys?

One advantage of mail surveys is that they typically cost less to conduct than surveys using other methodologies. They also offer a low level of intrusiveness from the respondent's perspective. Most mail surveys do not require a large staff and they offer various options in how the survey is carried out depending on budgetary and time constraints.

The main disadvantage of mail surveys compared to other methodologies is the relatively low response rate achieved. Because the burden for completing and returning the survey falls on the respondent, mail surveys usually enjoy a response rate significantly lower than surveys carried out using other methods. Another disadvantage is that only a limited degree of complexity can be employed with a mail survey, ruling out all but the most basic branching and skip patterns. Finally, the time it takes to collect data through a mail survey is substantially longer than with a telephone survey of comparable sample size.

There are two options for recording data collected from a mail survey. The first is to use a scan form where the respondent fills in circles to indicate their responses to questions. The ESRL has partnered with the Electronic Imaging Department of the TTU Health Sciences Center to make "scanable" mail surveys available to ESRL clients. The Electronic Imaging Department features four high-speed, duplexing scanners and TeleForm software for efficient and accurate scanning of collected mail surveys.

Another method of recording data collected via a self-administered questionnaire is key-entry by trained personnel on site at the ESRL. We take great care to ensure that data are entered completely and accurately. For most data entry, we use Epi-Info software, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This software was originally designed for use in epidemiological studies involving large and often complex data sets. It allows entry of both numerical and textual data, is capable of incorporating branching and skip patterns, and makes the data available immediately following entry in multiple file formats that can be read by virtually any statistical, database, spreadsheet or word processing software.

How can you increase the response rate for a mail survey?

Because mail surveys usually achieve a lower response rate than other methodologies, it is crucial to maximize the number of responses received. There are many options for increasing response rates, the use of which depend on what the budget and time frame of the project allow. Examples of ways to maximize response in a mail survey include sending an incentive to participate (such as a small cash payment) to respondents with the survey, placing follow-up telephone calls to those who do not respond to the survey, using alternative types of postage, such as certified or priority delivery, and sending the survey in an envelope or package that stands out from others.

How is a mail survey carried out?

The first steps of the mail survey process, like with other methodologies, are to identify the relevant research questions and design a questionnaire that is best suited at providing useful answers to those questions. After this, the process of collecting data can begin.

Not unlike most other academic survey research organizations, the ESRL employs the Total Design Method (TDM) of conducting mail surveys. The TDM, pioneered by Don Dillman, is a theory and research based approach to conducting mail surveys that emphasizes attention to detail and a carefully designed survey protocol. Not only are the questions asked in a mail survey important, but so too are the design and appearance of the survey, the number and timing of mailings, and even the type of postage and envelopes used. Most mail surveys involve multiple mailings to maximize response rates.

Telephone Surveys
Telephone surveys are an efficient way to collect and compile data. Technology aimed at increasing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of telephone surveys has advanced a great deal over the past several years. At the ESRL, telephone surveys are conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviewing, which greatly enhances the efficiency and accuracy of collecting data via telephone. To learn more about how telephone surveys are conducted, click on the commonly asked questions below.

What are the advantages of telephone surveys over other methods of collecting data?

Compared to other methods of collecting survey data, telephone surveys offer a high degree of efficiency. When a respondent is on the phone, we record their answers to our questions right then as opposed to waiting for them to complete and return a paper questionnaire. We are also not restricted by geography or physical barriers with a telephone survey, which further increases efficiency.

Another advantage of telephone surveys is the ability to incorporate branching. For example, if the respondent says they are not married, we obviously do not want to ask them the age of their spouse. Branching, even when complex, is seamless and invisible to the respondent in a telephone survey but not in other methods.

A final advantage of telephone surveys over other methods of data collection is that telephone surveys typically enjoy a higher response rate than other methods, particularly self-administered questionnaires such as mail or web surveys.

 

What kinds of questions are asked in a telephone survey?

While the topics covered in a telephone survey vary widely, the way in which the questions are asked do not. There are two basic question formats, called closed-ended and open-ended.

A closed-ended question has predetermined answer categories that each respondent's answer must fit into. Sometimes one of the categories is "other" in case an answer does not fit any other category. An example of a closed-ended question is if we asked the respondent's gender. Obviously the answer categories will be "male" and "female."

An open-ended question does not have predetermined answer categories, but instead allows the respondent to use their own words to answer the question. An example would be if we asked a respondent to describe the main duties of their job. When an open-ended question is asked, the response is typed verbatim by the interviewer and recorded with all the other data. Answers to open-ended questions can later be coded numerically for quantitative analysis if desired.

How do you decide who is interviewed?

The goals of the project dictate who will be interviewed in any survey. For results that can be generalized to a larger population, a random sample is called for. With a telephone survey, this means using random digit dialing (RDD) sampling methodology. A set of randomly-generated phone numbers from the area in which your population of interest resides (which could be anywhere from a few city blocks to the entire nation) serves as the sample. Many of these phone numbers, of course, will lead to businesses or other non-households and many will be disconnected or otherwise not in service. However, an RDD sample yields a representative sample as opposed to a sample drawn from a telephone book, which excludes households with unlisted numbers (a significant proportion of households) and is always at least somewhat out of date.

When a household is reached in a survey using an RDD sample, we typically select an eligible member of that household at random to participate in the survey. This helps ensure that we are indeed surveying a representative sample from the population. If, on the other hand, the survey is only relevant to certain kinds of people in the population we can also screen out those who do not qualify at the respondent selection stage.

While an RDD sample is usually best when the results must be generalized to a larger population, other kinds of samples are also possible. For example, a sample can be generated from a membership list or directory for projects involving a targeted or limited population.

Is the information gathered in a telephone survey accurate?

While the use of computer-assisted telephone interviewing helps ensure a high degree of accuracy in the recording of responses, the ability to accurately generalize survey results to a larger population depends on the response rate of a survey. In any telephone survey, some phone numbers are called and repeatedly result in no answer or an answering device and some people will decline the invitation to participate. The problem with this non-response is that these people, if they could have been interviewed, might have provided answers that differ from those who were interviewed. They also might differ from respondents on important demographic characteristics. Therefore, we attempt to minimize non-response in telephone surveys.

One method of reducing non-response, and thus increasing the accuracy of the data, is to make as many attempts as possible at reaching potential respondents. These call attempts can not only be great in number, but are usually spread out throughout the course of a study so we avoid attempting the same "dead end" at the same time of day or on the same day of the week over and over again.

In order to minimize the proportion of the sample who decline the invitation to participate, we train interviewers to listen for clues as to why the person is not participating and to tactfully encourage a change of heart. We also choose our words carefully in introducing the survey to potential respondents and allow those who initially decline the invitation to participate subsequent opportunities to change their mind.

We are also capable of conducting interviews in Spanish for respondents who are more comfortable speaking in that language. For such instances, a Spanish version of the survey is available at any time to those on our interviewing staff who are fluent in Spanish.

How do you collect the data?

Data for telephone surveys are collected from our centralized phone bank. Our position on the university campus allows us not only to operate as a centralized unit, but also gives us access to faculty with expertise in a wide range of disciplines and research interests, as well as a readily available staff of student and non-student interviewers.