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To explore and evaluate the evidence about the value of using telephone surveys, especially in market research for a library.

A critical summary and review of the literature in this field.

This paper demonstrates that there are five major reasons for using this method of surveying customer preferences: response rates are higher; data can be analysed sooner; the cost of surveys is lower than alternative methods; calls can be monitored for quality; and the telephone offers the benefits of spontaneity.

The paper contains extensive information on “best practice” of telephone surveying including designing the questionnaire and conducting the interview. There is information on getting a representative sample, plus coping with “no answers”, unlisted numbers and answering machines.

Library managers with a commitment to using innovative techniques for market research will find telephone surveys offer a useful and cheap alternative to other survey methods. No previous paper has examined the use of, and the value of, telephone surveys in libraries.

Purpose – To reflect on reasons for refusal in cross-cultural telephone surveys and address ways of reducing non-response from Chinese managers.

Approach – We first propose a conceptual model for telephone survey cooperation, drawing on existing research regarding survey non-response. This is evaluated through reflections on non-response to a telephone survey of 1,900 Chinese senior and middle managers working in privately owned high-technology firms.

Findings – We conclude with a framework for cooperation in cross-cultural telephone surveys, enhancing the leverage-saliency theory. Among many factors, home country interviewers are crucial in gaining access and generating survey interview responses. However, they require careful recruitment, rigorous training and monitoring to help ensure the quality of research data.

Research implications – Our framework provides practical advice in minimising non-response in cross-cultural telephone surveys. This includes sample selection, the development of the survey instrument (and translation), reasons for refusal, research incentives and the role of interviewers.

Originality/value – Our contribution in this chapter is twofold: an enhanced understanding of leverage-saliency theory in cross-cultural telephone surveys, and an articulation of the role of interviewers in changing the dynamics of positive and negative leverage through telephone interaction with managers.

This paper aims to compare residential fixed-line telephone surveys with cell phone surveys for assessing the extent of the potential undercoverage issue evaluating the necessity and feasibility of conducting cell phone surveys or dual-frame telephone surveys in Hong Kong.

The research team simultaneously carried out a conventional fixed-line telephone survey and a cell phone survey in 2015 with similar features on survey design, sampling and data collection procedures. Two samples with sample size of 801 and 1,203 were achieved separately. Data collected were analysed to see to what extent survey findings will be biased if the sampling frame of telephone surveys is solely based on residential fixed-line numbers in Hong Kong, and if such a bias does exist, whether a survey conducted through cell phones or by adding a cell phone-only (CO) group would be an ideal solution for it.

The findings show that the cooperation rates for the cell phone survey were much lower than those of the fixed-line telephone survey. The respondents from two surveys were fairly different. However, estimates of most commonly used socio-demographic characteristics from the latter group had the least bias compared with population statistics. Supplanting the traditional fixed-line survey with a cell phone survey or supplementing it with a CO group will not make the resulting sample a better representative of the population but it will amplify the sample bias on the major social socio-demographic characteristics.

This paper empirically compares the two types of telephone surveys in a well-designed scientific study.

The purpose of this chapter is to provoke thinking about the directions in which the travel survey toolkit should move in the near future based on the author's personal experience and as an outcome of the Travel Survey Methods conference. The chapter begins with a brief historical review that attempts to show some of the major elements of change that have occurred in travel survey methods over the past 40–50 years. A more detailed review is provided about developments over the past 10–15 years. The chapter then explores a number of emerging challenges, including telephone contact of potential respondents, computer-assisted surveys, Internet surveys, mixed-mode surveys, the impacts of language and literacy and the potentials of mobile technologies. Based on this, the chapter then considers future directions that should be pursued. The chapter suggests that it has been changes in survey methodology that have, in the past, sometimes enabled and at other times led to changes in modelling paradigms, and that this may be an appropriate time for travel survey methodology again to enable changes in modelling paradigms. A speculative specification of a new household travel survey that makes use of a number of these developments is then offered. The chapter ends with some concluding remarks that issue a challenge to the travel survey community to think ‘outside the box’ and foster change and improvement in the accuracy and representativeness of travel surveys.

Purpose — The paper is analysing the effect of adding a web survey to a traditional telephone-based national travel survey by asking the respondents to check in on the web and answer the questions there (Computer Assisted Web Interview, CAWI). If they are not participating by web they are as usual called by telephone (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview, CATI).

Design/methodology/approach — Multivariate regression analyses are used to analyse the difference in response rates by the two media and to analyse if respondents' answering by the two media have different travel patterns.

Findings — The analyses show that web interviews are saving money, even though a more intensive post-processing is necessary. The analyses seem to show that the CAWI is resulting in a more careful answering which results in more trips reported. A CAWI is increasing the participation of children in the survey and of highly educated. And it is offering a higher flexibility to answer after a couple of days off. The CATI is on the other hand more useful for the elderly. In addition, the CATI survey proved to be more useful for busy people and people not willing to participate in a survey at all. Young people and people with low resources who are difficult to reach by telephone are neither met on the web. Most of the differences in the response shares can be compensated by a weighting procedure. However, not all seems to be possible to compensate for. An effort to increase the number participating in the CAWI survey might increase the quality of the survey in general.

Originality/value of paper — In many countries authorities are considering how to reduce the cost of their national travel surveys. The value of the paper is to show that a combination of a CAWI and a CATI could be a good solution. Furthermore, it shows that the mixed mode could improve a CATI and therefore be the reason in itself to change methodology.