Telephone Surveys in the Wireless Age Clyde Tucker Bureau of Labor Statistics

Government Telephone Surveys Most of the major government surveys use in-person interviewing or the mail (at least for the initial contact) They are usually address-based and not based on a sample of telephone numbers Often panel surveys are conducted by phone after the initial personal visit The Bureau of the Census only conducts one RDD survey—the CPI Telephone Point-of-Purchase Survey, which is landline-based No estimates are published from that survey (used to generate a sample of retail outlets for pricing goods and services)

Government Surveys (continued) Currently, the Census Bureau has a policy of not dialing wireless numbers in RDD surveys Furthermore, agencies may not have the budget necessary to shoulder the added cost of including wireless numbers At any rate, not aware of any agency internally experimenting with including wireless numbers Unlikely that agencies are currently planning to develop procedures for incorporating these numbers (sampling, weighting, interviewer training, etc.) Government agencies, however, may hire contractors to conduct some RDD surveys for their program offices These may or may not include wireless numbers Agencies interested in generating accurate estimates from RDD surveys will eventually have to build in wireless samples, especially where certain subpopulation estimates are concerned

Growth in Household Estimates from March CPS ( ) and in Estimates of Wireless Only Households from NCHS (Jan/June )

Implications for Survey Research Wireless only households present a number of technical problems for researchers Yet, the underlying problem is one of coverage The changes in the household estimates over time suggest that we have more to worry about than just coverage The nature of the American household is undergoing changes These change are likely to spell trouble for contacting households as well as getting them to cooperate, and not just in RDD surveys Ultimately, data quality is likely to suffer unless additional resources become available and breakthroughs are achieved