Ending the year by adding to the count

I always like it when I complete at least one interview on the last day of the year. It was especially gratifying this year because I interviewed a person on a project that I have been working on since July. I have conducted a good share of the interviews for the survey myself. The respondents have been difficult to reach and it usually takes 30 minutes or more to do the interview.

We have learned much while working on this project. Such a long interview presents opportunities to learn about nuances of establishing rapport and eliciting cooperation from respondents.We have talked to people from all over the world and have learned a little about their cultures. I am grateful that such a project came along to give me topics to blog about for a long time to come.Some of the experiences we have had will contribute to a sense of camaraderie for those of us who have worked on the project. I am grateful to have the work when things are slow otherwise.

I look forward to more telephone adventures in the coming year.

Establishing Rapport

Telephone survey respondents sometimes tell me that they will do my telephone survey, but they don’t usually do surveys.  Experience has given me some skill at getting people to answer survey questions, but my voice probably deserves most of the credit.  I have a deep and authoritative-sounding voice.

One reason that many people do not participate in telephone surveys is personal or hot-button questions.  We tell people when we read the introduction to a questionnaire that the survey is confidential.  We tell them that their responses will be reported in the aggregate and not individually.  Respondents often do not hear this.  If they do hear it, they perceive it more from the tone of voice of the interviewer.  Some respondents ask direct questions about the confidentiality of a survey.  If an interviewer can answer such questions without getting flustered, the interviewer can usually establish rapport with the respondent.

Establishing rapport with a survey respondent is important not simply to get them to participate at all, but also to give honest answers to hot-button and personal questions.  If a respondent perceives that an interviewer is truly neutral the respondent will honestly give answers that may be considered socially unacceptable.  If we do a survey about household financial management, we want accurate information about gambling habits and credit card debt.  We ask demographic questions about age, income, marital status and education level so that we can make sure that we get a representative sample of a population.  We usually ask these questions at the end of the questionnaire.  An interviewer who can establish rapport at the beginning of the call is less likely to have a respondent refuse to answer these personal questions.

Sometimes it is too easy to establish rapport.  Some respondents love to talk.  Several years ago I worked on a survey in which we asked women about their experiences at the maternity center of a local hospital.  One woman went into great detail about childbirth, but was offended that I asked about her annual household income.  Some respondents want to talk about anything but the questions on the survey.  They view the call as an opportunity to get something off their chest.  The interviewer’s responsibility in such situations is to keep the call on track by continually bringing the respondent back to the questions.  This often requires tact and diplomacy, which is also part of establishing rapport.