Last night (with 2 of my 3 kids just about ready for bedtime), I somewhat reluctantly took a telephone survey.  Given that it was a seemingly nice & polite interviewer, on a topic of interest (Travel), by a reputable (Top 10) research firm, and a promised short (5-6 mins), I agreed (Note: I was not asked any disqualification questions).

• After about 8 mins, I asked: “approximately how many questions do you have left?”
• Interviewer: “we’re almost done, and I’ve been trying to get someone to qualify for 3 hours, so this is a really important interview for me to complete” (Red flag alert).
• After about 10 mins, I ask again: “are we almost done, this is longer than you had said it would be”.
• After 12 mins, I politely say “if we are not on our last 2-3 question, I am sorry, but must now end our call”.

I remember being trained as a junior researcher in the late 80′s, and spending 3 nights as a telephone interviewer to round out my training.  It was hard back then, dealing with the challenge of making a 15-20 minute survey about cookies or toilet paper hold interruption value during the golden hours of 5-8pm … and I recall developing a real appreciation for the front line of survey research.

Fast forward to 2010, and I can appreciate that the job of a Telephone interviewer is no less easy, and I’m sure even harder.  Consumers (Note: not “respondents”) are increasingly unwilling to answer the phone, and when they do, are certainly less and less interested to give up their time.

Conclusion #1: All forms of Survey Research are based upon terms & trust.  I was let down, because someone thought that I could be snagged with a promise, and out of guilt would finish the interview.  That was bad for all involved, and made me wonder how many people have had similar experiences, which impact all of us doing survey research.

Conclusion #2: Perhaps nostalgically speaking, I still believe there is a future for telephone surveys, but one where researchers cannot rely on the same tools, approaches and interviewer scripts that existed in the 1970′s and 80′s.  Doing so, will just hasten the demise of that methodological option in the survey toolkit.