Use in call-centres / CATI
One specific scenario where the use of web interviewer is particularly handy is in conducting telephone surveys. In this case a call-centre is usually set up, with interviewers working from this office by reaching out the respondents by phone. The identifying fields of assignments are supposed to be pre-filled with the proper phone numbers that the interviewers will dial to get a response.
This allows to avoid purchasing the tablets and to re-use the computer equipment available in the existing call-centre.
If the survey is a CATI survey, the designer of the questionnaire should avoid the questions that are not supported under such circumstances (picture, GPS, etc), and, perhaps, extend the interview result codes to include telephone-related outcomes:
- respondent out of the service area;
- phone number always busy;
- phone number answered by fax, modem, or other similar device;
- phone number not serviced or not valid anymore;
- phone number belongs to/call is answered by a different person; etc.
A very extensive guide on the result codes is published on the site of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR): “Standard Definitions. Final Dispositions of Case Codes and Outcome Rates for Surveys”
For organizations migrating their operations from face-to-face interviews to CATI the following generic protocol descriptions are available: