BTS | TABLE 3 Description and Comparison of Data-Collection Methodologies

TABLE 3 Description and Comparison of Data-Collection Methodologies

	In-person	Telephone	Mail	Internet
Description	Interviewer travels to respondent's home or office and administers questions in face-to-face interview	Interviewer contacts respondent and administers questions over the telephone	Questionnaire mailed to respondent and returned by mail, or data are retrieved by telephone	Respondent completes survey on web
Coverage	Most complete	Omits nontelephone households	Similar to in-person depending on how the addresses were obtained	Only households with internet connection or access to internet
Response rate	Highest of all modes	Intermediate	Among the lowest	Among the lowest
Data quality	Highest of all modes	Intermediate	Lowest of all modes	Intermediate; mixed results
Cost	Most expensive (this often leads to geographically clustered sample cases and a reduction in the effective sample size)	Intermediate	Among least expensive	Among least expensive; has a high startup cost compared with data-collection cost