Credit CARD Act consumer survey methodology

This survey was conducted from February 3 – February 8, 2011, by Synovate. This telephone poll was based on a sample of 800 adults age 18 or older, all of whom have at least one general purpose credit card. The response rate was 16 percent. Interviews were conducted with 709 respondents on landlines and 91 respondents on cellular telephones. Both the landline and cell-phone samples were provided by Marketing Systems Group using a random digit dialing methodology. Cell-phone only responses were weighted according to the number of adults in a region living in households without a landline as determined through the most recent National Health Interview Survey. Demographic information was collected from those who were not eligible to participate in the survey (i.e. non-cardholders) to allow for statistical weighting to reflect the U.S. population based on the most recent Census information.

Although the household and cell phone number selection was based on a probability sample, since the short field period allowed only limited opportunities to contact hard-to-reach individuals, an at-home respondent selection method was used, oversampling the youngest males to compensate for their underrepresentation in surveys. This respondent selection approach is commonly used in market research and in political and opinion research. For government research, these results are suitable for determining the general direction of consumer practices and attitudes but, due to these methodological limitations, they should not be considered definitive for overall population projections or policy evaluations.