Growing spread and usage of and the increased difficulty and cost of conducting research via telephone is giving rise of new platform for conducting research. Recent study shows that in past 12-month period 71% of US population have accessed the internet home, work, school, or some other location. Because of this widespread adoption of the Internet, researchers are becoming more comfortable with it as a platform for surveys, including tracking research. And it is becoming a preferred medium for doing research through internet and data collection.
But question here arises that how can be a company be sure of the fact that it is doing the right thing when a company a long-term
telephone tracking history considers transitioning its data collection to Internet-based tracking. And more importantly how can know and expect the validity of data on internet hence research survey results?
When we consider making a change in the method of
collecting data. We should consider calibrating two methods then according to the requirement and the accuracy it has to be decided whether it is useful to keep the historical data or completely abandon the previous method.
There are several reasons for rising uncertainty regarding telephone research. With new and better technology in telecommunication being introduced telephone data itself has not truly remained comparable to past data. And further more lately confidence among researchers in the stability of trend data from telephone tracking studies has declined.
Although recent development in Do Not Call Lists, are not designed to affect the marketing research industry, however they are having an impact. Since if someone has registered in on Do Not Call Lists, it really means they are not interested in receiving unsolicited telephone calls.
Over the years due to various reasons no. of people willing to participate in surveys is decreasing, this has lead to a severe decline in participation rates. Another very important issue is there is difference between hearing a questionnaire read over the telephone and seeing a questionnaire on your computer screen which impacts the results. Then there are different voices-male and female, different accent, clarity and speed of speech.
Through internet, respondents see and read Internet questionnaires for themselves, it is easier to understand and interpret, long list of attributes can be re0read if required, and it is obvious that many of the differences between telephone and Internet data will be caused by this unavoidable difference between hearing and seeing.
Finally, advantage of
Internet research over telephone research is the attention differential, which is an important contributor to differences in data. Flexibility and freedom of time for participating in research is one of the advantages that internet offers, since the Internet is available 24/7, consumers can opt to complete surveys at any time of day or night, and they are able to give the interview their full attention.
Finally as we consider moving tracking studies from the telephone to the Internet, it is important to take into these observations before coming to ay conclusion. And there is a low involved in doing a rough calibration of results from the two methods. Ultimately, you and your team should be the final judge regarding whether or not to compare results.
