ABSTRACT
In a review of what he calls telesurvey methodologies, Gad Nathan calls the telephone survey “the major mode of collection in the sample survey field” (2001, p. 7). Although this may be true overall, the generalization needs considerable modification in specific cases. Despite the apparent simplicity of using the telephone to conduct surveys of the general population, the conditions that foster this mode of data collection vary considerably across countries. For the telephone to be a reasonably feasible and cost-efficient survey method by itself, service must be available to large proportions of a country’s population, ideally as high as eighty to ninety percent. Short of this kind of penetration, telephones may be used in surveys but only as supplements to other types of data collection methods or when a subset of the general population with nearly universal access to telephone service is the target population. In addition, there must be an accurate and comprehensive list of telephone numbers that serves as a sample frame or a reasonable way to construct such a list. Finally telephone devices must be so woven into the transactions of daily life that sample members are familiar with their operation and are at least somewhat willing to use them to engage in an extended conversation with a stranger. Obviously, these conditions are satisfied to different degrees in countries around the world.
