De mens achter de telefoon. Recente ervaringen met het interview per telefoon in de Verenigde Staten en mogelijke toepassingen in Nederland

Samenvatting

A traditional view of the advantages & drawbacks of telephone surveys is presented, from which it follows that this kind of survey is rarely suitable for sociological research. Some reasons explaining use of this survey method in the US are presented: (1) the high % of nonresponse in traditional interviews, (2) the high cost of these interviews, (3) the fact that most people have a telephone, (4) telephone interviews can last any length of time, & (5) they are fitted to almost any kind of questions. Elaborated are the random digit dialing procedure, & the fact that the reliability of the results appears to be as high as those in traditional interviews. Some of the technical aspects of the procedure, as it is currently used in the US are described including the possibility of computer directed interviews. Applicability of the method in the Netherlands is discussed. The low % of Dutch households having access to a telephone (63%) is the only factor which makes the use of the technique impossible at this time. In an Appendix a cost comparison between telephone & face-to-face interviews is made. The random digit dialing procedure is inapplicable because the structure of telephone numbers is not homogeneous throughout the Netherlands. 4 Tables. A. Orianne.