Return to Descriptive research . The telephone interview is becoming very popular with researchers. It is fast and economical and has good response rates, and can cover a large geographic area. The main disadvantage is the lack of opportunity to establish rapport with the respondent and difficulty in overcoming suspicions of respondents. Further, homes without phones are automatically eliminated.
Survey research involves a number of steps .
It is necessary to do a review of the literature and to formulate clearly stated hypotheses which serve to guide the study. The researcher also needs to decide on the population to which the results will be generalized, as well as on the procedures to be used in data-gathering. Typically, some form of probability sampling is recommended to yield a representative sample. Probability sampling allows the researcher to estimate how far sample results are like to deviate from the population parameters. Typically, data are obtained via personal interviews, telephone interviews, or mailed questionnaires.