Services include in-house development of specialized sample frames, or consultation with commercial sampling firms to obtain an appropriate sample. RDD sample frames for any region of the United States are available. The SRSP conducts local, regional, and national telephone and mail surveys with both the general and special populations, as well as in-person surveys in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region. The SRSP relies on a pool of experienced interviewers for telephone and in-person surveys. These include both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as non-students under the management of senior field work supervisors.
Training involves a combination of lecture, written handouts, video instruction, and role-playing.
Interviewers are continuously monitored during data collection for quality assurance, and periodic re-training sessions occur as necessary. Interviewers read questions as they appear on the screen and enter the respondent's answers directly into the computer. CATI allows complex question contingencies, sample management, and call scheduling to be handled automatically. Data Management Using a variety of computer programs, languages, data base management software, and operating systems, SRSP staff are available to perform a number of data management functions, including data base development, editing, coding, and survey data processing. Statistical Analysis of Survey Data SRSP staff can perform statistical analyses of survey data, ranging from simple tabulations to relatively complex statistical modeling using a variety of statistical packages.