Using Mobile Phones For Survey Research
International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 5Using mobile phones for survey researchA comparison with fixed phonesPaula Vicente, Elizabeth Reis and Maria SantosISCTE-Lisbon University InstituteThe increase in mobile phone penetration is stimulating a trend towards the useof mobile phones to supplement or even replace traditional telephone surveys.Despite this trend, few studies have systematically compared differences betweenthe two modes. This paper describes a study in which both mobile and fixedphones were used to collect data on a national survey on internet and culturalpractices. Findings revealed significant differences between mobile phonerespondents and fixed phone respondents in terms of demographic characteristicsand responses to some of the substantive items of the survey. In terms of dataquality the mobile phone survey proved to be different from the fixed phonesurvey in two indicators: completion times and percentage of respondents withitem omissions. The mobile phone survey was more difficult to implement thanthe fixed phone survey since much more screening was required to identifyworking phone numbers; in addition it yielded a lower response rate than thefixed phone survey.IntroductionIn the 1990s, telephone surveys became the dominant mode of datacollection in countries with extensive telephone coverage. Phone surveysare based on the assumption that their sampling frame can provide goodcoverage of the target population. On the one hand, this condition requiresthat the percentage of target population missing from the sampling frameis small and, on the other, the units excluded from the frame are notvery different from those included. As a result of the appearance anddevelopment of mobile communications, we are currently moving awayfrom the telephone coverage configuration that enabled telephone surveysto be developed.Received (in revised form): 18 July 2008 2009 The Market Research SocietyDOI: 10.2501/S1470785309200852613
Using mobile phones for survey researchAlthough the type of phone access varies greatly from country to country,across Europe there are some overall developments that can be identifiedregarding telephone arrangements: the percentage of households equippedwith a fixed phone is dropping, while the percentage of householdsequipped with mobile phone access is rising; additionally, the percentage ofmobile-only households is increasing, while the percentage of householdsthat have only fixed phone access is decreasing. In countries such asFinland, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Slovenia, fixed phone coverage hasalready been overtaken by mobile phone coverage and there seems to be anunequivocal tendency to a widespread generalisation of the phenomenonto other countries. Presently, the percentage of households with a mobilephone in the EU27 countries is 82% while the percentage of householdswith a fixed phone is 73% (EU Statistics 2007). In the United States, thepercentage of households with at least one mobile phone already exceeds50% and the trend is growing (Tucker et al. 2007).The rapid and pervasive dissemination of mobile phones is stimulatinga trend towards the usage of mobile phone surveys in studies designedto be representative of the general population, either to supplement oreven to replace traditional telephone surveys. Mobile phone surveys offerthe possibility of covering the part of the population that owns only amobile phone and is therefore excluded from current fixed phone surveys.However, mobile phone-based research poses a set of methodological,technical, cost and ethical issues that are distinct from those associatedwith fixed phone surveys.The study reported in this paper examines differences between mobileand fixed phone surveys and assesses the feasibility of using mobilephones for survey research. Specifically the study will: (1) examine sampleequivalence, (2) compare response rates, and (3) disclose differences inresponse content and data quality. The context of the study was a nationalsurvey in which fixed phone-based and mobile phone-based procedureswere used to collect data from the general population of adults.The paper is organised as follows. The first section discusses severalsampling and non-sampling issues posed to survey research by mobilephones. Next, the research method is described, and subsequently the dataare analysed. Finally, we discuss the findings and their implications formobile phone survey research.614
International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 5Effects of mobile phones on survey researchTelephone survey methods and practices have been created for fixedphones (e.g. Groves et al. 1988). Mobile phones have special featuresthat make them different from fixed phones so alterations must be maderegarding sampling and non-sampling issues when using mobile phonesto conduct surveys. The extent of the changes required depends largelyon local conditions as there are great country-to-country differences inthe infrastructures of mobile phone installations and the pricing strategiesof the mobile phone service, which also imply differing usages of mobilephones.The usage of mobile phones to conduct surveys has repercussions forsampling frames, respondents’ eligibility, interview length, costs, nonresponse rates and respondent behaviour, as well as posing some ethicalconcerns.Sampling framesIn most countries there are no lists of mobile phone subscribers; wherethey do exist, they suffer from multiple operators, users with more thanone subscription/SIM card, and particularly from the lost link between themobile phone number and geographic location. The absence of a directoryforces mobile phone number samples to be created by randomly generatingnumbers, which implies the risk of generating many numbers notattributed. Moreover, while a fixed phone number has a correspondenceto a geographic area, the number of a mobile phone usually does notindicate where the person lives or works; even if it did, the person couldbe anywhere. Therefore, while mobile phone-based research may befeasible for national surveys, they are very difficult to implement for localor regional surveys since a great deal of screening would be required toguarantee that only respondents from the target area are surveyed.EligibilityAs the owner of a fixed phone is always an adult, when calling a fixedphone we know that at least one adult can be reached. In the case ofmobile phones, the user can be a child and confirmation must therefore beobtained that the respondent is eligible for the survey before starting theinterview, and, if they are not, then who is. Finding eligible respondentscan be more difficult in dual-frame telephone surveys in which mobilephone contacts are made to interview mobile-only respondents (while the615
Using mobile phones for survey researchrest of the interviews are made to fixed phone respondents) if an adequateframe of mobile-only users does not exist. In the absence of such a frame,considerable amounts of screening in the mobile phone frame are necessaryto identify those eligible (i.e. the mobile-only users).Interview lengthPeople are often under special time constraints and special pressureswhen speaking on their mobile phones. The fact that respondents can beanywhere (and not necessarily at home), the risk of phone battery failure,the need to ‘free’ the mobile to receive calls, and so on, can have an effecton the time respondents are willing to stay on the phone. Researchersshould take this into account when planning the length of a questionnairethat is to be administered by mobile phone and try to keep mobile phoneinterviews short (e.g. no more than 15 minutes).CostsThe charging system for mobile phone services adopts one of two principles:the calling party pays (CPP) or the receiving party pays (RPP).1 Under CPP,the caller pays for the entire cost of each telephone call2 and, in particular,pays a termination charge to the receiving network for the termination legof the call. With RPP, the receiving network typically makes no charge tothe caller (or at least not a significant one) for receiving and terminatingcalls from other networks. Instead, the receiving network charges its ownsubscriber for this cost, so the called party pays its own network for thetermination leg of calls. As a result, RPP does not mean that the receiverpays the entire cost of the call but that it is shared between the caller andthe receiver3 (Littlechild 2006). RPP is applied in several countries, notablythe US and Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and China. CPP is used inmost other countries, including those in Europe, and Australia and NewZealand (OECD 2000).The impacts of the CPP system and the RPP system on the surveyresearch activity are distinct. In the RPP system, since the recipient incursa cost for receiving a call, cooperating with a survey means a cost for therespondent. Under these circumstances, survey companies must consider1In the US, the terms mobile party pays (MPP) and wireless party pays (WPP) are often used instead of receivingparty pays (RPP).2The exception is when the receiver is abroad, in which case both parties share roaming costs.3However, provision can be made for the receiver to support the entire cost in each system (e.g. via 800 numbers).616
International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 5some form of reimbursement or monetary incentive to compensate therespondent and encourage participation. As the call is paid for by the callerin the CPP system, the survey company that operates under this systembears the entire expense of the survey calls;4 the respondent incurs no costfor participating. Despite the fact that the average price per call per minutein RPP countries is about half that of CPP countries (Littlechild 2006), theoverall cost incurred by the survey companies will more or less balance outonce respondents are reimbursed.Another cost-related issue that warrants consideration is the pricecharged by mobile phone services: calls between two mobile phones aretypically charged at considerably higher rates than those between fixedphones; moreover, calls between different networks are charged at higherrates than within the same network. In short, calls within the mobilenetwork are more expensive than calls within the fixed network andtherefore the overall telephone expenses of a survey are greater for surveycompanies using mobile phones for interviews.Non-responseAlthough there are no conclusive results regarding the performance ofmobile phone surveys as opposed to fixed phone surveys in terms ofresponse rates, there are several features of mobile phones that can inducelower overall response rates. First, a mobile phone is seen as a personaldevice and many users may consider receiving a call from strangers on theirmobile phone an invasion of their privacy. The reaction may be a refusalor even a hang-up-without-answering as soon as they see an unfamiliarnumber on the phone screen. Second, the respondent may be more or lesswilling to cooperate depending on the tariff that has been contracted forthe mobile phone. Charging for receiving calls, which is the case under theRPP system, may discourage the acceptance of some calls, namely thosefrom unknown sources. Therefore, people with RPP tariffs are more likelyto refuse cooperation in surveys than others with CPP tariffs.Mobile phones have the advantage of making the person accessible atany time of the day because it is a personal device carried at all times. Thoserespondents who were previously difficult to reach are now reachablethanks to the mobile phone. The time period for contacts can be extendedand is not restricted mainly to evenings and weekends; even the holiday4Except if the respondent is abroad, in which case he/she will incur roaming expenses. However, it is much morelikely that in such circumstances respondents will choose not to answer a call coming from an unknown source, toavoid this cost.617
Using mobile phones for survey researchperiod, typically connected with high non-response, may become a goodor even a better period to conduct surveys (Kuusela & Simpanen 2002).However, this advantage may become less salient under an RPP systembecause these subscribers, especially lower-income customers, are morelikely to turn off their phone and set it to voicemail so as to control thecosts incurred by receiving calls (Littlechild 2006). In the survey researchactivity, the RPP system is therefore likely to reduce the probability of asuccessful call so that survey companies must make increased efforts interms of number of calls (and attempts) in order to achieve the desiredsample size.Respondent behaviourThe respondent may not answer the questions with the same commitmentas he/she would in a fixed telephone contact. According to Lavrakas et al.(2007), mobile surveys may encourage satisficing, since people engage inmore multitasking when speaking on mobile phones so that the respondentgives the question–answering task less attention.Ethical considerationsWhile a person who answers the telephone at a fixed number isalmost certainly at home, someone contacted by mobile phone may bevirtually anywhere. In some cases, the environment or the circumstancessurrounding the respondent may not be safe or appropriate to conductan interview. Responding to a mobile phone interview while driving a caror operating any other type of potentially harmful machinery presents apotential hazard to the respondent. Recognising this, any researcher whoconducts interviews over mobile phones should take adequate measuresto guarantee that the interview will be conducted under appropriateconditions and that respondents’ security will not be jeopardised by takingpart in the survey (MRS 2005, A.10; ICC/ESOMAR 2007, Article 3b).One way of doing this is by the interviewers explicitly asking respondentsif they are in a position to provide full and accurate data and, if not,schedule a call-back. A second ethical consideration is related to the coststructure of the mobile phone service. Receiving a call in the RPP systemimplies a cost for the receiver and therefore responding to a mobile surveyrepresents a financial burden for the respondents. According to the MRSCode it is survey companies’ duty to clearly inform the respondents of thecost they are likely to incur if responding to a survey (MRS 2005, B.21618
International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 5– final bullet point). Moreover, respondents should be offered appropriateremuneration for their time on the survey call. This reimbursement shouldbe viewed as a gesture of goodwill by the survey organisation and not anincentive to increase respondents’ propensity to cooperate (Lavrakas et al.2007).The transition to mobile phone surveys is thus determined not only bythe expanded usage and coverage rate of mobile phones but also by themethodological, technological, economic and ethical constraints mobilephones impose on survey research.The studyThe aim of our study was to compare a mobile survey with a fixedtelephone survey. The study used mobile phone and fixed phone datacollection procedures to obtain data from the general population ofPortuguese adults (age 15 years). Survey content focused on internetusage, attitudes towards the internet, cultural practices and demographics.Several types of comparison are made between the two survey modes.First, we compare demographic characteristics and response rates withineach sample. We also compare the demographic characteristics of thesamples to the demographic characteristics of the Portuguese population.Second, we compare substantive estimates from the survey acrossthe samples; we examine whether the pattern of responses differedsystematically by mode and by question type (yes/no format, multiplechoice, ordinal scales and open-ended).Third, we examine various indicators of response quality across thetwo samples. We look at completion times and several specific indicatorsof survey satisficing (Krosnick 1991; Krosnick et al. 2002): acquiescenceresponse bias (the indiscriminate use of ‘yes’ and ‘agree’ responses), nondifferentiation (the indiscriminate use of one point on a response scale fora range of different items) and incomplete responses (item omissions).If differences are found in any or all of the above factors, decisionmakers should give careful thought to the use of data coming fromdistinct modes, especially when the assumption is made that both methodsproduce comparable data.Research designThe target population of both the mobile and the fixed phone surveys wasPortuguese adults (aged 15 years). Both surveys were conducted by the619
Using mobile phones for survey researchsame survey company in order to overcome problems that might confusethe assessment of survey results if multiple sources of data collection wereused. The survey introduction identified Marktest as the sponsor, whichwe expected would have a positive effect on cooperation since Marktestis one of the best-known survey companies operating in Portugal. Forboth surveys, interviews were conducted at the company’s CATI centreover the same time period and with the same set of interviewers workingsimultaneously on both surveys.For the fixed sample the Portugal Telecom directory (the so-called‘White Pages’) was used as the sampling frame. This directory lists allnumbers that have been attributed; it covers all Portuguese territory and isupdated regularly. An interval, K, was formed by dividing the populationcount of telephone numbers in the frame, N, by the desired sample size,n. The frame of telephone numbers was divided into n intervals of size Ktelephone numbers. One telephone number was drawn at random fromeach interval.The mobile sample was not list-assisted as there is no database of mobilephone numbers. Moreover, mobile operators treat their numbering systemas confidential and provide no information regarding the attributionof numbers. Mobile phones have nine-digit numbers and the first twodigits identify the operator. Portugal’s Telecommunications RegulationAuthority (ANACOM) gives information about the market share of eachof the three operators providing mobile phone service in Portugal, whichwas used to divide the mobile sample into three subsamples. Within eachtwo-digit prefix, mobile phone numbers were created by a generator ofseven-digit random numbers. The selection method was much like a simplerandom sample from a set of numbers, not all of which have necessarilybeen attributed to people.Although the sampling methods were not identical in the two surveys,they were both random methods, which prevents the risk of selectionbias. We have found that the randomness underlying the selection of bothsamples safeguards the validity of the comparative analysis that is going tobe made between the samples.The sample sizes were identical by design. Both for the fixed sampleand the mobile sample, 1,000 interviews were conducted. In the fixedsample, interviews were conducted with the adult who celebrated theirbirthday most recently, or in the absence of this adult, with any other adultavailable at the time of contact. In the mobile sample, interviews wereconducted with the person who answered the phone, though only personsaged 15 years or older were eligible. Because mobile phone users may take620
International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 5calls in a variety of situations (e.g. while shopping or while driving a car),interviewers read all respondents an introduction consent asking themto confirm that they were in a place where they could continue with theinterview at the time of contact. If not, the interviewer offered to set anappointment to complete the interview at another time.Since the mobile communications service in Portugal adopts a CPPcharging strategy, no plan was considered by Marktest to reimburserespondents for their participation in the survey.A common measurement instrument was used for the mo
This paper describes a study in which both mobile and fixed phones were used to collect data on a national survey on internet and cultural practices. Findings revealed significant differences between mobile phone respondents and fixed phone respondents in terms of demographic characteristics and responses to some of the substantive items of the survey. In terms of data quality the mobile phone .
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