Chris Garvey describes life as a telephone interviewer in a top UK full-service research agency. Chris is based at the Ipsos MORI CATI centre in Harrow and deals with respondents based in the UK.
Training is an important part of this job.
We are given initial induction training, which ensures that we know and obey the Market Research Society’s Code of Conduct during our telephone interview- ing. We are also listened to internally by monitors to make sure we are following our training. This ensures quality of inter- views and also protects the respondent.
When a new project starts, a briefing is given to all interviewers. This is very use- ful as it tells us the purpose of the project, background information, and allows us to go through a test interview. When the project goes ‘live’
we are ready to make calls.
In telephone interviewing nowadays, there is no manual dialling; numbers are called automatically either through random digit dialling or by direct sampling. When a connection is made, most people are cooperative when you explain how you are not trying to sell them anything, but just trying to get their valued opinion. Yes, respondents vary enormously, as do people in life. I have interviewed people from 18 to 90 years’ old.
Our work is organised around respondents. We have people to contact at work, then others who are at home. For that reason, we have two shifts, there are ‘business shifts’, from 9.00 am to 5.30
pm, and there are what we call ‘consumer shifts’, from 2.45 pm to 9.00 pm. We can also work during the day on Saturdays and Sundays. We can choose hours to suit our own situation.
This week, on the business shift, I worked on a project where we were calling up companies to contact their IT managers. This is to get their views and opinions on IT brand awareness and advertising. This is often difficult as they are busy people, and each interview can take up to 30 minutes. However, we are given specialist business-calling techniques; these show us how best to
do this and we feel a sense of achievement when we get the interview.
On the consumer shift, I am working on a project for a telephone service supplier, where we call customers directly to get their opinions on the service they receive. It covers reception, prices, tariffs, customer service, etc. As you see, the projects are very varied: one day I can be interviewing
an elderly lady in Newcastle about which food her cat prefers, the next day I can be interviewing
an 18-year-old student about their opinions of their university course. The centre also carries out European and worldwide projects so there are telephone interviewers from many other countries. That makes this an exciting environment in which to work.
Interview quality controller
Credit: Ipsos MORI
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Chapter summary
Compiled by Nigel Bradley 2012.
Source:
Information provided by Christopher Garvey; edited by Nigel Bradley; reproduced with kind permission of Robert Kirby,
Ipsos, March 2006.
Questions
1 List the different points at which Christopher receives training and supervision.
2 Why do you think the research agency chose to interview IT managers by telephone rather
than online?
3 What do you think are the main motivators for telephone interviewers?
Explain the nature of primary data
Primary data are “fresh data” – they are collected to satisfy specific requirements and therefore the
procedures used follow carefully determined objectives. Methods of data capture are divided into
two broad groups: questioning and observation. Under these headings there are many
subdivisions. Face-to-face methods have been used for many years. The postal method probably
reached acceptance in the 1960s, whereas the telephone became important from the 1970s. In the
late 1990s Internet-related services were used. Observation is an essential part of research and
regular audits have taken place since the 1930s. This switched from human counting to mechanical
observation as technology advanced. Another approach, ‘mystery shopping’, using participant
observation, can be traced back to the early 1970s.
Outline the different methods used to capture data
There are several ways to gain access to respondents: face-to-face, by telephone, by post,
online, or by other means. Once contact has been made, there are various ways to capture
data. A variation of these methods of data collection is the panel, a set of individuals that
reports its experiences over a period of time. All of the data capture methods can be made
into panels. Observation is a method of primary data collection that involves seeing, tracking,
or sensing behaviour or actions in some way. It may be hidden or the observed may know. It
may be mechanical using visual or audio-recording devices. This approach can be effective
when used to identify problems. Mystery shopping and accompanied shopping are forms of
observation.
Show the benefits and limitations of using primary data
The different modes of data capture have an influence on any market research study. The
researcher is driven by three main constraints: the time available, money available, and the
control that can be achieved. The Internet is the fastest and cheapest way, but researchers are
unable to exert any control over the respondent, a weakness shared with postal methods. The
face-to-face approach is the most expensive, but it can provide results of the highest possible
quality. In terms of response rate, we can suggest these as a guide: personal—60 per cent;
telephone—45 per cent; postal—30 per cent; Internet modes—10 per cent. In panels, any
changes over time can be identified and, if necessary, investigated. Mystery shopping offers a
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unique way to see service from the customer’s viewpoint, but has been criticised for wasting time and money in service encounters that do not result in sales and may lose other legitimate customers.
Explain which factors affect cooperation and how they do this Inaccurate measurement can be due to: the instrument, the situation of the interview, the interviewer, lack of knowledge, even forgetting. There are several names for such problems, such as
‘mere measurement effect’, ‘acquiescence response bias’, and ‘satisficing’. Both ‘response quality’ and ‘response quantity’ are affected by intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are part of the project itself, ones that the researcher is more able to change; extrinsic factors are ones that will affect response, but about which the researcher can do little. Everything affects response: sample quality, the choice of words used, the instrument, incentives. The work of researchers is also compromised by other activities that are mistaken for research; these activities are often referred to as sugging, dugging, and frugging.
Review questions
1 Why should control be one of the most important considerations for the researcher?
2 What lessons can we draw from the past to help in collecting data?
3 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile phone interviews to investigate car driving.
4 Why is it so important to consider existing respondent knowledge when deciding on the best data capture method?
5 For what reasons may we decide to reject mystery shopping when we carry out research?
Discussion questions
1 Evaluate the ways used to capture data from tourists passing through Britain on their European tour.
2 Explore the ways to capture data that can be used by small companies with limited research money. What problems are associated with this approach?
3 How can in-store methods be used to understand who buys dog food? Evaluate the good and bad points of this approach.
4 Consult the proposal in the Market Researcher’s Toolbox. With your knowledge of primary data, draft a possible design for different data capture techniques than those proposed. Try
to improve on the design.
5 Look at the opening Snapshot on neuromarketing research. What advice would you give
to a company wishing to use this technique? Outline the likely procedure that might be used to test a press advertisement.
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