Abstract:

Caruso: the name of the famous tenor is now associated with the latest tool developed by Sofres in the field of telephone surveys. Combining "classical" CATI system functions with the leading edge technologies in vocal recognition, Caruso permits the automatic administration of a questionnaire. Nevertheless, interviewers have an important role in this system, since they ensure the reception and the selection of interviewees. Supervising up to 8 interviews simultaneously, interviewers can intervene at any time if interviewees encounter any difficulty or wish more precision. The simultaneous questioning of several persons allows the rapid consultation of large samples with only a small interviewing team. Caruso's advantages are thus obvious for daily repetitive surveys or for surveys requiring very short fieldwork. Another important contribution of this system to survey quality is the questionnaire administration mode: because each interviewee is asked exactly the same questions, expressed in an identical way (pre-recorded natural voice), there is no longer any interviewer effect in a Caruso survey. One of the most interesting application of Caruso is the test conducted on behalf of France Telecom. Two samples of 1000 persons were questioned, one by a "classical" CATI system, the other by Caruso. Both samples are very similar by demographics (sex, age and occupation). There was a slight difference between the results concerning the satisfaction towards France Telecom's services : Caruso interviewees seem to be more dissatisfied. It is probably easier to express one's difficulties when speaking to a machine than when replying to an interviewer!