Abstract:

The core reason for this paper is that Web surveys bear little resemblance in terms of their execution to the current dominant methods of survey data collection. In the United States, CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) still predominates, although rising refusal rates are making it increasingly hard. In Europe, CAPI (computer-assisted personal interviewing), CATI and paper-based face-to-face interviewing are all widely used, the dominance of each method varying across countries and business sectors. In the Pacific Rim overall face-to-face paper-based interviewing predominates. CATI is also used where the telephone infrastructure, demographics and cultural acceptability permit. In CATI, CAPI and paper-based face-to-face interviewing (the acronym PAPI - paper-assisted personal interviewing - will be used) there is a human mediator or interface to the survey instrument. The interviewer presents questions and records the responses. Self-completion surveys, while used in many business sectors, arc not a dominant mode of data collection.