Abstract:

The question of quality regarding the information-gathering technique whose use has increased the most in Europe - and the United States - in the past ten years, namely, the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) has not received all the attention that its growing use in the market demands. This paper addresses the question from two complementary angles. In the first place, specific issues are addressed, using a Data Bank on the performance of CATI surveys, that refer to the locating of the respondent, subtitution, and refusals as well as their link to the variables that define the study, such as length, characteristics of the selection system, type of sample or subject matter covered by the survey. The second part of the paper analyzes the vision that Spanish users of research have of this information-gathering technique from the point of view of quality and its functional character as compared to the more traditional methods of data gathering. Lastly, the relationship between strengths and weaknesses of the technique that the empiricial analysis of its functioning reveals/makes clear is compared to the perception that these weaknesses and strengths present to the users.