Interviewing
In the hands of a talented interviewer, the dialogue tool becomes an instrument for clear communication. It is the interviewer's job to make the respondent feel comfortable with expressing his or her feelings about the topic under investigation.
Precision Opinion interviewers are carefully selected for their skill at this work and are trained to encourage respondents to express their feelings and to avoid biasing respondents' answers by the imposition of any subtle pressures that might affect responses to survey questions.
Gaining the cooperation of respondents is a crucial interviewing skill, because achieving high rates of completion is one of the key ways to ensure that the final survey results are not biased. Non‑response bias (the un-representativeness of results due to the fact that people who respond to a survey are systematically different from those who do not) is the enemy of projectability. The best way to confront this potential problem is to minimize non‑response (Internet and IVR as example). Non‑response tends to be a much more serious problem in a self-administered survey mode. This is particularly true if the target population is very busy because interviewers cannot intervene to expedite cooperation. Self-administered questionnaires require special attention to issues of clarity and ease of administration, as well as to devices that encourage cooperation.
Precision Opinion Interviewers are carefully selected for their communication skills and are trained to secure participation, to deliver high rates of completion, and to avoid bias -- which is precisely why we are America's most respected telephone and online market research company.