Youth Poll Methodology Study

In an effort to better measure communication efforts and improve marketing to segments of the U.S. population, Fors Marsh Group conducts an ongoing large-scale survey for one of its clients. This survey has been conducted for decades using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). In an effort to improve survey quality, Fors Marsh Group originated a study to evaluate the feasibility of collecting this valuable information using a mail-based survey.

Objective

As a result of the changing landscape of survey research (increasing cell-only households, decreasing landline response rates due to caller ID, answering machines, etc.) Fors Marsh Group researchers have become increasingly concerned with the timeliness, efficiency, cost, and accuracy of Random-Digit-Dial (RDD) telephone survey methods. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of shifting from a telephone- to a mail-based survey.

Approach

Fors Marsh Group developed and administered a parallel mail survey, gathered and entered data, weighted the data, analyzed and then reported the results. These results included a thorough evaluation of the representativeness, comparability, and validity of the mail survey results.

Outcomes

This project has enabled our client to confidently transition the ongoing survey efforts from landline telephone to an address-based mail survey. The Fors Marsh Group methodology study provided our client with the key metrics relating to response rate, efficiency, and point estimate comparability between the two methods to ensure the transition would not impact the continuity or validity of this critical polling effort. The conversion to mail is now complete and has directly resulted in substantial program improvements for our client: reducing data collection costs by over 50% while significantly increasing the total sample size and improving the precision of the estimates provided.