Improvement of CATI Technology

Incorrect interviewing procedures are a major source of the total error in survey data. The purpose is to develop, implement, test, and document a Telephone Interviewer Monitoring and Evaluation System (TIMES) that will measure, analyze, and report the interviewer error. TIMES will assist in significantly reducing the interviewer error and increasing the quality of survey data. TIMES will be particularly useful in reducing the interviewer response effects that occur in sensitive questions concerning sexual practices, drug and alcohol use, and the incidence of disease. TIMES will provide a split-screen option so that the supervisor simultaneously can observe the actual administration of the questionnaire item and enter question-specific evaluation regarding the interviewer's behaviors. Mr. Trumble, MA, Principal Investigator, has eighteen years of experience in managing survey research projects and successfully managed two previous CATI development projects. Merrill Shanks, PhD, is a consultant for the project. He is the Director of the Computer-assisted survey Methods Program at Berkeley, the program that developed CASES. Times is applicable to all 61 CASES users. It will be of interest to all organizations conducting research for which total survey error is an important consideration, e. g., epidemiology, economic indicators, and agricultural forecasts.