NCJ Number
46914
Date Published
1976
Length
15 pages
Annotation
RANDOM DIGIT DIALING (RDD) TELEPHONE SURVEY TECHNIQUES ARE EVALUATED AND COMPARED WITH ACCEPTED FORMS OF VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS IN TERMS OF COST EFFECTIVENESS AND ACCURACY.
Abstract
RANDOM DIGIT DIALING (RDD) IS A SAMPLE TELEPHONE INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUE WHICH USES A RANDOM SAMPLE OF PHONE NUMBERS. TO OBTAIN AN RDD SAMPLE, ALL THE OPERATING EXCHANGES IN THE TARGET AREA MUST BE DETERMINED. FOR SMALL SURVEY AREAS, THIS INFORMATION IS USUALLY FOUND AT THE BEGINNING OF LOCAL DIRECTORIES. WHEN STATEWIDE, REGIONAL OR NATIONAL SAMPLES ARE SOUGHT, WORKING EXCHANGES WITHIN AREA CODES CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE DISTANCE DIALING REFERENCE GUIDE PUBLISHED BY THE PHONE COMPANY. ONCE THIS LIST HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED, THE EXCHANGE IS SELECTED AT RANDOM, AND THEN A FOUR DIGIT RANDOM NUMBER IS SELECTED TO COMPLETE THE PHONE NUMBER. THIS SEQUENCE IS REPEATED UNTIL THE DESIRED QUANTITY OF PHONE NUMBERS HAS BEEN GENERATED. THE SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS AND ADVANTAGES OF RDD ARE EXAMINED. RDD INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF SUPERVISORY CONTROL, IS LESS THREATENING BOTH TO THE INTERVIEWER AND THE RESPONDENT, AND IS CONSIDERABLY MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN FACE-TO-FACE SURVEYS. AN RDD SURVEY CAN BE CONDUCTED WITH SAVINGS UP TO 70 OR 75 PERCENT OVER ONE DONE BY PERSONAL INTERVIEWING. IN ORDER TO GAUGE THE ACCURACY OF RDD SURVEY TECHNIQUES, A REPLICATION OF A CINCINNATI (OHIO) VICTIMIZATION SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU IN 1974 WAS UNDERTAKEN USING THE RDD FORMAT. THE QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU WAS USED, THOUGH IT WAS MODIFIED FOR THE SAKE OF BREVITY. THE QUESTIONNAIRE WAS DESIGNED TO DEVELOP DATA ON CITIZEN VICTIMIZATION RATES AND ATTITUDES ON CRIME TRENDS, NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY, AND POLICE PERFORMANCE. TABULAR COMPARISONS OF THE RDD AND CENSUS BUREAU FINDINGS ARE PROVIDED, AND THESE DATA ARE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF SIMILARITY AND OVERALL ACCURACY. THE NET RESULT IS SAMPLES THAT ARE DEMOGRAPHICALLY SIMILAR. ALTHOUGH FACE-TO-FACE SURVEYS CAN REACH NONTELEPHONE HOUSEHOLDS, THEY HAVE TROUBLE LOCATING AND INTERVIEWING THE POOR, BLACKS, AND LESS-EDUCATED MEMBERS OF A COMMUNITY. RDD TENDS TO OVERCOME THESE DEFICIENCIES, THOUGH BOTH METHODS TEND TO UNDERREPRESENT SIMILAR DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS. THE EVIDENCE OF THIS COMPARISON SUPPORTS THE CONTENTION THAT RDD IS BOTH A RELIABLE SURVEY METHOD AND A LESS COSTLY SURVEY TOOL. REFERENCE NOTES ARE PROVIDED. (KBL)