Respondent Mode Choice in a Smartphone Survey, United States, 2012

Now that people on mobile devices can easily choose their mode of communication (e.g., voice, text, video) survey designers can allow respondents to answer questions in whatever mode they find momentarily convenient given their circumstances or that they chronically prefer. Investigators conducted an experiment to explore how mode choice affects response quality, participation, and satisfaction in smartphone interviews. Respondents were interviewed on their iPhone in one of four modes: Human Voice, Human Text, Automated Voice, and Automated Text. Respondents were either assigned the mode of their interview (Assigned Mode), in which case the contact and interviewing mode were the same, or they were required to choose the mode of their interview (Mode Choice) after being contacted in one of the four modes. 634 respondents completed the interview and a post-interview online debriefing questionnaire in the Assigned Mode group and 626 respondents completed the interview and online debriefing in the Assigned Mode group. This dataset contains 2691 cases, the 1,260 respondents who completed the interview and debriefing, as well as 1,431 cases that were invited to participate but ended their participation somewhere shy of the last debriefing question (either they did not choose a mode, did not answer the first question, started but did not finish the interview, or finished the interview but did not complete the debriefing). All respondents (who completed the interview) answered 32 questions from US social surveys. 13 interviewers from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center administered voice and text interviews (five administered interviews in both experimental conditions, three conducted only Assigned Mode interviews, and five conducted interviews in just the Mode Choice condition). Automated systems launched parallel text and voice interviews at the same time as the human interviews. Respondents who chose their interview modes provided more conscientious (fewer rounded and non-differentiated) answers, and they reported greater satisfaction with the interview. Although fewer respondents started the interview when given a choice of mode, a higher percentage of Mode Choice respondents who started the interview completed it. For certain mode transitions (e.g., from automated interview modes) there was no reduction in participation. The results demonstrate clear benefits and relatively few drawbacks resulting from mode choice, at least among these modes and with this sample of iPhone users, suggesting that further exploration of mode choice and the logistics of its implementation is warranted. Demographic variables include participants' gender, race, education level, and household income.

如今移动设备用户可便捷选择沟通模式（communication mode，如语音、文本、视频），问卷设计者因而可允许受访者根据当下情境或长期偏好，以自身认为最便利的模式完成作答。研究人员开展了一项实验，旨在探究智能手机访谈中，访谈模式（interview mode）选择对作答质量、参与度及满意度的影响。受访者通过iPhone参与访谈，共涵盖四种访谈模式：人工语音（Human Voice）、人工文本（Human Text）、自动化语音（Automated Voice）及自动化文本（Automated Text）。受访者被分为两组：一组被分配至固定访谈模式组（Assigned Mode），即联系渠道与访谈模式保持一致；另一组则需在通过四种模式之一完成联系后，自行选择访谈模式（Mode Choice）。分配模式组共有634名受访者完成访谈及访谈后在线反馈问卷（post-interview online debriefing questionnaire），模式选择组则有626名受访者完成访谈及在线反馈。本数据集共包含2691条记录：其中1260名为完成全部访谈与反馈流程的受访者，另有1431条记录为受邀参与但未完成最后一道反馈题的参与者（包括未选择访谈模式、未回答首道题目、启动访谈但未完成、完成访谈但未完成反馈流程）。所有完成访谈的受访者均作答了源自美国社会调查的32道题目。来自密歇根大学调查研究中心（University of Michigan Survey Research Center）的13名访员负责实施语音与文本访谈：其中5名同时参与两种实验条件下的访谈实施，3名仅负责分配模式组访谈，5名仅负责模式选择组访谈。自动化访谈系统与人工访谈同步启动并行的文本与语音访谈。自行选择访谈模式的受访者作答更为严谨，更少出现舍入作答与无区分度作答，且对访谈的满意度更高。尽管可选择访谈模式时，启动访谈的受访者人数更少，但启动访谈的模式选择组受访者中，完成全部流程的占比更高。对于部分模式切换场景（如从自动化访谈模式切换），参与度并未出现显著下降。研究结果表明，至少在本次实验采用的访谈模式与iPhone用户样本中，模式选择具备显著优势且弊端相对有限，这提示有必要进一步探索模式选择及其实施的相关流程与细节。本数据集包含的人口统计学变量包括参与者的性别、种族、受教育程度与家庭收入。