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Telephone Interviews

Telephone Interviews. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from a Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Boris Bruk February 20, 2008. Telephone Interviews. A telephone interview is a technique that allows administering a survey or a questionnaire orally.

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Telephone Interviews

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  1. Telephone Interviews Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from a Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Boris Bruk February 20, 2008

  2. Telephone Interviews • A telephone interview is a technique that allows administering a survey or a questionnaire orally. • One of the most frequently used methods of collecting information. • Usually relatively brief but allows collecting extensive information within a short period of time.

  3. Telephone Interviews • Establishing the atmosphere of trust and respect is important. • Research shows that respondents often provide more honest answers, when they are interviewed by phone. • GAO experts believe that “voice and verbal mannerisms are key factors in the success of the [telephone] interview.”

  4. Telephone Interviews • One of the technologies currently used by survey and analysis centers is Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). • CATI combines the functions of interviewing, data entry, and data-cleaning. • Questions are displayed on the screen. The interviewer enters responses directly into the database. • Questions in the questionnaire are designed in accordance with specific guidelines for structured telephone surveys.

  5. Advantages of Telephone Interviews • High speed of collecting information within a comparatively short period of time. • Individuals often provide more honest responses than the respondents of mail or face-to-face surveys. • Help obtain relatively high response rates. • May quickly cover broader geographic scope.

  6. Advantages of Telephone Interviews • Often allow effective handling of unexpected events while collecting information. • Do not require extensive staff training. • The non-respondent problem is usually comparatively insignificant.

  7. Disadvantages of Telephone Interviews • Instrument development takes relatively long time. • Costs may be significant. • Do not allow oral and visual communication, which can make it difficult to establish contact with the respondents.

  8. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Background Information • River restoration: a range of activities aimed at managing U.S. freshwaters. • Over $1 billion is spent annually on river restoration efforts. • In 2001, the National River Restoration Science Synthesis (NRRSS) working group was created. • Purpose: - to evaluate river restoration in the U.S. from a scientific perspective - to determine the common elements of ecologically successful restoration projects

  9. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners • 37,000 records on river restoration projects from 800 data sources were compiled and incorporated into the NRRSS data-base. Problems • Lack of detailed information on restoration projects. • Only 10% of project records indicated any form of monitoring.

  10. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Methods • Telephone interviews to obtain detailed information on randomly selected projects • The interviews were based on information entered in the NRRSS data-base Eligibility • Projects within the data-base, which (1) occurred within one of 23 states contained in 7 regional nodes; (2) implemented b/n 1996-2002; (3) had info about the project contact; (4) listed at least one of selected project goals.

  11. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Process and Procedures • Identified research questions (the role of science in restoration; the extent and types of project evaluation; evaluation of success; lessons learned). • Designed the interview questionnaire • Grouped questions by topic area • Reduced the # of questions for the interview not to exceed 30 minutes • Submitted the questionnaire for expert review.

  12. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Process and Procedures • The interview was pilot tested on one or two project contacts from each node • Conducted additional working group meeting (eliminated redundant questions, rephrased confusing questions, etc.) • Submitted all required documents to IRB.

  13. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Process and Procedures • Sent a 1-page summary of interview themes and a confidentiality agreement to respondents (project managers). • Scheduled time for the interview. • Interviews followed the common pattern. • Questions allowed open-ended responses that were then classified into specific categories.

  14. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Process and Procedures • All data was entered in Microsoft Access data-bases (7; 1 for each node). • The databases were then compiled into a single data-base. • All identifying information (names, project names, locations) was removed from the data-base.

  15. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Results • Obtained a high response rate: 75%. • Completed interviews with the coordinators of 317 river restoration projects. • 50% indicated that projects were initiated because of the recognized need to address river degradation.

  16. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Results • Most projects involved partnerships of 7 to 8 organizations + citizen groups. • Over 65% of project coordinators stated that their project was completely successful. • Optimistic view of the standard practice of river restoration in the U.S.

  17. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Results • 83% of respondents indicated that some monitoring data had been collected. • Importantly, the previous analysis of written records showed that only 10% contained information about some monitoring framework.

  18. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Major Recommendations • Increase cost effectiveness of the river restoration projects • Improve project monitoring and information sharing • Rigorous and coordinated monitoring of the key projects is needed.

  19. Case Study: Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners Quality of the Case • /+/ Excellent case study to examine if you are interested in the process and procedures for conducting a telephone interview. • /- / Often confusing and hard to follow on the level of research project goals and results.

  20. Thank You!

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