A Comparison of Three Mixed-Mode Interviewing Procedures in the National Crime Survey

Abstract

Abstract Evidence to date suggests little or no difference in results between surveys using personal-visit interviews and telephone interviews. The results of this experiment that used three interviewing procedures involving varying mixtures of personal-visit and telephone interviews indicate that, for reporting criminal victimizations, telephone interviews are less productive than personal-visit interviews. The difference in reporting criminal victimizations is shown to be concentrated among certain population subgroups and for crimes of theft not involving victim-offender confrontation.