Princeton counts the cost of reaching cell-only respondents

US-- Interviewing cell-only respondents can cost four-and-half times as much as a typical landline survey, according to analysis by Princeton Survey Research Associates.

Most of the additional cost (50%) comes from the extra screening required to reach these people, who represent a growing section of the US population.

Latest figures from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 17.5% of homes – more than one in six – are now only using cellphones, with a further 13.3% using cellphones for all or nearly all calls despite having a landline.

Differences in the demographic makeup of cell-only and cell-mostly users versus the general population mean researchers are having to include cellphone numbers in their sample pools to avoid the potential for biasing results.

However, this comes at a price as cellphone respondents usually incur a cost for taking a call, and the law bans the use of autodiallers for calling cellphones.

Princeton's analysis attributed 10% of the extra cost of interviews with cell-only respondents to the reimbursements survey takers are offered, while 30% was down to the requirement for manual dialling.

Interview costs are reduced if researchers are only trying to reach cellphone users in general – not only those without a landline. These interviews would only be around two-and-a-half times more expensive, Princeton said.

To read the full analysis, published in a new report by the Pew Research Center, click here.

Author: Brian Tarran