| Description |
Interviewer travels to respondent's home or office and administers questions in face-to-face interview |
Interviewer contacts respondent and administers questions over the telephone |
Questionnaire mailed to respondent and returned by mail, or data are retrieved by telephone |
Respondent completes survey on
web |
| Coverage |
Most complete |
Omits nontelephone households |
Similar to in-person depending on how the addresses were obtained |
Only households with internet connection or access to internet |
| Response rate |
Highest of all modes |
Intermediate |
Among the lowest |
Among the lowest |
| Data quality |
Highest of all modes |
Intermediate |
Lowest of all modes |
Intermediate; mixed results |
| Cost |
Most expensive (this often leads to geographically clustered sample cases and a reduction in the effective sample size) |
Intermediate |
Among least expensive |
Among least expensive; has a high startup cost compared with data-collection cost |
