---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20160625141731.34769.qmail@ary.lan> Date: 25 Jun 2016 14:17:31 -0000 From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> Subject: Re: Are telephone surveys statistically valid? >Are *any* telephone surveys statistically valid? I see a number >of problems (even if they call land lines and cell phones): Probably not. Apparently back when phone surveys were new, everyone was happy to talk to surveys. These days, they're lucky to get responses from 5% of the people who answer. No doubt a lot of this is due as you say to the vast increase in junk calling, making people much less likely to talk to any stranger on the phone, and distrustful of anyone who claims to be taking a survey. ("If I told you that you'd won a free cruise to the Bahamas, would you be a) amazed, b) thilled, or c) excited?") >Question: Some low-income people (in the USA) can get a subsidized >cell phone with a limited calling package for almost nothing or >nothing. Can they still get a subsidized landline? Yes, lifeline service for fixed phones is still around, but since you only get one lifeline phone, it might as well be one you can take with you when you're away from home. R's, John ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sun, 26 Jun 2016