Comparison of Cell Phone and Landline Surveys: A Design Perspective

Rapidly decreasing coverage of landline surveys is increasing the need to implement dual-frame surveys for inference to the adult U.S. population. Vast differences between the way cell phones and landlines are used, and the populations using them, require separate data collection designs. Yet research comparing cell phone surveys to landline telephone surveys is scarce with respect to operational outcomes. The authors test hypothesized differences between cell phone and landline interviewing through experiments on survey topic and length and find that these factors may not have the same impact in cell phone surveys. To help optimize calling cell phone numbers in future studies, the authors present self-reported cell phone use patterns and other factors affecting the probability of contact and sampling design.To inform the inclusion of adults with both a cell and landline phone, they compare cell phone use among cell phone only and cell with landline cases. The authors found notable differences between the cell only and cell with landline respondents in terms of cell phone use. Implications and directions for future work are discussed.