Using WinCATI Interviewing Software to Help Students Learn Telephone Survey Methodologies

1. Using WinCATI Interviewing Software to Help Students Learn Telephone Survey Methodologies Timothy R. Graeff, Ph.D. Professor of Marketing Director, Office of Consumer Research

2. How Does It Work? April 2008 Consumer Confidence Survey • Productivity Report • Interviewer Productivity • Disposition Report • Response rates • Calculate Marginals • Assess representativeness of the sample – county, sex • View / Edit Data

3. Why This Lab? • Fulfill stated course objective (description) MKT 3930 – Marketing Research Modern research methods and their application in gathering information for marketing decisions. Special emphasis given to the implementation of marketing surveys and experiments. MKT 4880 – Applied Marketing Research Applies marketing research concepts and tools learned in the introductory marketing research class to “real-life” marketing problems. Emphasis on planning and implementing research activities as well as oral and written presentation of results and conclusions based on marketing research. • Not good enough to simply “tell” students about surveying and research methods in a lecture • Students must “do” research to fully understand it and appreciate it

4. Why This Lab? • Puts state-of-the-art technology in the hands of students • repeated practice • Office of Consumer Research (OCR) Mission: To provide excellence in student learning and consumer market research by guiding, supporting, and conducting market research of consumers in the Middle Tennessee area and providing a means for interaction between the academic community in the COB and business practitioners. • Very few universities have such labs for teaching telephone survey methodologies

5. The Telephone Survey LabBAS S302 • 25 interviewer stations • Phone pads, headsets and phone lines • Supervisor station (front) • WinCATI server (rear) • Sound panels

6. Types of Surveys Students Conduct • Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) Surveys • Sample 400 – 500 each survey • Five CCI surveys per year • Since 2000, conducted 37 separate CCI surveys • More than 1,200 students have participated • Sports Affinity Index (SAI) Surveys • Twice per year • Applied Research Projects • Summer 2008: • Nashville Predators • Town of Nolensville economic development survey

7. Assessing Students’ Learning • WinCATI Evaluation Form • Lesson Learning Log

8. Benefits to Students Confidence from experience and familiarity When their boss asks, “Can we do this with a phone survey?” • Student from another school: “I think so, but I am not sure.” • MTSU student: “Yes, we can. In fact, I have done phone surveys before. Let me tell you how they work, what to do, and what we can expect.”

9. Benefits to Students First-hand experience with: • Sample bias. e.g., demographics of sample – county, sex • Interviewer bias. e.g., when a respondent says, “I don’t know, what do you think?” • Random sampling. e.g., variety of people surveyed from random selection – ALL TYPES of people • Conversational nature of questions • Avoiding “jargon” – e.g., “more job openings?” • Ease of data entry with CATI

10. Benefits to Students With WinCATI experience: Students easily remember what they did. With the typical lecture-based class: Students are lucky to remember what the professor said for a test. Greater learning, appreciation and memory for survey research: • Process • Methodology • Advantages and disadvantages • Unique characteristics of phone surveying

11. Benefits to Students Consumer Confidence Surveys • Importance of consumer confidence to the economy • How consumer confidence measured – types of questions • Integration (“tie-in”) of multiple business disciplines • Marketing • Marketing Research • Economics • Business Decision Making • Longitudinal (vs. Cross-Sectional Surveys) • Importance of consistent measures