Calling Rules

Telephone survey researchers often utilize a set of guidelines (or calling rules) that dictate how and when a sample unit should be contacted during the survey's field period. These rules are created to manage the sample with the goal of introducing the appropriate sample elements at a time when an interviewer is most likely to contact a sample member and successfully complete an interview. In telephone surveys, calling rules are typically customized to the particular survey organization and to the particular survey and should be crafted and deployed with the survey budget in mind.

Calling rules are a primary mechanism that researchers can use to affect a survey's response rate. All else equal, making more dialing attempts will lower non-contact-related nonresponse, thereby yielding a higher response ...