ICP
ICP is an Australian-based company focused on indoor climbing. ICP will manage your project from initial design to completion and beyond, whether you're building an international-level climbing…
read moreReports during the week regarding the number of Australian households who have rejected telemarketing calls offers an opportunity to improve the validity of household research, according to Melbourne-based recreation and social research planner, Dr Ken Marriott.
On 16th October, Australian Communications and Media Authority Chairman Chris Chapman was widely reported advising that since the Australian Communications and Media Authority's 'Do Not Call Register' began in 2007, 8 million telephone and fax numbers have registered with the free service.
Chapman explained "this shows just how much Australians have embraced the register to avoid telemarketers' unsolicited phone, mobile and fax calls."
The Authority says nearly 90% of those who signed up to the Do Not Call list noticed a significant reduction in unwanted cold calls. Once registered, numbers remain on the Do Not Call on the list for six years.
Dr Marriott, from HM Leisure Planning Pty Ltd, believes that this is really a godsend to researchers as it opens the door to more accurate and effective community consultations and market research using home-based surveys via a model somewhat similar to that traditionally applied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the five yearly national census.
Dr Marriott (pictured below) claims to have seen situations where 7,000 households were rung by telemarketers to achieve a response of 300 interviews and where response rates regarding participation in various leisure activities were three to four times those recorded by the ABS and Federal Sports Commission surveys.
Dr Marriott argues "when this happens, it is clear that the 300 or so respondents simply do not represent the whole community. As a result, any decisions based on the survey findings will be flawed. The well above average support figures for various leisure initiatives shows that those who are interested in the topic respond at a far higher rate than those who are not interested."
Dr Marriott sees that achieving a match between the demographics of the sample and those of the whole community used by phone surveyors to claim proven sample validity - does not mean the respondents constitute a valid sample.
He adds "they are not a sample at all, rather, they are a self-selecting group whose age, and gender are the same. Phone interviewers keep going until they get a demographic match. But this does not mean they have the same opinions or preferences at all. The very fact that just under 96% of residents (in the 300 of 7000 case above) decided not to respond indicates that they are different to those who did and that the 300 do not represent the rest of the community."
Dr Marriott said that by comparison, the door knock approach that HM Leisure Planning has developed over the past 25 years and which has been reviewed and given the green light by the ABS and statisticians - has never received less than a 63% response and in one instance, gained a 92% response rate.
He concludes "while this is not everyone who was contacted it represents the views of the vast majority and by contacting people personally, we are able to ask those who will not respond why they won't, and also get some raw demographic data about them. If necessary we can then weight out results to reflect this."
For more information contact Dr Ken Marriott at HM Leisure Planning on 03 9399 1614, E: inquiries@hmleisureplanning.com, www.hmleisureplanning.com
8th June 2012 - LINKS MODULAR SOLUTIONS AND TRAINING SENSE CONGRATULATE ARV AWARD WINNERS
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