Earlier studies suggest that multitasking and distractions are common in telephone surveys. When respondents engage in secondary activities or are being distracted, they may not be able to fully engage in the cognitive process of answering survey questions. As a result, multitasking may harm data quality. To assess the level of multitasking and distractions and their impact on data quality I draw on self-reports from a telephone survey (N=1000) conducted in Hungary in 2021. The results show that the majority of respondents were multitasking, whereas only 7.5 percent got distracted during the survey. Few factors predicted multitasking and distractions, while …

Previous research shows that a high proportion of respondents engage in other activities while answering surveys. In this study, we examine the effect of multitasking in reporting sensitive information and socially undesirable behavior (e.g., substance use, mental health, gambling) along with reporting of knowledge/awareness of publicly funded programs. The dataset comes from a dual-frame random digit dial telephone survey of adults in a Midwestern state (N = 1,761) who were asked about their attitudes and behaviors toward gambling and health-related behaviors. The results of the study reveal that nearly half of the respondents engaged in multitasking activities (46.9%). In addition, …

Although it is a quick and non-expensive tool used to collect survey data in Egypt, the landline telephone surveys cannot reach the non-landline households, which makes up 73.4 percent of the households in Egypt according to the 2012/2013 Egypt – Household Income, Expenditure, and Consumption Survey (HIECS). Therefore, among other centers, the Public Opinion Poll Center (POPC) adopted the dual frame telephone surveys as an alternative to the landline telephone surveys, in which the landline sample is supplemented by a Pseudo-Random-Digit-Dial (Pseudo-RDD) sample of cell phones. The cell phone sample can reach the cell-only households (households with no landline but …