A MINIMALLY INTRUSIVE METHOD FOR SAMPLING PERSONS IN RANDOM DIGIT DIAL SURVEYS.

This article presents information on sampling in random digit dial surveys. The study proposes a new and simple method of within-household sampling that is minimally intrusive and, thus, should not have a deleterious effect on response rates. The method results in a probability sample of eligible persons within households. The method is especially simple to implement in computer-assisted telephone interview random digit dial surveys. The study focus on sampling one adult from each household as this is the primary application, but we also describe how the method can be extended to sample more than one person per household. This paper provides an introduction to the method and results from one study. Experimental comparisons of this approach with other methods of within-household sampling would be a useful next step. The author has presented the method as a way of sampling one adult from all adults in the household, but it can be applied in any situation in which the screener respondent is eligible by first determining if the screener respondent is sampled. If the screener respondent is not eligible, a variant of the method can be used.