Thomas Guterbock summed things up nicely at the recent “New Technolgies and Survey Research” conference held by the Program on Survey Research at Harvard University.
In his presentation “Strategies and Standards for Reaching Respondents in a New Age of Technology,” Guterbock – the Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Survey Research – described both sides of the new technology coin: it’s easier than ever for pollsters and survey researchers to get in touch with people – via cellphone, email, instant message, etc.; at the same time, other technologies are making it easier for those same people to avoid surveys—by using caller id, answering machines, etc.