Using surname-based telephone survey methodology in Asian-American communities: Practical issues and caveats

This study examined the feasibility of using surname-based telephone survey methodology in Asian-American (AA) communities by highlighting some practical issues, caveats, and research directions in implementing telephone surveys in AA communities. These issues were: (a) identifying and sampling AA respondents; (b) obtaining respondent cooperation; (c) designing bilingual interview protocols; (d) dealing with possible biases due to interviewer gender, language, and topical sensitivity; and (e) cost of phone survey. In a recent statewide telephone survey involving Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Pilipino, and Vietnamese residents in California (n = 1,764), we found low-to moderate-level response rates with varying levels of refusal rates in telephone interviewing on substance abuse and health-related issues. The results suggested that despite general reluctance to use telephone survey methodology in AA communities, personal information may be reliably collected by telephone to the extent that phone-number lists contained Asian surnames that were clearly unique to a particular AA group. Certain aspects of telephone surveying must be exploited for unraveling important social and mental health issues in a timely and cost-efficient manner.