Contacts

Contacts are a broad set of survey dispositions that are used with all surveys (telephone, in-person, Internet, and mail), regardless of mode. The set of contact dispositions includes all the kinds of contacts a survey or interviewer (depending on the mode) might make with a person or sampled household or unit.

Many of the most common types of contacts occur in all surveys, regardless of the mode in which they are conducted. These include completed interviews, partial interviews, refusals, and breakoffs. Other, less common types of contacts include cases in which contact is made with a respondent or sampled unit or household but an interview is never started because the sampled respondent is physically or mentally unable to participate, or an interviewer is told the respondent ...