Identification of optimal call patterns for intensive follow-up in business surveys using paradata

Businesses which have not responded to a mail survey are generally subject to intensive follow up (IFU) by telephone or other means to obtain a response. As this contact is expensive, strategies are needed to optimise the approach to conducting calls for IFU purpose.

This paper presents results from an investigation conducted into the number and type of IFU contacts made for business surveys at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The paper compares the amount of effort expended in IFU compared to the response rates and contribution to key estimates for these surveys, and discusses possible uses of this type of information to make more optimal use of resources.