CATI Research

CAWI is an excellent market research tool when the group you are looking to poll are fairly easy to reach – homeowners, pet owners, parents for example. However if the group you are looking for are more niche, or over-sampled, we need a more direct sampling tool:

CATI

Vehicle fleet managers are a commonly requested demographic these days. [Their uptake of Electric Vehicles is a “make or break” factor for reaching Net Zero, for a start.] There aren’t that many genuine fleet managers in the UK – from 12,000 to 20,000 depending what you mean by “fleet” – and not all will be willing to take part in an online survey; so how do we go about reaching them?

In cases like these, use of an online quantitative panel will not be appropriate, and could even include respondents who are not actually who they say they are (remember, panellists are motivated by incentives). These niche (fleet managers make up around 0.03% of UK adults) respondents are best reached via Computer Aided Telephone Interviews (or CATI).

Some things worth knowing about CATI are:

  • The sample size is going to be smaller – and that’s ok! Typical CAWI samples can be 1000-2000 (or even greater), but due to the niche nature of the samples which are used for CATI projects, you may only be looking at around 30-50 respondents.
    • For example, a survey of 65 MPs, out of the 650 total, could be considered accurate.
  • Sourcing respondents – rather than accessing those who are part of an online panel, CATI research will typically recruits relevant respondents based on phone lists, either through existing directories or purchasing a list from specialised recruiters.
  • Costs are, naturally, higher for this type of research than CAWI. This is because it is harder to reach the respondents, they are more in demand, and the task being asked of them takes longer so the incentives are higher, and time required of the research agency is greater.
  • Time to complete will be longer than for CAWI research, due to the time to recruit and interview being longer, so this needs to be factored in to project timelines.

These last 2 points in particular may put you off looking at a CATI research project, however when looking for niche respondents the value of the insights you’ll get from this type of research make it worthwhile.

Aside from the already mentioned fleet managers, some common samples which might benefit from CATI research would be: Niche B2B respondents, particularly decision makers; high-income individuals; those working in specialised professions or industries; older respondents (who are less likely to use the internet and be reachable with CAWI methods).  

A reputable research provider will advise the correct method of research for the demographic you are looking for. OnePoll work with trusted CATI partners to deliver this type of research project.

See an example’s of OnePoll’s CATI work Reintroduction of Native Animal Species’ – CATI Research – OnePoll

Find our more about CAWI Research