Jan 4, 2011
It's nice you prefer not to live in a world where no one is out to get you. The innocent victims of scams and identity theft that started because of a phone call would prefer not to either, but they don't have the luxury of ignorance that you apparently do.
You have chosen a communication vector -- the telephone -- which has all but been co-opted by scammers.
Look at it this way. In less than 2 minutes, I could buy a spoof card and start calling the fine citizens of Minnesota to conduct my own "survey". What would show up on their caller ID? YOUR NUMBER! Now, let's say they came to this site or one like it, read your pontifications about how safe and above-board this all is, and decided it was ok to answer your questions. Problem is, those wouldn't be your questions, and it wouldn't be you on the other end of the phone. I'm sure millions of surveys may have been conducted before that was even possible, but today it is not only possible, it is EASY, and scammers are doing it all the time. Times have changed. Keep up.
It doesn't matter whether what you say about the validity and confidentiality of your survey is true or not. That's worth repeating: IT DOESN'T MATTER. Anyone who volunteers any information to an unknown person who calls them is a fool. More and more people have become aware of this fact, and maybe someday you too will understand -- and I hope you don't have to learn it the hard way.
Go to the home page of this web site and start reading about the amazing number of ways that the telephone is being used these days. I think it would be safe to assume that 90% of cold calls are scams, but let's say it's only 50% -- why would anyone want to take even that much of a risk?
And what about cell phones, or land lines that are forwarded to cell phones? Wouldn't it be ironic if someone driving a car answered your call on the cell phone and had an accident? And there you are, trying to improve public health!
These are all plausible scenarios. Think about these things rationally for a minute, doctor. Really, think about it.
It's going to be increasingly difficult for you to get the desired response rates to your survey, because the public is reaching a deep understanding of how dangerous it is to ever respond to a stranger on the phone. You will need to find another way sooner or later, so you should start planning for it now.