Burke capabilities let clients take advantage of the seamless execution a single supplier can provide on projects requiring the collection of data through the Internet as well as via the telephone, the mail or some other more traditional method.

Multi-mode data collection can benefit organizations conducting surveys among, for example, their employees or customers. More than one-fifth of Burke's customer loyalty surveys now use a multi-mode design.

Business-to-business companies are becoming especially concerned about "harassing" their valuable clients in order to get important feedback from them. A multi-mode data collection design makes it possible for more people to respond to a survey in the way that is most convenient for them.

Web surveys typically take less time for respondents to complete than do telephone interviews - and respondents can also choose when to respond to an online survey invitation. Burke studies have found that willingness to participate in future research is higher for respondents taking online surveys than it is for individuals called by telephone interviewers.

In many cases, however, an all-Internet study design would introduce coverage error by excluding important parts of the population to be studied from participation. Although online penetration is increasing, many parts of the population - including many companies' customers and employees - remain offline. For global studies this is especially important, as Internet penetration in many parts of the world lags well behind that found in the United States.

Many ways of combining online surveys with more traditional data collection methods are possible:

• Different methods can be employed as the primary means of data collection in different countries.
• People who don't respond to an initial Internet survey can be re-contacted by phone.
• Mail or phone surveys can be used to first contact those for whom e-mail addresses are unavailable.
• People contacted by phone or mail can be given an option to complete the survey over the Web instead.

Burke can provide advice on the best strategy to use to meet a particular project's objectives.

Using such multi-mode data collection does, to be sure, have potential drawbacks. If surveys are not designed carefully, differences in response patterns attributable to the media through which data are collected can lead to measurement error.

Burke research about the differences between phone and Internet responses has enabled us to offer clients good advice about how to construct surveys with an eye toward "unimode" design. Multi-mode surveys also have the potential to lead to greater survey programming costs and a need for more intensive sample management. This is why it is important to turn to an organization experienced in both online and more traditional research collection methods, such as Burke. In the hands of a reputable, experienced company like Burke, multi-mode data collection can lead to better data quality, lower costs, faster cycle times and enhanced relationships with survey respondents.

A leading manufacturer of telecommunications equipment wanted to use the Internet as the data-collection and reporting backbone of a complex international customer-loyalty program rating the products and services of all of its 50 divisions. The company also, however, wanted to seamlessly integrate traditional telephone interviewing into the process so that they could capture the voice of customers from around the world who did not have Internet access. Burke's global network of professional interviewing centers enabled the company to receive responses in 16 languages from more than 2,000 customers in 60 different countries. Burke telephone interviewers used the same questionnaire program that Internet respondents did, so that all data was compiled into a single database. Interactive study reports were then made available online so that managers throughout the global organization could readily access findings relevant to them.

A financial services firm sought feedback from 1,700 recent users of one of its Web sites. Users were called, then within the first 30 seconds of the telephone interview given a choice of continuing with the phone survey or responding to the questionnaire via the Web. Almost nine out of 10 indicated a preference for taking the survey over the Web, and a majority of individuals who provided a valid e-mail address completed it. Research managers at the company concluded that, without providing this Web option, the more technically sophisticated of their customers would have been under-represented in the sample.