Small Business Framework - Research - The Legal Services Board

Mode'of'Delivery:'Conclusions'and'Recommendations'
Choice"of"mode"of"survey"administration"is"important,"bearing"strongly"on"both"
quality"and"cost."Bowling"(2005)"suggests"that"the"biasing"implications"of"mode"
can" have" important" ramifications" for" the" validity" of" research" results" and" the"
soundness"of"policy"decisions"stemming"from"research.""
" In" the" present" study," if" affordable," we" would" recommend" a" face]to]face"
survey," which" would" be" likely" to" combine" the" highest" data" quality" with" the"
greatest"potential"for"survey"length,"flexibility"and"complexity.""
A"postal"survey"would"preclude"complexity"of"questioning"as"in"the"long]
form"questionnaire"appended"to"this"report."Low"response"rates"and"the"limited"
control"over"questionnaire"completion"also"count"against"postal"surveys.""
The" use" of" solely" online" delivery" also" seems" hugely" problematic" for" a"
representative"sample"of"businesses,"given"the"coverage"issues"discussed"above."
However," online" delivery" could" be" considered" for" (a)" developmental" and" pilot"
work,"where"its"low]cost"and"ability"to"see"questions"delivered"in"a"form"similar"
to"face]to]face"surveys"is"advantageous,"(b)"sector"specific"surveys"through"trade"
organisations," particularly" where" organisations" have" good" within]sector"
coverage" and" email" use" is" prevalent," and" (c)" use" alongside" face]to]face"
interviews" along" the" lines" of" the" Hong" Kong" survey," to" reduce" data" collection"
costs" for" those" respondents" who" are" willing" and" able" to" provide" data" online."
Given"the"low"cost"of"online"surveys,"were"only"a"modest"budget"available"for"a"
benchmark" survey," then" an" online" survey" could" provide" a" reasonable" sample"
size."However,"two"important"considerations"arise."First,"the"representativeness"
of"the"findings"might"be"questioned."Second,"and"linked"to"the"first"consideration"
and"of"particular"concern"if"the"survey"is"to"be"used"for"monitoring"purposes,"is"
that" results" may" influenced" also" by" the" changing" pattern" of" electronic" contact"
data"availability."
A"telephone"survey"would"require"question"complexity"to"be"reduced,"as"
compared" to" a" face]to]face" or" online" survey," but" would" still" allow" for" complex"
routing." Cost" considerations" may" make" telephone" an" attractive" option,"
particularly"as"contact"details" are" available" across" the" full" Dun" and" Bradstreet,"
Experian"and"IDBR"datasets."It"is"to"be"noted"that"BIS"Small"Business"Survey"is"
delivered"over"the"telephone"(IFF"Research"2011),"demonstrating"that"telephone"
surveys"can"be"substantial"monitoring"surveys."It"is"also"to"be"noted"that"there"
are" telephone" small" business" omnibus" surveys" using" large]scale" business"
datasets" as" a" sample" source" (e.g." the" one" conducted" by" IFF" Research 28 )" which"
could" provide" an" ultra]low" cost" of" conducting" micro" surveys" of" business"
experience."
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28"Administered"over"the"phone"(using"CATI),"IFF’s"omnibus"includes"500"SMEs,"with"100"sole"traders,"150"
with"1]9"employees,"150"with"10]49"employees"and"100"with"50]249"employees."It"covers"a"broad"spread"of"
sectors" and" can" be" weighted" to" all" UK" businesses" on" the" basis" of" BIS" statistics." The" omnibus" survey" is"
administered"monthly."It"takes"a"week"to"run"and"three"days"more"to"obtain"a"dataset.""
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