COMPUTER-BASED PERSONAL INTERVIEWING - STATE-OF-THE-ART AND FUTURE-PROSPECTS

The paper first considers a number of reasons why conventional pen and paper methods do not fully meet the needs of the market industry in the nineties, and goes on the consider what role computers might play at three levels: as a simple replacement for pen and paper; as an enhanced channel of communication; and as a new medium for communication. Drawing particularly on experience in the field of transport, the paper describes some of the more innovative ways in which computers are currently being used in academic and market research. It briefly considers some of the reasons why computers are not more widely used, and concludes by pointing to directions in which the industry might more fully exploit the potential of this new medium in the future.