Telephone Script

Telephone Recruitment Script

Hello, my name is XX, and I am calling today in regards to a project which is being funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Office for Victims of Crime to develop a survey of victim service organizations. The purpose of this survey, The National Survey of Victim Service Organizations, is to fill existing gaps in knowledge and information on the variety of organizations that provide services to victims of crime, the types of victims served and services provided, and staffing and resources available for the provision of services.

Before fielding this survey, we are conducting a test of the instrument with a small number of victim service providers. The purpose of this test is to make sure that the survey questions make sense, can be easily answered, and that the burden to responding organizations is limited. [Name of expert panel member or other NSVSO contact] recommended I contact you about your interest in participating in the test of the survey instrument. Given your experience in addressing the needs of crime victims, it would be extremely valuable to receive your input on the survey instrument questions and possible responses.

If you choose to participate, we will send you a word document of the instrument to complete on your own, to the best of your ability. We estimate it should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete the survey, but we will also ask you to record the amount of time it took you to complete the survey from start to finish. This information will help us better estimate survey completion time. A day or two following your completion of the survey, we will schedule a 60 minute interview in which we will ask your about your experiences completing the survey – for example, how you interpreted survey questions, if there any definitions or instructions you found unclear, etc.

The answers you give to both the survey questions and to the follow-up questions about the survey design will be confidential and all the findings will be reported anonymously and in aggregated form. So that we do not have to make a lot of notes during the interview, we will record the interviews. These recordings will be erased once we have had the opportunity to summarize answers during the discussion.

Of course, your participation is completely voluntary and you may decline participation now or to cease participation at any point during the survey or interview. During the survey and interview you are free to decline to answer any questions you do not feel comfortable answering.

Do you have any questions?

Do you have any interest in participating in this test of survey?

[If no] – Thank you very much for your time.

[If yes] – Great. Can I get an email address to send you a word document of the survey?

[Write down email address]

Following this conversion, I will email you a word document of the survey. Given our estimate of 30 minutes to complete the survey, when do you think you might have time to complete the survey and participate in a 60 minute interview in the day or two following? [work with the participant to identify and schedule a 60 minute window of time to conduct the interview]

Ok, great. So to reiterate – I will be sending a word document of the survey and the number to call for our scheduled interview to [repeat email address]. You will complete the survey on your own to the best of your ability. Then on [date of scheduled interview], you will call the number I send you and we will conduct the 60 minute interview. Of course, sometimes things come up and you may find that you cannot complete the survey prior to our scheduled interview. If so, contact the project at [provide project email and phone number], and we will work with you to schedule a different interview time.

Should you think of any other questions or have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at [provide project phone number] .

Thank you for agreeing to participate! Your responses will provide us with valuable information to further shape the content and wording of the questionnaire to ensure that the final data collected are valid, useful, and reliable.