Unlisted Numbers Research Articles

Assessing Different Types of HIV Communication and Sociocultural Factors on Perceived HIV Stigma and Testing among a National Sample of Youth and Young Adults.

In the United States, racial/ethnic and sexual youth and young adults (YYA) of color are disproportionately affected by HIV. Subsequently, YYA experience HIV stigma and engage in increased risk behaviors and reduced HIV testing. HIV communication has been identified as a potential buffer to HIV stigma, resulting in health-seeking behaviors, such as HIV testing. In this study, we respond to a meaningful gap in the literature by examining different types of HIV communication and their impact on HIV stigma and HIV testing in a diverse sample of YYA. We analyzed secondary data from the Kaiser Family Foundation National Survey of Teens and Young Adults on HIV/AIDS. A 40-question, web-based survey was conducted with 1437 youth (ages 15–24). Recruitment included a dual sampling method from households with: (1) listed phone numbers, (2) unlisted phone numbers, (3) telephones, (4) no telephone, and (5) only cell phone access. The purpose of the survey was to establish participants’ HIV knowledge, communication, experiences, and testing behaviors. Findings suggested an association between intimate-partner HIV communication, increased HIV testing, and reduced HIV stigma. We also identified differentials in HIV testing and stigma based on gender, income, age, and sexual minority status, explained by HIV communication. Further research is needed that examines ways to use intimate-partner HIV communication to reduce stigma and increase HIV testing among YYA of different sociodemographic characteristics and sexual orientations.

TAMÁM SHUD; OR, SECRETS IN THE SAND

4 9 R T A M Á M S H U D ; O R , S E C R E T S I N T H E S A N D A U S T I N A L L E N Australia’s most famous cold case is the mystery of ‘‘Somerton Man,’’ found dead on Somerton Beach, Adelaide, in 1948. Coroners could not identify the toxin that killed him, police could not prove or rule out foul play, and cryptographers could not solve the code that surfaced in connection with the case. The man’s name and origins remain unknown. ‘‘wrgoababd / mliao / wtbimpanetp / mliaboaiaqc / ittmtsamstgab’’ I. The Write-Up It’s done. The tide is calm. The coast is clear for miles around the man the dawn finds here, back to a wall, feet pointing toward the sea. The first inquiring fly crawls in his ear. * * * Items in his possession: used bus ticket, unused rail ticket, matches, cigarette packet (labeled a di√erent brand than what’s inside), chewing gum, comb – and in a hidden pocket, found four months afterward, a sort of note torn from a book. The words the poet wrote to close The Rubáiyát: a Persian phrase ineptly typing fingers soon misquote, for some newspaper write-up, as Taman Shud. The word’s Tamám. Errors will spawn errors: the standard label for the case becomes Taman Shud and the case goes on. 5 0 Y No solid leads. Some theories disproved, but none confirmed. No name, no one he loved or hated, no o≈cial cause of death. No wallet. Labels on his clothes removed. * * * November thirtieth, 1948: a man runs toward his train, which doesn’t wait. He checks his bag and takes a bus instead, finds the address, knocks on the door – too late. She’s gone. He shivers, wanders toward the sand. En route he marks the slim book in his hand with her unlisted number and a code, carries it past the glare of parked cars, and, spying a rolled-down window, stops to throw it onto the seat. Someone will find it, show it to the police – not right away, of course. . . The book’s The Rubáiyát, but he’s no poet. The code – well, it’s a sort of inside joke. Down at the shore he strolls, a fortyish bloke, hair graying. Buys a pasty. Hurls some stones. Leans on the seawall and lights up a smoke. The poison, mingling with the cigarette’s familiar poisons, fills his lungs. He lets himself relax, experiencing – what? A touch of dizziness, but no regrets. No one he knows will genuinely grieve. He carries, like a last trick up his sleeve, the torn-out fragment of The Rubáiyát in his fob pocket. He does not believe in prayer – prays anyway, to all the gods. A man in his profession plays the odds. He’s heard of Pascal’s wager, bets on Yes, but knows that No awaits him when he nods. 5 1 R II. The Agent No one can place him, so he’s quickly cast as national myth, a creature of this vast unlikely island-country-continent proud of its oddball fauna, outlaw past, and shining harbors: Sydney, Melbourne, Perth. For any misfit dreaming of rebirth into a pleasant anonymity or interested in falling o√ the earth, Australia holds a certain fascination . . . The bag the man left at the railway station contains mislabeled clothes, some tools, a knife. Theorists whisper spy – but for which nation? The Cold War’s under way. The town lies near a missile test site, built the previous year. When rumor has it that the world might end, even the world’s edge feels the thrill of fear. Anyone, everyone might be a spy – your pleasant-looking neighbors, you and I, chain-smoking strangers who give up the ghost at night, on lonely shores, and who knows why? * * * He has time to consider what he’s done. This, then – this beach, this wall at Somerton – this was the plan? Will she be satisfied? Down from the foothills in the straggling sun a perfume drifts: astringent, eucalyptic. And was...

Do Demographic Profiles of Listed and Unlisted Households Differ? Results of a Nationwide Telephone Survey

A growing number of households are not reachable through traditional directory-based samples, which can have important implications for the representativeness of telephone surveys. The current study aims to investigate the demographic differences between households which have their telephone numbers listed or not listed in the Australian White Pages telephone directory. A total of 5,023 eligible Australian residents who were currently in paid employment participated in this study. Each respondent’s telephone number was individually matched to the residential White Pages to determine its listed status, and demographic variables were compared between those with a listed and unlisted telephone number. Those with an unlisted number were significantly more likely to be younger, to have been born in a country outside of Australia, and to live in a lower socioeconomic area than those who were listed in the White Pages. These demographic differences should be considered when undertaking telephone surveys using a White Pages sample.

List Media: The Telephone Directory and the Arranging of Names

List Media: The Telephone Directory and the Arranging of Names

Advance letters as a way of reducing non-response in a National Health Telephone Survey: Differences between listed and unlisted numbers

The paper reports a methodological study based on the German Health Update Survey 2009. The study generated telephone numbers randomly and determined the listing status of the selected numbers. The set of listed numbers was randomly split: one half received advance letters, the other half did not. Differences in response rates and demographic characteristics are analyzed in detail.

Advance letters as a way of reducing non-response in a National Health Telephone Survey: Differences between listed and unlisted numbers

Advance letters as a way of reducing non-response in a National Health Telephone Survey: Differences between listed and unlisted numbers

Use of Psychoactive Substances and Health Care in Response to Anxiety and Depressive Disorders

Use of Psychoactive Substances and Health Care in Response to Anxiety and Depressive Disorders

The Effects of Incentives, Interview Length, and Interviewer Characteristics on Response Rates in a CATI-Study

Through an experimental study, this research note analyses the effect of incentives, announced interview length, and interviewer characteristics on response rates in a CATI-study. Survey response rates are declining throughout the developed world (De Leeuw & De Heer, 2002). A public weary of having their dinner interrupted by an increasing number of polling agencies and media-conducted surveys (not to mention other types of commercial calls) has increased refusal rates. This development is partly aggravated by the fact that more and more people increasingly rely on cell phones and unlisted numbers, which are not included in survey samples unless Random Digit Dialing (RDD) is used. Furthermore, together with the increasing number of polls conducted in recent years, there has been an increasingly louder public debate calling for a ban on polls in the weeks prior to elections (e.g. Schultz-Jorgensen, 2005; Ullerup, 2005). This public critique of commercial polling might also have increased the likelihood of potential respondents to refuse to participate in surveys. Response rates in Denmark have declined in recent decades, as has been the case in other western countries. The Danish National Institute of Social Research (SFI), one of the most respected polling agencies in Denmark, has experienced a 10 percentage point decrease in response rates over the last ten years, averaging over the 30–50 telephone and face-to-face surveys they conduct annually (personal communication with SFI, 2005). Other commercial agencies have also experienced declining response rates in recent years (personal communication with Gallup, Vilstrup, Ramboll Management 2005). Throughout the period marked by declining response rates, the polling industry has made various attempts at reversing—or at least halting—this decline. Survey research organizations have, among other things, increased the number of call-backs and advance letters, as well as introduced different forms of incentives to encourage survey participation. Much attention was paid to the declining response rates (Steeh, 1981; Smith, 1995; Curtin, Presser, & Singer, 2005) and the impact of efforts to improve them. Research indicates that advance letters and postcards improve response rates significantly and cost-effectively. Hembroff, Rusz, Rafferty, McGee, and Ehrlich (2005) reveal that advance letters improve response rates by 5.8 percentage points and postcards by 2.8

Application of best practice towards improving Web site visibility to search engines: A pilot study

One author states that search engine ranking is an important feature: 'Many times, a search marketer has received that dreaded call from the boss, complaining that when the company name or trademark is typed into a search engine, the first thing that appears on the results page is their #1 competitor' (Hursh 2004). Most often Web site owners will simply launch their site, do nothing to ensure visibility and wait for surfer traffic that could never come. According to Guenther, it is an area where project teams spend the least amount of time and thought (Guenther 2004a:47–48). It could be compared to buying an expensive user-friendly phone system and then having an unlisted phone number, or placing an attention-grabbing billboard in the middle of a forest next to a dirt road (Subia Creative 2002b). A potential buyer starts a search for information with the hope of finding a solution to current needs. Those Web sites displayed on the first page of the returned results will enjoy a greater market share of search engine referred leads. The pages in the highest ranked positions will receive the greatest share. Thelwall states: 'Simple, mainly non-technical tests need to be carried out on any newly designed Website, including checking how easy it will be for potential customers to find it, by typing relevant key words into major search engines' (Thelwall 2000:150).

Is there a difference in health estimates between people with listed and unlisted telephone numbers?

Objective: To examine the characteristics of people with a silent telephone by demographic and health‐related issues and to assess the potential bias in telephone surveys that use the White Pages as the sampling frame.Method: A representative annual population health survey of South Australians aged 15 years and over conducted in 1994, 1998, 1999 and 2002. Self‐reported information on telephone connection and listings in the White Pages was provided by participants. Questions were included in the 1998 survey on reasons why telephone number was not listed.Results: The rate of unlisted telephone numbers significantly increased (17.3% to 20.2%) in South Australia between 1994 and 2002. People with an unlisted number are more likely to be living in the metropolitan area, single adult households, current smokers, and in the younger age groups. In the multivariate analyses the only health and risk factor variable that was consistently significant over the years was smoking status. The main reason for having an unlisted number was to avoid market research or telemarketing calls (33%).Conclusion: Telephone surveys using White Pages samples are suitable to collect information for prevalence on most commonly collected self‐reported health conditions and health‐related issues. The exception is smoking status.Implications: The use of Whites Pages telephone samples is a suitable method for obtaining population health information because it is efficient when there is limited time and funds.

Differences in Undercoverage and Nonresponse between City Neighbourhoods in a Telephone Survey

Two explanations of differences in undercoverage and nonresponse between neighbourhoods in a telephone survey among the inhabitants of the City of Groningen were studied: differences in population composition between neighbourhoods or in their social disorganization. Logistic multilevel analyses were performed on a sample of 7,000 inhabitants and all 14 city neighbourhoods. Differences in undercoverage and nonresponse between neighbourhoods could be attributed for the greater part to variations in the population composition of the neighbourhoods. Social disorganization had no effect on nonresponse and only a small one on undercoverage: people in neighbourhoods in decay (indicated by prolonged vacancies and relatively frequent criminal offenses) more often had no telephone or an unlisted number than people in other neighbourhoods.

Telephone survey research for library managers

PurposeTo explore and evaluate the evidence about the value of using telephone surveys, especially in market research for a library.Design/methodology/approachA critical summary and review of the literature in this field.FindingsThis paper demonstrates that there are five major reasons for using this method of surveying customer preferences: response rates are higher; data can be analysed sooner; the cost of surveys is lower than alternative methods; calls can be monitored for quality; and the telephone offers the benefits of spontaneity.Practical implicationsThe paper contains extensive information on “best practice” of telephone surveying including designing the questionnaire and conducting the interview. There is information on getting a representative sample, plus coping with “no answers”, unlisted numbers and answering machines.Originality/valueLibrary managers with a commitment to using innovative techniques for market research will find telephone surveys offer a useful and cheap alternative to other survey methods. No previous paper has examined the use of, and the value of, telephone surveys in libraries.

Aux abonnés absents : Liste rouge et téléphone portable dans les enquêtes en population générale sur les drogues

Missing Subscribers, The Red List and Mobile Telephones in General Population Surveys Concerning Drugs: Survey designers using Computer-Assisted Téléphone Interviews (CATI) are confronted with four types of populations: Owners of land-line telephones which include those on the Red (unlisted number) List; Owners of only mobile telephones; and those who don't own a telephone. Over the past few years, the proportion of land-line users has decreased as only mobile users increased. Even if the telephone remains an excellent means for contacting individuals residing in France (only 1.2% have no telephone), the increase in Red List numbers and only mobile users complicates methods developed since the early 1990; the choice of not contacting these persons should be made on a knowledgeable basis. Two types of research presented here allow us to extend our knowledge of these populations in relation to the use of psychoactive substances: a random survey of land-line users (n=13,685) allows us to characterize Red List members conceming declared drug use and associated opinions; a survey (n=2,009) concerning the social representation of drug users, including a sub-sample of only mobile users (n=201) permits us to obtain a summary description of the later and measure differences between them and line-liner users on these same questions.

RDDサンプリングにおける稼働局番法の再評価

Working exchange design of sampling for RDD (random digit dialing) telephone survey uses a frame consisting of all possible telephone numbers in all the working exchanges and draws a telephone number sample in a single stage random sampling. This type of sample was believed to be practically useless, as the residential hit rate of such samples are very low.In RDD sampling of recent years, however, it has become standard practice to apply computer assisted screening of non-working numbers to telephone number samples. Unfortunately, we can hardly find any papers which take into consideration the effect of screening of non-working numbers in evaluating sampling designs. If samples drawn with working exchange design are executed with computer assisted screening, their residential hit rate can reach a practical executable level. The design should be re-evaluated since it has become suitable for practical use.The list-assisted design, which is recently used frequently because of its high household hit rate, has a problem of truncating telephone households in banks which contains only unlisted residential numbers. This paper tries to demonstrate that the working exchange design can attain a residential hit rate which is almost comparable with that of list-assisted design, as well as the full coverage of telephone household population.

Spying with Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy (review)

Reviewed by: Spying with Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy Dwayne A. Day (bio) Spying with Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy. By Mark Monmonier. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Pp. x+239. $25. The premise of this book is a good one. Mark Monmonier, Distinguished Professor of Geography at Syracuse University, posits that the increased use of powerful information tools poses threats to individual privacy. This is a situation that anybody with Internet access can get a taste of: Go to any on-line telephone listing and look up a name anywhere in the United States; with a few clicks of a mouse you can easily get driving directions to that person's front door. It is a stalker's dream. The civil liberties and privacy concerns raised by powerful new information tools are certainly daunting. But this is not a book about legal issues. It is primarily about some of these tools and how they are being used and occasionally abused. What Monmonier poses is an intriguing question of "locational privacy," or the right to have your location remain a secret. Unfortunately, the book is rather unfocused, as is apparent even from the title. It and the book's cover strongly imply that Spying with Maps is about the use of satellites to spy on citizens from above. But the relatively new field of commercial imagery satellites is only briefly discussed. Many of the informational resources to which Monmonier refers, such as facial recognition software, traffic cameras, and on-line listings of sex offenders, are not [End Page 675] maps in the traditional sense, and all are firmly ground based. Furthermore, much of the data that government and private companies gather about individuals is aggregated by these tools in order to make it useful. This also makes it impossible to recover the individual information. Occasionally Monmonier raises some scary issues, such as how in the near future many cell phones will be equipped so as to enable the government to locate the user. Intended to assist in finding 911 callers who aren't able to give their location, this would also enable tracking people who may be under suspicion of something or other. Currently several companies, such as OnStar, offer a system that can track the location of your car, advertising this as a benefit in event of accident or auto theft. But the potential for abuse is chilling. The book is not intended to be a jeremiad, but in trying to discuss both the positives and negatives of the technologies it fails to pose any real solutions. Monmonier's only recommendation seems to be to "keep a watch out" for abuses. But it would not be hard to produce a list of tips for maintaining "locational privacy." Start with an unlisted phone number. Don't provide personal information to companies you deal with. And so on. All of these actions have costs, and perhaps regulation concerning the collection and transfer of personal information, both by government and private industry, is called for. But Monmonier seems unwilling to make a strong case for it. Spying with Maps is a decent introduction to the subject of geographic information tools and locational privacy. But a civil libertarian is not going to find any solutions here to the welter of problems he foresees. Dwayne A. Day Dr. Day writes frequently about the history of satellite reconnaissance. Copyright © 2004 The Society for the History of Technology

The experience of using random digit dialling methods in a population-based chronic pain study.

To describe response rates and call characteristics using random digit dialling (RDD) methods in a population-based prevalence study of chronic pain; to compare respondent characteristics according to telephone number listing status. A RDD telephone study of chronic pain was conducted using computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) methods in the Northern Sydney Area in 1998. Unlisted number respondents (18.5%) were younger, had a higher proportion of males, and were less likely to live in households with three or more eligible adults. There was no difference in chronic pain status between the two groups. The overall response rate was 73.4% (unlisted number group 66.3%; listed number group 75.0%). Answering machine messages boosted response rates (79.7%). 10.9% of unlisted numbers used in the study resulted in completed interviews, compared with 31.3% of the listed numbers used. The relatively high response rate obtained, differences in characteristics associated with listing status and reduction in sampling bias provided by using RDD methods have to be balanced against the differential response rates between listed and unlisted number groups and higher costs (including opportunity costs). IMPLICTIONS: Published data on the experience of using RDD methods can assist public health researchers in deciding whether to use these methods in telephone surveys.

Idiosyncrasies in Telephone Sampling--The Case of Germany

The many different telephone-numbering systems in the world require specific approaches for random sampling, and Germany is a case in point. It might well be that its peculiarities exist in other countries as well, but we offer a method on how to deal with these. This is of current importance because more and more surveys are planned as cross-cultural comparisons. Kish () stated a basic principle for sampling in such surveys some years ago: ‘Sample designs may be chosen flexibly and there is no need for similarity of sample designs. Flexibility of choice is particularly advisable for multinational comparisons, because the sampling resources differ greatly between countries. All this flexibility assumes probability selection methods: known probabilities of selection for all population elements’ (Kish , p. ). In our view an optimal sampling design for cross-cultural surveys should—according to Kish—consist of the best practices used in each participating country, provided that random methods are used. In this paper we explain a way of drawing samples for telephone surveys in Germany which yields equal inclusion probabilities for both listed and unlisted numbers. Because of this property we recommend it for German studies in cross-cultural surveys conducted by telephone. First, we explain some prerequisites for telephone sampling in Germany. Then, we introduce the reader to the difficult German numbering system. After that an adequate sampling design for population surveys is presented and results of an empirical application are shown.

読売新聞社の選挙情勢調査

In the July 2001 election of the House of Councillors, THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN was able to conduct an accurate forecast of the landslide victory of the LDP in its nationwide survey on more than 60,000 eligible voters. For this poll, the YOMIURI adopted the telephone survey, selecting samples randomly from electoral registers. The suggested reasons for the gratifying results are the influence of “Koizumi phenomenon” and the improvements of the method of the survey. However, due to the large number of unlisted numbers, this survey actually failed to reach a considerable number of eligible voters.Furthermore, since listed numbers are already gradually on the decrease, by the next national election, the dilemma of reaching a significant number of voters will be even more problematic. Therefore, toward an accurate survey for the next election, improved methods of sampling are necessary, and in the case of the telephone survey, an adoption of RDD (Random Digit Dialing) is suggested.

Electronic Telephone Directory Listings: Preferred Sampling Frame for a Population-Based Study of Childhood Cancer in Australia

PURPOSE: We report our telephone-based system for selecting community control series appropriate for a complete Australia-wide series of Ewing's sarcoma cases. METHODS: We used electronic directory random sampling to select age-matched controls. The sampling has all listed telephone numbers on an up-dated CD-Rom. RESULTS: 95% of 2245 telephone numbers selected were successfully contacted. The mean number of attempts needed was 1.94, 58% answering at the first attempt. On average, we needed 4.5 contacts per control selected. Calls were more likely to be successful (reach a respondent) when made in the evening (except Saturdays). The overall response rate among contacted telephone numbers was 92.8%. Participation rates among female and male respondents were practically the same. The exclusion of unlisted numbers (13.5% of connected households) and unconnected households (3.7%) led to potential selection bias. However, restricting the case series to listed cases only, plus having external information on the direction of potential bias allow meaningful interpretation of our data. CONCLUSION: Sampling from an electronic directory is convenient, economical and simple, and gives a very good yield of eligible subjects compared to other methods.

Random digit dialling and Electronic White Pages samples compared: demographic profiles and health estimates

To compare the methodologies of and health estimates derived from two telephone household survey methods. In particular, to establish if White Pages telephone listings provide a relatively unbiased sampling frame for population health surveys. In South Australia in 1998, a health survey questionnaire was administered by telephone to two randomly selected population samples. The first method used EWP (Electronic White Pages, n = 6,012), which contains all listed residential telephone numbers as the sampling frame. The results were compared to a RDD (random digit dialling, n = 3,080) sample where all listed and unlisted telephone numbers were included in the sampling frame. Demographic variables and health estimates were compared between the surveys, and then compared to a 'gold standard' door-to-door household survey conducted concurrently. The response rate for EWP (83.8%) exceeded that of RDD (65.4%). More than four times as many calls were required per completed interview in RDD. Demographic profiles and health estimates were substantially similar. EWP requires fewer telephone calls and enables approach letters establishing the bona fides of the survey to be sent to each selected address before calling, increasing the response rate. RDD is a more inclusive sampling frame but also includes non-connected and business numbers, and offers no significant advantages in providing health estimates. There are substantial methodological and cost advantages in using EWP over RDD as the sampling, frame for population health surveys, without introducing significant bias into health estimates.