Conducting a Telephonic Survey to Differentiate Demographic Characteristics of Community Health Service Users and Non-Users

This text discusses the process of conducting a telephonic survey to differentiate demographic characteristics of community health service users and non-users. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of obtaining population data from various sources, including local government records, NGOs, and empirical studies. The text also suggests the appropriate sampling method and questions to be included in the survey.

STATISTICS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
STUDENT ID:
[Pick the date]

PART A
The objective is to conduct a telephonic survey and thereby differentiate between the
demographic characteristics of group using the given community health service and those
who do not. The information about the population can be obtained from various sources listed
below.
 Local government records – The population data about the target community can be
obtained from the relevant census data available at the local offices. Further, records
of beneficiaries may also be obtained (Medhi, 2015).
Advantage: The data would be highly accurate and easily available.
Disadvantage: The data would not be customised to represent the users and non-users
of the specific community service. Also, if there is a particular targeted community,
then precise information about the population of interest may not be available (Flick,
2015).
 NGO – NGO that have grassroots presence can also make relevant population data
available.
Advantage: Customised data about a specific group from the population can be
obtained with relative ease (Flick, 2015).
Disadvantage: It may be difficult to verify the accuracy of the provided data and data
for a larger population may be difficult to obtain (Eriksson, & Kovalainen, 2015).
 Empirical Studies – There may have been studies which could have obtained the same
population data for research purposes.
Advantage: Customised and relevant data may be easy to obtain and hence yield
savings in terms of time and financial resources (Medhi, 2015).
Disadvantage: Data might have been collected in a particular context and may be old
owing to which the data may have little utility (Lind, Marchal. & Wathen, 2016).
The appropriate sampling method would be stratified sampling as it would ensure that the
demographic features which are relevant are represented in a similar proportion in the sample
as the underlying population (Flick, 2015). A local NGO may be involved in the process of
recruiting participants so that the underlying participant is contacted and informed consent

obtained for the survey. Further, advertisement may be given in the media prevalent in the
community so as to seek participants for the survey. Recruitment of participants through the
use of NGO would lead to a more representative sample but at the cost of higher time and
financial resources. In contrast, using advertisement may be faster but the underlying sample
may not be representative of the respective population of the two groups (Eriksson, &
Kovalainen, 2015).
PART B
The questions to be contained are listed below.
Q1: What is your gender?
A1. MALE/FEMALE/Others
Q2: In which age group do you fall?
A2: Below 25 years/25-39 years/40-54 years/55-69 years/70 and above
Q3: How many years of education do you have?
A3: 8 and less years/9-11 years/12-14 years/15 and above years
Q4: What is your current marital status?
A4: Single/Married/Divorced/Separated
Q5: What is the last year annual pre-tax income level?
A5: Below $ 30,000/30,001-60,000/60,001-90,000/90,000+
Q6: Have you availed the community health service (being researched)
A6: Yes or No
Q7: If service has been used, how has been your experience?
A7: Highly dissatisfied (1)/Dissatisfied(2)/ Can’t Say(3)/Satisfied (4)/Highly Satisfied(5)
Q8: What are the potential measures that can be taken to improve the service so as to enhance
the user base? (Open ended questions)

A8.
Q9: What do you believe are the reasons owing to which people do not use this service?
(Open ended question)
A9

References
Eriksson, P. & Kovalainen, A. (2015). Quantitative methods in business research (3rd ed.).
London: Sage Publications.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project (4th ed.). New York: Sage Publications.
Lind, A.D., Marchal, G.W. & Wathen, A.S. (2016). Statistical Techniques in Business and
Economics (15th ed.). New York : McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Medhi, J. (2015). Statistical Methods: An Introductory Text (4th ed.). Sydney: New Age
International.