Final answer:
Telephone surveys are subject to interviewer bias and may face challenges in representing the population accurately. Interviewers can influence responses, and legal and practical constraints may limit access to certain demographic groups, increasing the potential for non-representative data.
Step-by-step explanation:
Administering a survey by telephone is subject to interviewer bias. This form of survey collection may inadvertently introduce bias through the interviewer's tone, phrasing of questions, or even the way they interact with respondents. Additionally, factors such as question format, respondent availability, and the impersonal nature of phone interviews can impact the survey's representative nature and data quality.
With computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) systems, there is a risk of errors if the interviewer inputs incorrect answers or deviates from the script. Moreover, the reliance on telephone communication may lead to a non-representative sample because not everyone has a phone or is available to respond. Furthermore, automated phone surveys or robo-polls can suffer from low response rates and restricted access due to regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Overall, while telephone surveys can achieve a broad reach, they can be time-consuming and challenging in ensuring truthfulness and capturing real-life behavior.