Final answer:
The in-person surveys are generally the most expensive method due to the need for hiring interviewers, travel expenses, and the complexity of setting up and conducting the surveys.
Step-by-step explanation:
In comparing different survey methods, such as mail, telephone, in-person, and online, we find that each method has various costs and challenges associated with it. When it comes to costs, conducting in-person surveys is typically the most expensive. This is because of the need to hire and train interviewers, travel costs, the time required to reach respondents, and potentially having to make multiple visits to contact a respondent at home or waiting for respondents at polling locations like exit polls or focus group facilities.
While telephone surveys may encounter expenses like purchasing phone lists or utilizing random-digit dialing technology, they are generally less expensive than organizing in-person interviews. Mail surveys, although less costly than telephone and in-person methods, may still incur printing and postage costs, as well as additional challenges in ensuring response validity and completeness of mailing lists. Online surveys are considered to be the least expensive, owing to the elimination of most manual tasks, although they must be designed to work across various browsers and devices, and may present challenges in preventing multiple responses from the same individual and accurately measuring response rates.