Contacting and Interviewing Residential Electricity Customers,
Abstract
This paper discusses issues which are likely to arise in planning the job of contacting and interviewing residential electricity customers. An obvious point should be made at the outset: since nearly all households consume electricity, the large amount of information about ordinary household interviewing is also relevant to the topic at hand. This paper refers to the research findings about regular household interviewing in a general way and concentrates on issues that are specific to surveys of electricity customers. Much of what follows is drawn from the author's experience with the Electricity Rate Study (ERS) which took place in Los Angeles. This experiment was designed to test the effects of different rate structures (and of variations within each type of rate) on household electricity use. As part of the study, about 2,600 electricity customers were interviewed for a pre-experimental, baseline survey in the summer of 1976. Personal interviews were conducted by employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), under the author's supervision. The same interviewers also enrolled 1,800 customers in 30-month experimental electricity rate plans. To complete the data collection, two additional telephone surveys were carried out at the midpoint and conclusion of the rate experiment on the panel of households who participated.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA095088
Entities
People
- Sandra H. Berry
Organizations
- RAND Corporation