Accurately Locating Where Wireless Respondents Live Requires More Than A Phone Number

As the number of adults reachable only by cell phone continues to grow, more telephone surveys are including cell phone samples to ensure that their results are representative of the US population. One issue of particular concern in surveys that include cell phones is the accuracy of geographic information that is derived from cell phone numbers; this information that accompanies the sample is used by many surveyors for geographic sampling and analysis. Being able to identify the location of respondents with precision is important for accurately sampling people in particular areas and for analyzing local and regional differences in respondents' attitudes and behaviors. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the wireless-only are more geographically mobile than those with landline phones.