The use of a computer-assisted telephone interview technique in a general practice research study

We describe the principles and practice of computer-assisted telephone interviewing, and its successful deployment in a general practice-based research study into the referral behaviour of general practitioners (GPs) in the Grampian region of Scotland. Participating GPs were interviewed concerning the acceptability of the method. It proved to be an efficient and acceptable method for collecting data from a large number of practitioners in this large geographical area. Our experience confirms that this efficient method of data collection could be much more widely utilized in primary care research.