Survey research today is facing its greatest challenge, specifically, the dramatic increase in the population that now no longer owns a landline telephone. SSRS has conducted a number of studies that overcome these challenges by using a dual frame (cell phone and landline interviewing) design or address-based sampling. As well, we have successfully completed projects that use multimodal designs that can incorporate mail, cell phone, traditional phone, and Internet frames.

For SSRS, the challenge is not simply in learning how to overcome cell only households, but to learn how to best overcome this problem for many different populations. That is, since quite a bit of our research is on the Hispanic population, Jewish populations or other ethnic populations, Young Americans, or very specific geographic areas, we need to be able to develop alternatives that work within the confines of the target population we are trying to reach. SSRS already has accrued a body of experience in such areas, having conducted Dual Frame designs and address-based hybrid designs of Hispanics, areas of high African American density, Jews, parents of young children, and Young Americans. By not only learning how to enact these alternative designs but as well to do so for specialized populations, SSRS continues to be on the cutting edge of survey design and methodology.