4.4 Data collection
The finalized survey was administered by a private marketing company specializing in
survey development, data collection, analysis, and reporting. The company has branch
offices in both the USA and Korea and maintains robust panel data related to
smartphones. This company was chosen because it specializes in cross-country data
analysis. FromMarch to July 2010, a web-based survey questionnairewas posted on blogs
and forums devoted to mobile phones, smartphones, and smart devices, as well as in the
communities of several professional associations. Members of each community were
cordially invited to participate. To synchronize data from two countries, data collection
was carried out over similar timeperiods.TheEnglish version of the questionnaire used in
the USA was translated into Korean and then back-translated into English to assure
comparability (see the Appendix). A cover letter was attached to explain its purpose and
to ensure confidentiality.Bythe time the survey ended, 938 visitors had browsed it (498 for
the USA and 440 for Korea), and 481 questionnaires were submitted.