Although telephone surveys are an attractive alternative to household interviews it is important to determine whether the data collected by the two methods are comparable. To answer this question, findings from the telephone survey literatures are examined in the view point of i) direct effect which means expressions of preference of the interview detail of answers on open questions and item missing data rates ii) statistical estimates and iii) differences of interviewers and data collection modes. Differences are explained by social desirability effects on the telephone, cognitive ability of the survey question, and mode effects and interviewer effects.