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I am of the understanding that Lott's research for "More Guns, Less Crime" was conducted from government statistics of crime in areas where concealed carry laws were enacted. This "phone survey" then, if that is true, is a mere side issue designed to discredit Lott by attacking a small piece of his work.

I have not read his book. Can anyone comment on how much Lott relied in the "survey" and how much he relied on Fedgov stats to reach his conclusions?

The survey in question dealt with a tangential issue, and Lott's main conclusions are neither hurt nor helped by the question asked in the survey. (The claim he made, BTW, is that in 98% of cases, one need only display, brandish, or make verbal reference to a firearm to deter a mope. This is similar to Kleck's finding that 98% of the time, one does not have to actually perforate a mope to get him to lay off, but Kleck includes 'warning shots' and missed shots, in addition to display of a weapon to get his figure.)

Though Lambert's question is clearly energized by his desire to damage Lott, and by extension his work, it's still a fair question. Lott's answers to date have not been very good.
And you must read the book: it's well worth the price both in time and money.