Current Knowledge and Considerations Regarding Survey Refusals: Executive Summary of the AAPOR Task Force Report on Survey Refusals (original) (raw)
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Using Information from Telephone Panel Surveys to Predict Reasons for Refusal
One of the key problems in conducting surveys is convincing people to participate. However, it is often difficult or impossible to determine why people refuse. Panel surveys provide information from previous waves that can offer valuable clues as to why people refuse to participate. If we are able to anticipate the reasons for refusal, then we may be able to take appropriate measures to encourage potential respondents to participate in the survey. For example, special training could be provided for interviewers on how to convince potential participants to participate. This study examines different influences, as determined from the previous wave, on refusal reasons that were given by the respondents in the subsequent wave of the telephone Swiss Household Panel. These influences include socio-demography, social inclusion, answer quality, and interviewer assessment of question understanding and of future participation. Generally, coefficients are similar across reasons, and between-respondents effects rather than within-respondents effects are significant. While 'No interest' reasons are easier to predict, the other reasons are more situational. Zusammenfassung Verweigerungen sind ein Hauptproblem in Befragungen. Oft ist es jedoch schwierig oder unmöglich zu bestimmen, warum manche Leute verweigern. Panelbefragungen können helfen, Verweigerungsgründe vorherzusagen, da Informationen von Respondenten aus früheren Wellen vorliegen. Falls Eigenschaften von Verweigerern und von ihnen verwendete Verweigerungsgründe antizipiert werden können, lassen sich geeignete Maßnahmen treffen, diese Personen zur Teilnahme zu bewegen. Dazu zählt zum Beispiel ein spezielles Interviewer training zur Teilnahmeüberzeugung potentieller Respondenten. Wir untersuchen Effekte aus der vorherigen Welle auf spezifische Verweigerungsgründe im telefonisch erhobenen Schweizer Haushalt Panel. Zu diesen Effekten zählen Sozio-Demografie, soziale Inklusion, Antwortqualität, und Interviewereinschätzung über das Fragenverständnis und die zukünftige Teilnahme. Allgemein sind die Koeffizienten für die verschiedenen Verweigerungsgründe ähnlich, wobei eher zwischen-Personen Effekte als innerhalb-Personen Effekte signifikant sind. Während 'Kein Interesse' einfacher zu prognostizieren ist, spielen 4
1999
Non-response in survey research: a methodological discussion and development of an explanatory model This paper demonstrates that the different sources of non-response in survey research must be considered by researchers in order to minimize the potential for bias, and that careful planning and management during sample selection, sample recruitment and data collection can control the extent of response failure. The ®ndings of an interview survey of nurses and nurses' aides illustrate, however, that the success of strategies designed to reduce the loss of data in survey research depends upon researchers acknowledging the complex relationships that exist between non-response phenomena throughout the research process.
Interviewers' tactics for fighting survey nonresponse
The authors thank the interviewer staff of Statistics Netherlands for their enthusiastic sharing of their doorstep experiences. We also thank Diane O'Rourke and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the policies of Statistics Netherlands.