Nonresponse In Social Science Surveys

For many household surveys in the United States, responses rates have been steadily declining for at least the past two decades. A similar decline in survey response can be observed in all wealthy countries. Efforts to raise response rates have used such strategies as monetary incentives or repeated attempts to contact sample members and obtain completed interviews, but these strategies increase the costs of surveys. This review addresses the core issues regarding survey nonresponse. It considers why response rates are declining and what that means for the accuracy of survey results. These trends are of particular concern for the social science community, which is heavily invested in obtaining information from household surveys. The evidence to date makes it apparent that current trends in nonresponse, if not arrested, threaten to undermine the potential of household surveys to elicit information that assists in understanding social and economic issues. The trends also threaten to weaken the validity of inferences drawn from estimates based on those surveys. High nonresponse rates create the potential or risk for bias in estimates and affect survey design, data collection, estimation, and analysis. The survey community is painfully aware of these trends and has responded aggressively to these threats. The interview modes employed by surveys in the public and private sectors have proliferated as new technologies and methods have emerged and matured. To the traditional trio of mail, telephone, and face-to-face surveys have been added interactive voice response (IVR), audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI), web surveys, and a number of hybrid methods. Similarly, a growing research agenda has emerged in the past decade or so focused on seeking solutions to various aspects of the problem of survey nonresponse; the potential solutions that have been considered range from better training and deployment of interviewers to more use of incentives, better use of the information collected in the data collection, and increased use of auxiliary information from other sources in survey design and data collection. Nonresponse in Social Science Surveys: A Research Agenda also documents the increased use of information collected in the survey process in nonresponse adjustment.

Similarly, a growing research agenda has emerged in the past decade or so focused on seeking solutions to various aspects of the problem of survey nonresponse; the potential solutions that have been considered range from better training and deployment of interviewers to more use of incentives, better use of the information collected in the data collection, and increased use of auxiliary information from other sources in survey design and data collection. Nonresponse in Social Science Surveys: A Research Agenda also documents the increased use of information collected in the survey process in nonresponse adjustment". --Publisher's description.

Surveys enjoy great ubiquity among data collection methods in social research: they are flexible in questioning techniques, in the amount of questions asked, in the topics covered, and in the various ways of interactions with respondents. Surveys are also the preferred method by many researchers in the social sciences due to their ability to provide quick profiles and results. Because they are so commonly used and fairly easy to administer, surveys are often thought to be easily thrown together. But designing an effective survey that yields reliable and valid results takes more than merely asking questions and waiting for the answers to arrive. Geared to the non-statistician, the Handbook of Survey Methodology in Social Sciences addresses issues throughout all phases of survey design and implementation. Chapters examine the major survey methods of data collection, providing expert guidelines for asking targeted questions, improving accuracy and quality of responses, while reducing sampling and non-sampling bias. Relying on the Total Survey Error theory, various issues of both sampling and non-sampling sources of error are explored and discussed. By covering all aspects of the topic, the Handbook is suited to readers taking their first steps in survey methodology, as well as to those already involved in survey design and execution, and to those currently in training. Featured in the Handbook: • The Total Survey Error: sampling and non-sampling errors. • Survey sampling techniques. • The art of question phrasing. • Techniques for increasing response rates • A question of ethics: what is allowed in survey research? • Survey design: face-to-face, phone, mail, e-mail, online, computer-assisted.? • Dealing with sensitive issues in surveys. • Demographics of respondents: implications for future survey research. • Dealing with nonresponse, and nonresponse bias The Handbook of Survey Methodology in Social Sciences offers how-to clarity for researchers in the social and behavioral sciences and related disciplines, including sociology, criminology, criminal justice, social psychology, education, public health, political science, management, and many other disciplines relying on survey methodology as one of their main data collection tools.

Surveys are the principal source of data not only for social science, but for consumer research, political polling, and federal statistics. In response to social and technological trends, rates of survey nonresponse have risen markedly in recent years, prompting observers to worry about the continued validity of surveys as a tool for data gathering. Newspaper stories, magazine articles, radio programs, television broadcasts, and Internet blogs are filled with data derived from surveys of one sort or another. Reputable media outlets generally indicate whether a survey is representative, but much of the data routinely bandied about in the media and on the Internet are not based on representative samples and are of dubious use in making accurate statements about the populations they purport to represent. Surveys are social interactions, and like all interactions between people, they are embedded within social structures and guided by shared cultural understandings. This issue of The ANNALS examines the difficulties with finding willing respondents to these surveys and how the changing structure of society, whether it be the changing family structure, mass immigration, rising inequality, or the rise of technology, has presented new issues to conducting surveys. This volume will be of interest to faculty and students who specialize in sociological movements as well as economic and immigration movements and its effect on surveying.

This volume offers coverage of research in the field of survey nonresponse, the primary threat to the statistical integrity of surveys. This book was written in conjunction with the International Conference on Survey Nonresponse, October 1999.

Non-response in sample surveys can have serious consequences on the accuracy of survey results. This study shows how high response rates can be achieved, even in the Netherlands, a country notorious for its low response rates. As an introduction, an overview of groups that generally have low response rates and the possible causes of their lack of response is presented. The emphasis is on non-response bias that occurs when non-response behavior and survey outcomes are correlated, independent of background characteristics. The Hunt for the Last Respondent will be of interest to survey methodologists, market researchers, survey sponsors, and survey statisticians, as well as anyone interested in survey quality.

A comprehensive, one-stop guide to identifying, reducing, and managing nonresponse in household surveys Nonresponse and its impact on the sample selection mechanism of a survey is a common problem that often arises while collecting survey data. Handbook of Nonresponse in Household Surveys is a complete guide to handling the nonresponse problem, outlining statistical methods and techniques for improving response rates and correcting response data. The authors begin with an introduction to the nonresponse problem along with basic concepts and definitions. Subsequent chapters present current theories and methods that enable survey researchers to skillfully account for nonresponse in their research. Exploring the latest developments in the field, the book also features: An introduction to the R-indicator as an indicator of survey quality Discussion of the different causes of nonresponse Extensive treatment of the selection and use of auxiliary information Best practices for re-approaching nonrespondents An overview of advanced nonresponse correction techniques Coverage of adaptive survey design Throughout the book, the treatment of each topic is presented in a uniform fashion. Following an introduction, each chapter presents the key theories and formulas underlying the topic and then illustrates common applications. Discussion concludes with a summary of the main concepts as well as a glossary of key terms and a set of exercises that allows readers to test their comprehension of the presented material. Examples using real survey data are provided, and a related website features additional data sets, which can be easily analyzed using Stata® or SPSS® software. Handbook of Nonresponse in Household Surveys is an essential reference for survey researchers working in the fields of business, economics, government, and the social sciences who gather, analyze, and draw results from data. It is also a suitable supplement for courses on survey methods at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels.