It is common practice to adapt the format of a question to the mode of data collection. Multi-coded questions in self-completion and face-to-face modes tend to be transformed for telephone into a series of 'yes/no' questions. Questions with response scales are often branched in telephone...

Household income is difficult to measure, since it requires collecting information about all potential income sources for each member of a household. We assess the effects of two types of edit check questions on measurement error and survey estimates: within-wave edit checks use responses to...

We examine the effect of survey measurement error on the empirical relationship between child mental health and personal and family characteristics, and between child mental health and educational progress. Our contribution is to use unique UK survey data that contains (potentially biased)...

The quasi-simplex model makes use of at least three repeated measures of the same variable to estimate its reliability. The model has rather strict assumptions about how various parameters in the model are related to each other. Previous studies have outlined how several of the assumptions of...

Test-retest reliability assessments rarely investigate whether reliability itself is stable or whether change in reliability affects findings from substantive models. Research across the social sciences often recognises that measurement error could influence results, yet it rarely applies...

In longitudinal studies, analysis can be based on any one of a large number of wavecombinations. However, only one set of non-response weights (often based on respondents from all waves up to the latest) is typically offered on public use data files. We refer to this as a single weighting...

With proactive dependent interviewing respondents are reminded of the answer they gave in the previous interview, before being asked about their current status. We examine the risk that respondents falsely confirm the answers from the previous interview as still applying, using data from a panel...

To survey the general population, survey agencies often use sampling frames of landline numbers. However, these frames may exclude a relevant share of the target population. In 2012, 50% of Italian adults are excluded from the sampling frame, as they are unlisted (UN) or do not own a landline...

Respondents in long telephone survey interviews may adopt satisficing strategies as they approach the end of the questionnaire (Holbrook, Green and Krosnick, 2003). However, there is inconsistency regarding the relationship between questionnaire length and different forms of satisficing. We...

Mobile phone survey interviewing is becoming increasingly prevalent, so it is important to understand how it affects measurement error. We link cognitive response process theory (Tourangeau et al 2000) to theories of mode effects to build a comprehensive framework that identifies ways in which...