The aim of this paper is to test the existence of middle class bias in survey cooperation. We do this by carrying out a record check study. Our analysis uncovers no evidence of middle class bias. Instead we find a negative gross bias in estimates of the proportion of persons with highest...

In face-to-face surveys interviewers play a crucial role in making contact with and gaining cooperation from sample units. While some analyses investigate the influence of interviewers on nonresponse, they are typically restricted to single-country studies. However, interviewer training,...

This paper examines the role of interviewers' experience, attitudes, personality traits and inter-personal skills in determining survey co-operation. We take the perspective that these characteristics influence interviewers' behaviour and hence influence the doorstep interaction between...

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...

Mixed mode designs are increasingly important in surveys and large longitudinal studies are progressively moving to or considering such a design. In this context our knowledge regarding the impact of mixing modes on data quality indicators in longitudinal studies is sparse. This study tries to...

We study the relationship between individuals' participation in household panels, their health and employment states and the design of survey fieldwork procedures, using a comparative approach based on data from the UK BHPS and Australian HILDA Survey. We simulate the impact of alternative...

We attempt to isolate the causes of mode effects on measurement in a comparison of face-to-face and telephone interviewing, distinguishing between effects caused by differences in the type of question stimulus used in each mode (audio vs. visual) and effects caused by other differences between...

Surveying recently arrived immigrants in countries lacking a population register poses many challenges. We describe our adaptation of Respondent Driven Sampling, a chain- referral technique, to sample migrants from Pakistan and Poland who had arrived in the UK within the previous 18 months....