Survey organizations often attempt to 'convert' sample members who refuse to take part in a survey. Persuasive techniques are used in an effort to change the refusers' minds and to agree to an interview. This is done to improve the response rate and, possibly, to reduce non-response bias....

We analyse patterns of consent and consent bias in the context of a large general household survey, the 'Improving survey measurement of income and employment' survey, also addressing issues that arise when there are multiple consent questions. A multivariate probit regression model for four...

A main obstacle to using telephone methods for social surveys in the UK has been the inability to select a representative and unbiased probability sample of the general population. However, recent changes in the UK telephone numbering system and advances in telephony software appear to provide...