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...

Previous evidence suggests that a wave with mixed mode data collection in an otherwise face-to-face panel survey will achieve a lower response rate than other waves. But until now there has been no evidence as to whether the response rate can be expected to recover subsequently. In other words,...

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...

Researchers often assume that respondent burden influences survey participation propensity and that interview length is a good indicator of burden. However, there is little evidence of the effect of interview length on subsequent participation propensity, particularly for face-to-face surveys....

In order to lower costs, the idea has been raised to use a mixed-mode design for the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) and Web Self-Interviewing (WSI). However, a mixed-mode CAPI-WSI design may damage data-quality because of measurement...

We conduct two large-scale randomised experiments on the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to study methods of reducing panel attrition. The first experiment compares different strategies for tracing and maintaining contact with sample members. We find that change-of-address cards...

Subsequently published as Lynn, Peter, Sala, Emanuela (2006) 'Measuring change in employment characteristics: the effects of dependent interviewing', International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Oxford University Press. 18(4) Win., 500-509

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