Maintaining high response rates - is it worth the effort?
Date:
03/03/2016
Organised by:
RSS Social Statistics Section and NCRM
Presenter:
Professor Patrick Sturgis, Dr Gabriele Durrant and Mr Joel Williams
Level:
Intermediate (some prior knowledge)
Contact:
Description:
Random probability surveys face two key threats to their long-term viability: high and increasing costs, and low and declining response rates. These twin pressures have been felt all the more acutely in recent years with the rapid and pervasive emergence of opt-in internet panels that are substantially quicker, more flexible, and most importantly, cheaper to administer. At the same time, scholars and funders are questioning the relevance of traditional survey methods in the age of linked administrative, transactional and other forms of 'big data'.
As maintaining response rates becomes ever more challenging, data collection agencies are allocating larger shares of available resources to repeated callback attempts at addresses until contact is made, and engaging in refusal conversation strategies to persuade initially uncooperative households to undertake an interview. In this evening event we explore whether this focus on maintaining high response rates is worth the effort, or whether we might tolerate lower response rates.
Schedule:
16:30-17:00 Tea and coffee available
17:00-17:30 Are high response rates worth the effort? (Patrick Sturgis)
17:30-18:00 Assessing dataset representativeness during survey data collection - Evidence from the 2011 Census Non-Response Link Study (Gabriele B. Durrant)
18:00-18:30 The impact of response maximisation strategies on under-represented sub-populations (Joel Williams)
18:30 Close
Further information including full abstracts and how to register can be found here: https://www.statslife.org.uk/events/events-calendar/eventdetail/602/-/maintaining-high-response-rates-is-it-worth-the-effort
Cost:
Attendance is free but please register by email to events@rss.org.uk
Website and registration:
Region:
Greater London
Keywords:
Survey Research, Participant Recruitment, Nonresponse
Related publications and presentations:
Survey Research
Participant Recruitment
Nonresponse