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Health expectancies are widely used by policymakers and scholars to analyse the number of years a person can expect to live in good health. Their calculation requires life tables in combination with prevalence rates of good or bad health from survey data. The structure of typical survey data, however, rarely resembles the education distribution in the general population. Specifically, low-educated individuals are frequently underrepresented in surveys, which is crucial given the strong positive correlation between educational attainment and good health. This is the first study to evaluate if and how health expectancies for 13 European countries are biased by educational differences in survey participation. To this end, calibrated weights that consider the education structure in the 2011 censuses are applied to measures of activity limitation in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The results show that health expectancies at age 50 are biased by an average of 0.3 years when the education distribution in the general population is ignored. For most countries, health expectancies are overestimated, yet remarkably, the measure underestimates health for many Central and Eastern European countries by up to 0.9 years. These biases are significant, especially in light of the European Commission’s aim to add 2 years of healthy life for the average European by 2020. The findings of this study highlight the need to adjust for distortion in health expectancies, especially when the measure serves as a base for health-related policy targets or policy changes.

An observational study was conducted on parents of 226 children (114 boys, 112 girls) who were asked whether they are willing to participate in a nutrition-health survey focused on children. Child’s state of nourishment was assess by using IOTF cut-off values, and Cardio-Metabolic Risk (CMR ; waist-to-height ratio). Total of 102 parents (45.1%) agreed to participate in the survey. More girls were underweight (17.9% vs 11.5%) and overweight (14.3% vs 8.8%) in comparison to boys, with the same obesity rates (9.8% of obese girls vs 9.7% boys). Parents who have obese children were more likely to refuse to participate (p=0.019) in comparison to parents of underweight children. Parents of boys were more likely to refuse to participate (p=0.017). Significantly higher CMR have children of parents who refused to participate (p=0.017). Unemployment (p

Survey researchers are actively seeking powerful auxiliary data sources capable of correcting for possible nonresponse bias in survey estimates of the general population. While several auxiliary data options exist, concerns about their usefulness for addressing nonresponse bias remain. One underutilized—but potentially rich—source of auxiliary data for nonresponse bias adjustment is federal administrative records. While federal records are routinely used to study nonresponse in countries where it is possible to directly link them (via a unique identifier) to population-based samples, such records are not widely used for this purpose in countries which lack a unique identifier to facilitate direct linkage. In this article, we examine the utility of indirectly linked administrative data from a federal employment database for nonresponse bias adjustment in a general population survey in Germany. In short, we find that the linked administrative variables have stronger correlations with the substantive survey variables than do standard paradata variables and that incorporating linked administrative data in nonresponse weighting adjustments reduces relative nonresponse bias to a greater extent than paradata-only weighting adjustments. However, for the majority of weighted survey estimates, including the administrative variables in the weighting adjustment procedure has minimal impact on the point estimates and their variances. We conclude with a general discussion of these findings and comment on the logistical issues associated with this type of linkage relevant to survey practice.

Introduction Measuring bicycling behaviour is critical to bicycling research. A common study design question is whether to measure bicycling behaviour once (cross-sectional) or multiple times (longitudinal). The Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project is a longitudinal cohort study of over 10,000 participants from seven European cities over two years. We used PASTA data as a case study to investigate how measuring once or multiple times impacted three factors: a) sample size b) participation bias and c) accuracy of bicycling behaviour estimates. Methods We compared two scenarios: i) as if only the baseline data were collected (cross-sectional approach) and ii) as if the baseline plus repeat follow-ups were collected (longitudinal approach). We compared each approach in terms of differences in sample size, distribution of sociodemographic characteristics, and bicycling behaviour. In the cross-sectional approach, we measured participants long-term bicycling behaviour by asking for recall of typical weekly habits, while in the longitudinal approach we measured by taking the average of bicycling reported for each 7-day period. Results Relative to longitudinal, the cross-sectional approach provided a larger sample size and slightly better representation of certain sociodemographic groups, with worse estimates of long-term bicycling behaviour. The longitudinal approach suffered from participation bias, especially the drop-out of more frequent bicyclists. The cross-sectional approach under-estimated the proportion of the population that bicycled, as it captured ‘typical’ behaviour rather than 7-day recall. The magnitude and directionality of the difference between typical weekly (cross-sectional approach) and the average 7-day recall (longitudinal approach) varied depending on how much bicycling was initially reported. Conclusions In our case study we found that measuring bicycling once, resulted in a larger sample with better representation of sociodemographic groups, but different estimates of long-term bicycling behaviour. Passive detection of bicycling through mobile apps could be a solution to the identified issues.

Millennials have been the focus of quite some research because of their differences with older cohorts. Besides, young respondents have been considered as a hard target population for surveys. However, to our knowledge, no research has compared the levels and types of survey participation of the Millennials versus the older generations. Using a dataset of 1,570,301 panelists of an opt-in online panel in eight countries from Europe, Latin America and North America, we show that Millennials differ from older cohorts in terms of survey participation. Millennials show lower participation rates than older cohorts. Moreover, they present significantly higher proportions of surveys answered using smartphones. However, differences across cohorts in terms of break-offs and survey evaluation are mainly nonsignificant and/or nonmeaningful.

Energy consumption reduction in buildings poses great challenges to modern societies in which maintaining thermal and visual comfort is occupants’ primary desire in indoor environments. In order to determine satisfaction levels of occupants, surveys are widely used to obtain feedback with respect to thermal and visual perceptions. However, low participation to the surveys might cause misleading results, and, thus, result in defining wrong strategies to maintain occupant comfort in buildings. Therefore, factors that affect participation to the surveys have to be analyzed so that the surveys can be distributed to the most responsive profile. This study aims at investigating the relationship between factors related to participant profile (gender, age group, energy awareness level and the number of energy activities attended) and survey participation ratio. A survey was conducted in an office building in France between December 19, 2016 and September 25, 2017. A total of 93 occupants participated in the study. The relationship between participation ratio and the occupant related factors were analyzed via Kruskal-Wallis tests. The results show that the energy awareness level has a statistically significant effect on the survey participation ratio whereas gender and age group have not a significant effect on the survey participation ratio. Therefore, this result is a proof that the energy awareness levels of occupants have to be increased in order to reach higher participation ratios.

The perceptions and sentiments of business respondents are considered important for statistical bureaus. As perceptions and sentiments are related to the behavior of the people expressing them, gaining insights into the perceptions and sentiments of business respondents is of interest to understand business survey response. In this article we present an exploratory analysis of expressions in the social media regarding Statistics Netherlands. In recent years, social media have become an important infrastructure for communication flows and thus an essential network in our social structure. Within that network participants are actively involved in expressing sentiments and perceptions. The results of our analysis provide insights into the perceptions and sentiments that business respondents have of this national statistical institute and specifically its business surveys. They point towards the specific causes that have led to a positive or a negative sentiment. Based on these results, recommendations aimed at influencing the perceptions and sentiments will be discussed, with the ultimate goal of stimulating survey participation. We also suggest recommendations regarding social media studies on sentiments and perceptions of survey respondents.

WOS:000323671200004 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science) “Prémio Científico ISCTE-IUL 2013” Those who use the internet more frequently are more likely to notice a request to participate in a survey than less frequent users. The frequency of internet use is thus likely to affect the likelihood of participation in internet-based surveys. If frequent and infrequent users are different in relevant features, this could influence survey estimates. This study aims to identify which demographic characteristics most differentiate frequent and infrequent users of the internet and whether those distinctions have an influence on substantive responses. The effect of internet usage frequency when conducting internet-based surveys on specific subgroups of the population is also examined. Results suggest that frequent and infrequent users are different both in demographic characteristics and substantive estimates. Differences in substantive estimates are also found when comparing frequent and infrequent users in the 15-24 years subgroup. Weighting can reduce the discrepancies found for most of the substantive estimates, but the differences between frequent and infrequent users remain statistically significant for some specific items.

Increasing reluctance of businesses to participate in surveys often leads to declining or low response rates, poor data quality and burden complaints, and suggests that a driving force, that is, the motivation for participation and accurate and timely response, is insufficient or lacking. Inspiration for ways to remedy this situation has already been sought in the psychological theory of self-determination; previous research has favored enhancement of intrinsic motivation compared to extrinsic motivation. Traditionally however, enhancing extrinsic motivation has been pervasive in business surveys. We therefore review this theory in the context of business surveys using empirical data from the Netherlands and Slovenia, and suggest that extrinsic motivation calls for at least as much attention as intrinsic motivation, that other sources of motivation may be relevant besides those stemming from the three fundamental psychological needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness), and that other approaches may have the potential to better explain some aspects of motivation in business surveys (e.g., implicit motives). We conclude with suggestions that survey organizations can consider when attempting to improve business survey response behavior.

Survey topic as a factor influencing participation rates is becoming increasingly important, as there is a growing trend in social science research for surveying specific populations about specific topics. Previous research has shown that respondents with high topic interest (often referred to as salience) are more likely to participate in surveys. However, the identification of mechanisms that affect respondents' interest in a survey topic has been largely neglected in research literature. We present an explanatory model of participation that conceptualizes topic interest as a function of an actor's relational position in a particular social setting. To illustrate the relationship between survey topic and participation behavior, we use an online survey on mating conducted on the user population of an online dating site. For our nonresponse analysis we use web-generated process data, consisting of profile and interaction data, which describe all units of the sample frame. Thus, comprehensive information is available for both participants and non-participants of the online survey on an individual level, enabling a particularly accurate analysis of nonresponse. Results show that the probability of participation varies according to a user's chances of success on the mating market. Users who can be described as less attractive (e.g. older people, less educated men, overweight women) show a higher probability of participation, which we explain with the mechanism of topic salience. We conclude with general implications regarding (1) the relationship between survey topic and survey participation and (2) the potential of web-generated process data for (online) survey research. The work for this article is based on the project "Das Internetals Partnermarket" (The Internet as a Partner Market), which is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG). We would also like to thank our cooperation partner for making the data available for scientific purposes. We thank Thorsten Schneider, Markus Zielonka and Melanie Scholz for helpful comments and suggestions as well as William Tayler for native speaker advice.

doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2011.00540.x Assessing the oral health of an ageing population: methods, challenges and predictors of survey participation Objectives: To examine predictors of participation and to describe the methodological considerations of conducting a two-stage population-based oral health survey. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional survey (telephone interview and clinical oral examination) of community-dwelling adults aged 45–64 and ≥65 living in Nova Scotia, Canada was conducted. Results: The survey response rate was 21% for the interview and 13.5% for the examination. A total of 1141 participants completed one or both components of the survey. Both age groups had higher levels of education than the target population; the age 45–64 sample also had a higher proportion of females and lower levels of employment than the target population. Completers (participants who completed interview and examination) were compared with partial completers (who completed only the interview), and stepwise logistic regression was performed to examine predictors of completion. Identified predictors were as follows: not working, post-secondary education and frequent dental visits. Conclusion: Recruitment, communications and logistics present challenges in conducting a province-wide survey. Identification of employment, education and dental visit frequency as predictors of survey participation provide insight into possible non-response bias and suggest potential for underestimation of oral disease prevalence in this and similar surveys. This potential must be considered in analysis and in future recruitment strategies.

This study expands upon existing knowledge of response rates by conducting a large-scale quantitative review of published response rates. This allowed a fine-grained comparison of response rates across respondent groups. Other unique features of this study are the analysis of response enhancing techniques across respondent groups and response rate trends over time. In order to aid researchers in designing surveys, we provide expected response rate percentiles for different survey modalities. We analyzed 2,037 surveys, covering 1,251,651 individual respondents, published in 12 journals in I/O Psychology, Management, and Marketing during the period 1995-2008. Expected response rate levels were summarized for different types of respondents and use of response enhancing techniques was coded for each study. First, differences in mean response rate were found across respondent types with the lowest response rates reported for executive respondents and the highest for non-working respondents and non-managerial employees. Second, moderator analyses suggested that the effectiveness of response enhancing techniques was dependent on type of respondents. Evidence for differential prediction across respondent type was found for incentives, salience, identification numbers, sponsorship, and administration mode. When controlling for increased use of response enhancing techniques, a small decline in response rates over time was found. Our findings suggest that existing guidelines for designing effective survey research may not always offer the most accurate information available. Survey researchers should be aware that they may obtain lower/higher response rates depending on the respondent type surveyed and that some response enhancing techniques may be less/more effective in specific samples. This study, analyzing the largest set of published response rates to date, offers the first evidence for different response rates and differential functioning of response enhancing techniques across respondent types.

This paper addresses the problem of decreasing response rates in telephone survey research. It theoretically and empirically investigates three important factors of survey participation, namely survey quality, respondent satisfaction and trust. For this purpose an interdisciplinary approach is adopted, where services marketing framework is applied to the field of survey research. The results confirm the hypothesized relations among all three investigated constructs and intended survey participation. Moreover, when they are compared to a set of demographic variables, perceived survey quality, respondent satisfaction and respondent trust exhibit stronger relatedness with intended survey participation. Additionally, results provide an insight into how survey participation can be improved by focusing on specific elements of interviewer conduct and questionnaire design. Some further theoretical and research implications of the applied framework and empirical results are also discussed., Ovaj rad bavi se problemom smanjivanja stope odgovaranja u telefonskim anketama. U njemu se teorijski i empirijski istražuju tri važna čimbenika sudjelovanja u anketnom istraživanju: kvaliteta ankete, zadovoljstvo i povjerenje ispitanikâ. Za tu je svrhu upotrijebljen interdisciplinarni pristup, unutar kojega je sustav marketinga usluga primijenjen na područje anketnog istraživanja. Rezultati potvrđuju pretpostavljene odnose među svim trima ispitivanim konstruktima i namjeravanom sudjelovanju u anketi. Štoviše, kada ih se usporedi s nizom demografskih varijabli, opažena kvaliteta ankete, zadovoljstvo ispitanikâ i povjerenje ispitanikâ pokazuju jaču povezanost s namjeravanim sudjelovanjem u anketi. Rezultati također daju uvid u to kako unaprijediti sudjelovanje u anketi upravljanjem pozornosti na posebnosti ponašanja ispitivačâ i izradbe anketnoga upitnika. U radu se razmatraju još neke teorijske i istraživačke implikacije primijenjenog sustava i dobivenih empirijskih rezultata., Der vorliegende Artikel beschäftigt sich mit dem Problem der stetig abnehmenden Teilnehmerzahlen bei Telefonumfragen. Auf theoretischer und empirischer Grundlage werden drei wichtige Faktoren untersucht, die für die Teilnahme an einer Umfrage wichtig sind: die Qualität des eingesetzten Fragebogens, das Vertrauen und die Zufriedenheit der Umfrageteilnehmer. Der Verfasser entschied sich für einen interdisziplinären Ansatz, bei dem das System des Dienstleistungsmarketings auf den Bereich der Meinungsforschung angewandt wurde. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse bestätigen die Hypothesen des Verfassers hinsichtlich der Zusammenhänge, die zwischen den drei untersuchten Faktoren und der beabsichtigten Teilnahme an einer Meinungsumfrage bestehen. Im Vergleich mit einer Reihe demografischer Variablen erweist sich, dass die wahrgenommene Umfragenqualität, die Zufriedenheit und das Vertrauen der Umfrageteilnehmer tatsächlich in einem stärkeren Maße zur beabsichtigten Teilnahme an einer Umfrage in Bezug stehen. Des Weiteren lassen die Resultate erkennen, wie die Bereitschaft zur Umfrageteilnahme gesteigert werden kann, indem dem Auftreten des Meinungsforschers und der Erstellung von Umfragebogen mehr Sorgfalt entgegengebracht wird. Ebenfalls untersucht werden einige weitere theoretische Implikationen, die aus dem angewandten System des Dienstleistungsmarketings und den gewonnenen empirischen Ergebnissen hervorgehen.

Interviewers play an important role in gaining cooperation in surveys. There is empirical evidence for a considerable variation in response rates between interviewers. Despite this, research on the role of the interviewer in nonresponse is relatively scarce. Past research showed that interviewer experience plays a role in gaining respondent cooperation, and recently the importance of the "doorstep' interaction has been emphasized. In this article, we describe the tactics for fighting nonresponse, as reported by experienced interviewers. We also explore the relationship between favored tactics of interviewers and interviewers' individual response rate.

Bei Telephoninterviews haben Interviewer weitaus weniger Zeit als in face-to-face-Interviews, einen Befragten zur Kooperation zubringen. Da sie ihren Gesprächspartner nur hören können, fehlt es ihnen auch an Informationen, um sich selbst optimal zu verhalten. Gleichwohl verfügen erfahrene Telephoninterviewer über einen Vorrat an taktischen Varianten, die sie einsetzen können. In diesem Beitrag werden Taktiken beschrieben, mit denen sich Antwortverweigerung bekämpfen lässt und die von erfahrenen Telephoninterviewern bei Statistics Netherlands angewandt werden. (ICEÜbers) "In telephone interviews interviewers have far less time to persuade sampling units to cooperate than in a face-to-face interview. Furthermore, they also have less information to tailor their behaviour due to the limited channel capacity of the telephone. Nevertheless, experienced telephone interviewers have a 'tool box' of tactics, which they apply expertly. In this paper we describe the tactics to fight nonresponse as reported by experienced telephone interviewers at Statistics Netherlands." (author's abstract)

Die Tendenz, Befragte für ihre Teilnahme an Umfragen zu bezahlen, lässt verschiedene nicht intendierte Folgen befürchten, so die Erwartung zukünftiger Zahlungen und die Möglichkeit einer Verschlechterung der Antwortqualität. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchung sind eher beruhigend, was diese beiden Punkte angeht. Zwar stimmen Befragte, die schon einmal für ihre Teilnahme an einer Umfrage bezahlt worden sind, häufiger dem Statement "Man sollte für die Teilnahme an solchen Umfragen bezahlt werden" zu, sie beteiligen sich jedoch auch ohne weitere Zahlungen überdurchschnittlich oft an weiteren Untersuchungen. Befragte, die vor sechs Monaten eine Zahlung erhielten, verweigern die Beantwortung einer Batterie von achtzehn Fragen über diese Untersuchung nicht mit höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit als Befragte, die keine Zahlung erhielten. Darüber hinaus äußern sie häufiger positive Einstellungen zum Nutzen von "Untersuchungen wie dieser". Es ist jedoch noch zu untersuchen, in wie weit diese Ergebnisse verallgemeinerbar sind. (ICEÜbers) "Increasing use of incentive payments to survey respondents raises the threat of several unintended consequences, among them the creation of expectations for future payments and the possibility of a deterioration in the quality of response. The findings from the present study are somewhat reassuring with respect to both of these unintended outcomes. Although people who have received a monetary incentive in the past are significantly more likely to agree that 'people should be paid for doing surveys like this', they are also more likely to participate in a subsequent survey, in spite of receiving no further payments. And respondents who received an incentive six months earlier are no more likely than those who received no incentive to refuse to answer (or to answer don't know to) a series of eighteen key questions an the survey. Furthermore, they are more likely than other respondents to express favourable attitudes toward the usefulness of 'surveys like this'. The generality of these findings, however, needs much further testing." (author's abstract)

Interviewers play an important role in gaining cooperation in surveys. There is empirical evidence for a considerable variation in response rates between interviewers. Despite this, research on the role of the interviewer in nonresponse is relatively scarce. Past research showed that interviewer experience plays a role in gaining respondent cooperation, and recently the importance of the "doorstep' interaction has been emphasized. In this article, we describe the tactics for fighting nonresponse, as reported by experienced interviewers. We also explore the relationship between favored tactics of interviewers and interviewers' individual response rate.

BACKGROUND: Tracing mail survey responses is useful for the management of reminders but may cause concerns about anonymity among prospective participants. We examined the impact of numbering return envelopes on the participation and the results of a survey on a sensitive topic among hospital staff. METHODS: In a survey about regrets associated with providing healthcare conducted among hospital-based doctors and nurses, two randomly drawn subsamples were provided numbered (N = 1100) and non-numbered (N = 500) envelopes for the return of completed questionnaires. Participation, explicit refusals, and item responses were compared. We also conducted a meta-analysis of the effect of questionnaire/envelope numbering on participation in health surveys. RESULTS: The participation rate was lower in the "numbered" group than in the "non-numbered" group (30.3% vs. 35.0%, p = 0.073), the proportion of explicit refusals was higher in the "numbered" group (23.1% vs 17.5%, p = 0.016), and the proportion of those who never returned the questionnaire was similar (46.6% vs 47.5%, p = 0.78). The means of responses differed significantly for 12 of 105 items (11.4%), which did not differ significantly from the expected frequency of type 1 errors, i.e., 5% (permutation test, p = 0.078). The meta-analysis of 7 experimental surveys (including this one) indicated that numbering is associated with a 2.4% decrease in the survey response rate (95% confidence interval 0.3% to 4.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Numbered return envelopes may reduce the response rate and increase explicit refusals to participate in a sensitive survey. Reduced participation was confirmed by a meta-analysis of randomized health surveys. There was no strong evidence of bias.

The most widely used method to study individuals’ public service motivation is surveys. The validity and inferential power of such studies may, however, be harmed by survey participation bias, if highly public service motivated individuals are overrepresented among respondents. This paper examines the methodological critique of survey participation bias raised against the public service motivation literature and examines whether public service motivation increases the propensity to respond to surveys. By tracking more than 3,000 public service providers’ participation in a three-wave panel survey, our analysis shows that public service motivation does have a positive effect on survey participation. This suggests that future studies should pay attention to the characteristics of respondents/non-respondents and consider weighting the sample.

As both time pressure (e.g., Gershuny 2005) and survey nonresponse (e.g., Curtin et al. 2005) increase in Western societies one can wonder whether the busiest people still have time for survey participation. This article investigates the relationship between busyness claims, indicators of busyness and the decline in survey participation in Flemish surveys conducted between 2002 and 2007. Using paradata collected during fieldwork, we investigate whether busyness related doorstep reactions have increased over the years and whether there is an empirical relationship between these busyness claims and indicators of busyness.©Statistics Sweden. ispartof: Journal of Official Statistics vol:27 issue:4 pages:619-632 status: published