CALL FOR PAPERS
RC33-ISA 7th Conference on Social Science Methodology, Napels (IT),
September 1-5 2008
Conference homepage: http://www.rc332008.unina.it/
SESSION: MIXED MODES AND MEASUREMENT ERROR
Session Organisers: Gerry Nicolaas and Rebecca Taylor (the National Centre
for Social Research, UK)
Deadline for the abstracts is February 17, 2008. Please send your abstracts
for this session to the following email address: [log in to unmask]
Session abstract:
Increasing pressures of falling response rates and rising costs of survey
operations have provided the impetus for using mixed modes of data
collection in survey research. Offering alternative modes of data
collection may encourage sample members to participate, resulting in a
higher response rate. Furthermore, if a sufficient number of respondents
can be persuaded to use the less expensive mode, the overall costs of data
collection can be reduced.
However, the benefits of using mixed modes come at the potential cost of
reduced data comparability, caused by differences across modes in the
nature of (1) coverage error, (2) non-response error, and (3) measurement
error. This session will focus on the third component; i.e. the impact on
the data collected because respondents may answer 'equivalent' questions
differently in different modes.
The first paper in this session will be given by the session organisers who
will review the existing evidence on mode effects and highlight areas
requiring further research. This presentation will serve as an introduction
to the session and set the context for the other papers.
Possible topics for the other papers include, but are not limited to, the
following:
* the causes of mode effects (e.g. social desirability);
* the symptoms of mode effects (e.g. item non-response, acquiescence);
* the impact of alternative data collection modes on data quality;
* how to measure and reduce measurement error when mixing modes;
* the impact of mixing modes for time series, cross-national comparisons, etc.
Please note that this session only covers measurement error whereas other
design challenges related to the use of mixed modes are also covered by the
session on "Multi-Mode Survey Design and Practice" organised by Ken Reed
(Deakin University Melbourne Australia).
Ms Gerry Nicolaas
Deputy Director of the Survey Methods Unit
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Switchboard: 020 7250 1866
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