ERIC Number: EJ1136558
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-May
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1525-822X
EISSN: N/A
Self-Administered Questions and Interviewer-Respondent Familiarity
Rodriguez, Leslie A.; Sana, Mariano; Sisk, Blake
Field Methods, v27 n2 p163-181 May 2015
We examine the effects of interviewer-respondent familiarity on both response patterns and rates of item nonresponse when self-administered questions (SAQs) are used. We use SAQ data from a survey in which the researchers experimentally ensured that there would be varying degrees of familiarity between interviewers and respondents. Our results reveal only minimal differences in response patterns by degree of prior acquaintance between interviewer and respondent, indicating that SAQs are effective at eliminating potential bias stemming from such relationships. Our results for item nonresponse depend on how we measure the relationship between interviewer and respondent; but in all cases, it is clear that prior knowledge of one another, far from harmful, leads to low nonresponse rates to SAQs. Thus, researchers using SAQs may not need to adhere to the norm that interviewers and respondents must be strangers, with practical and cost-effective consequences for data collection.
Descriptors: Familiarity, Interpersonal Relationship, Response Style (Tests), Surveys, Bias, Questionnaires, Foreign Countries, Interviews
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Dominican Republic
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1R21HD5473101A1