The downward trend of survey response rates: Implications and considerations for evaluators

Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation

Volumn 24, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 131-156

  Bladon, Teresa L ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 80054694897     PISSN: 08341516     EISSN: 00077720     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (55)

1. Agresti, A. (2002). Categorical data analysis (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley- Interscience.
2. Allen, M. (2001). Telephone refusal rates continue to rise. Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. Retrieved from http://www.mria-arim. ca/COMMITTEES/ResponseArticle02.asp
3. American Association for Public Opinion Research. (2004). Standard definitions: Final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for surveys (3rd ed.). Lenexa, KS: Author.
4. Bethlehem, J. (2002). Weighting nonresponse adjustments based on auxiliary information. In R.M. Groves, D.A. Dillman, J.L. Eltinge, & R.J. Little (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. 275-288). New York, NY: Wiley.
5. Blumberg, S.J., Luke, J.V., & Cynamon, M.L. (2006). Telephone coverage and health survey estimates: Evaluating the need for concern about wireless substitution. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 926-931.
6. Brick, J.M., Dipko, S., Presser, S., Tucker, C., & Yuan, Y. (2006). Nonresponse bias in a dual frame sample of cell and landline numbers. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 780-793.
7. Catania, J.A., Gibson, D.R., Chitwood, D.D., & Coates, T.J. (1990). Methodological problems in AIDS behavioral research: Influences on measurement error and participation bias in studies of sexual behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 339-362.
8. Cobben, F., Schouten, B., & Bethlehem, J. (2006, August). Mixed mode and nonresponse: Opportunities and challenges. Paper presented at the 17th International Workshop on Household Survey Nonresponse, Omaha, NE.
9. Curtin, R., Presser, S., & Singer, E. (2000). The effects of response rate changes on the index of consumer sentiment. Public Opinion Quarterly, 64, 413-428. (Pubitemid 33241089)
10. Curtin, R., Presser, S., & Singer, E. (2005). Changes in telephone survey nonresponse over the past quarter century. Public Opinion Quarterly, 69, 87-98. (Pubitemid 41236892)
11. de Heer, W. (1999). International response trends: Results of an international survey. Journal of Official Statistics, 15, 129-142.
12. de Leeuw, E., & de Heer, W. (2002). Trends in household survey nonresponse: A longitudinal and international comparison. In R.M. Groves, D.A. Dillman, J.L. Eltinge, & R.J. Little (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. 41-54). New York: Wiley.
13. de Leeuw, E., Lepkowski, J., & Kim, S.W. (2002, August). Have telephone surveys a future in the 21st century? Paper presented at the International Conference on Improving Surveys, Copenhagen, Denmark. Retrieved from http://www.icis.dk/ICIS-papers/F3-2-2.pdf
14. Dillman, D.A., & Christian, L.M. (2005). Survey mode as a source of instability in responses across surveys. Field Methods, 17, 30-52.
15. Dillman, D.A., Phelps, G., Tortora, R., Swift, K., Kohrell, J., Berck, J., et al. (2009). Response rate and measurement differences in mixed-mode surveys using mail, telephone, interactive voice response (IVR) and the Internet. Social Science Research, 38, 1-18.
16. Fowler, F.J., Jr. (2002). Survey research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17. Gandy, O.H. (2003). Public opinion surveys and the formation of privacy policy. Journal of Social Issues, 59, 283-299.
18. Gelman, A., & Carlin, J.B. (2002). Poststratification and weighting adjustments. In R.M. Groves, D.A. Dillman, J.L. Eltinge, & R.J. Little (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. 289-302). New York, NY: Wiley.
19. Goyder, J. (1985). Nonresponse on surveys: A Canada-United States comparison. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 10(3), 231-251.
20. Goyder, J. (1987). The silent minority: Nonrespondents on sample surveys. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
21. Groves, R.M. (2006). Nonresponse rates and nonresponse bias in household surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 646-675.
22. Groves, R.M., Cialdini, R.B., & Couper, M.P. (1992). Understanding the decision to participate in a survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 56, 475-495.
23. Groves, R.M., & Couper, M.P. (1998). Nonresponse in household interview surveys. New York, NY: Wiley.
24. Groves, R.M., Couper, M.P., Presser, S., Singer, E., Tourangeau, R., Piani Acosta, G., et al. (2006). Experiments in producing nonresponse bias. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 720-736.
25. Groves, R.M., Dillman, D.A., Eltinge, J.L., & Little, R.J. (2002). Preface. In R.M. Groves, D.A. Dillman, J.L. Eltinge, & R.J. Little (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. xiii-xv). New York, NY: Wiley.
26. Groves, R.M., & Peytcheva, E. (2008). The impact of nonresponse rates on nonresponse bias: A meta-analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72, 167-189.
27. Henry, G. (1996). Does the public have a role in evaluation? Surveys and democratic discourse. New Directions for Evaluation, 70, 3-15.
28. Herbst, S. (1993). Numbered voices: How opinion polling has shaped American politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
29. Hobbs, F.B. (2004). Age and sex composition. In J. Seigel & D. Swanson (Eds.), The methods and materials of demography (2nd ed., pp. 125-173). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.
30. Keeter, S. (2006). The impact of cell phone noncoverage bias on polling in the 2004 presidential election. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 88-98. (Pubitemid 43346689)
31. Keeter, S., Kennedy, C., Dimock, M., Best, J., & Craighill, P. (2006). Gauging the impact of growing nonresponse on estimates from a national RDD telephone survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 759-779.
32. Keeter, S., Miller, C., Kohut, A., Groves, R.M., & Presser, S. (2000). Consequences of reducing nonresponse in a national telephone survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 64, 125-148.
33. Kreuter, F., Presser, S., & Tourangeau, R. (2008). Social desirability bias in CATI, IVR, and web surveys: The effects of mode and question sensitivity. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72, 847-865.
34. Kuha, J., & Firth, D. (2005). On the index of dissimilarity for lack of fit in loglinear and log-multiplicative models. Retrieved from http://stats. lse.ac.uk/kuha/Publications/kuha-firth-Delta.pdf
35. McKibben, J.N., & Faust, K.A. (2004). Population distribution: Classification of residence. In J. Seigel & D. Swanson (Eds.), The methods and materials of demography (2nd ed., pp. 105-123). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.
36. Merkle, D.M., & Edelman, M. (2002). Nonresponse in exit polls: A comprehensive analysis. In R.M. Groves, D.A. Dillman, J.L. Eltinge, & R.J. Little (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. 243-257). New York, NY: Wiley.
37. Novo, M., Hammarström, A., & Janlert, U. (1999). Does low willingness to respond introduce a bias? Results from a socio-epidemiological study among young men and women. International Journal of Social Welfare, 8, 155-163.
38. O'Rourke, D., Chapa-Resendez, G., Hamilton, L., Lind, K., Owens, L., & Parker, V. (1998). An inquiry into declining RDD response rates. Part I: Telephone survey practices. Survey Research: Newsletter from the Survey Research Laboratory, 29(2). Retrieved from http://www.srl.uic. edu/Publist/Newsletter/ 1998/98v29n2.pdf
39. Page, C. (2006). The roles of public opinion research in Canadian government. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
40. Pew Research Center. (2006). National polls not undermined by growing cell-only population: The cell phone challenge to survey research. Retrieved from http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/276.pdf
41. Population Research Laboratory, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta. (1991-2007). Alberta survey sampling report. Edmonton, AB: Author.
42. Presser, S., & Stinson, L. (1998). Data collection mode and social desirability bias in self-reported religious attendance. American Sociological Review, 63, 137-145. (Pubitemid 128605722)
43. Richman, W.L., Kiesler, S., Weisband, S., & Drasgow, F. (1999). A meta-analytic study of social desirability distortion in computer-administered questionnaires, traditional questionnaires, and interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 754-775.
44. Roeske, T.L. (2007). The phenomenon of nonresponse in household telephone surveys: Trends and implications. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
45. Singer, E. (2006). Introduction: Nonresponse bias in household surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 637-645.
46. Smith, T.W. (1983). The hidden 25 percent: An analysis of nonresponse on the 1980 General Social Survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 47, 386-404.
47. Smith, T.W. (1995). Trends in non-response rates. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 7, 157-171.
48. Statistics Canada. (2006a). Annual demographic statistics 2005. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
49. Statistics Canada. (2006b, April 5). Residential telephone service. The Daily. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060405/ d060405b.htm
50. Steeh, C., Kirgis, N., Cannon, B., & DeWitt, J. (2001). Are they really as bad as they seem? Nonresponse rates at the end of the twentieth century. Journal of Official Statistics, 17(2), 227-247.
51. Tourangeau, R. (2004). Survey research and societal change. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 775-801.
52. Tourangeau, R., & Yan, T. (2007). Sensitive questions in surveys. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 859-883.
53. Voogt, R.J.J., & Van Kempen, H. (2002). Nonresponse bias and stimulus effects in the Dutch National Election Study. Quality and Quantity, 36, 325-345. (Pubitemid 37132931)
54. Weisberg, H.F. (2005). The total survey error approach: A guide to the new science of survey research. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
55. Zukin, C. (2006). The future is here! Where are we now? And how do we get there? Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 426-442.