Digital Commons Network^™

The Cannell Legacy, Nancy A. Mathiowetz, Peter V. Miller

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Charles Cannell engineered the study of Interviewer-respondent interaction. He created conceptual frameworks for understanding the interviewing process and its impact on data quality. He invented methods for observing and recording interview interaction. He pioneered the use of randomized experiments in the survey context. He amalgamated insights from clinical and social psychology, sociology, group dynamics, as well as research on verbal and nonverbal communication to inform his work. This interdisciplinary approach has broadly influenced both interviewing research and practice. In this paper, we review Cannell’s many contributions to the field and his enduring legacy.

The Accuracy And Utility Of Using Paradata To Detect Interviewer Question-Reading Deviations, Jennifer Kelley

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Deviations from reading survey questions exactly as worded may change the validity of the questions, thus increasing measurement error. Hence, organizations train their interviewers to read questions verbatim. To ensure interviewers are reading questions verbatim, organizations rely on interview recordings. However, this takes a significant amount of resources. Therefore, some organizations are using paradata generated by the survey software, specifically timestamps, to try to detect when interviewers’ deviate from reading the question verbatim.

To monitor interviewers’ question reading behavior using timestamps, some organizations estimate the expected question administration time to establish a minimum and maximum question administration time thresholds (QATT). …

Interacting With Interviewers In Voice And Text Interviews On Smartphones, Michael Schober, Frederick Conrad, Christopher Antoun, Alison W. Bowers, Andrew L. Hupp, H. Yanna Yan

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

As people increasingly adopt SMS text messaging for communicating in their daily lives, texting becomes a potentially important way to interact with survey respondents, who may expect that they can communicate with survey researchers as they communicate with others. Thus far our evidence from analyses of 642 iPhone interviews suggests that text interviewing can lead to higher quality data (less satisficing, more disclosure) than voice interviews on the same device, whether the questions are asked by an interviewer or an automated system. Respondents also report high satisfaction with text interviews, with many reporting that text is more convenient because they …

Interviewer Falsification In Survey Research: Detection Methods And Impact Of Fraudulent Interviews, Silvia Schwanhäuser, Joseph Sakshaug, Yuliya Kosyakova, Frauke Kreuter

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

The role of the interviewer and sources of interviewer error in the survey data collection process are widely discussed topics in the survey methodology literature. An understudied problem in this context is the falsification of interview data by the interviewer. Research gaps concern, for example, how conclusions drawn from survey data are affected by falsified interviews. So far it is commonly assumed, that the possible effect of falsifications on univariate statistics can only be as high as the overall share of falsified data. Since the share of faked data is usually very low for most surveys, the problem is regarded …

Comparison Of Different Approaches To Evaluate And Explain Interviewer Effects, Geert Loosveldt, Celine Wuyts

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Within survey methodology it is common knowledge that interviewers in face-to-face or telephone interviews can have undesirable effects on the obtained answers. These effects can be created in an active way by, for example, asking suggestive questions or they can be obtained in a passive way as a consequence of certain interviewer characteristics eliciting socially desirable answers. These active and passive effects may differ from interviewer to interviewer. These differences between interviewers in systematic effects create additional variance in the data. The proportion of variance in a (substantive) variable that can be explained by the interviewers is the ‘so called’ …

Designing Studies For Comparing Interviewer Variance Components In Two Groups Of Survey Interviewers, Brady T. West

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Methodological studies of interviewer effects often seek to identify factors that influence the magnitude of interviewer variance for particular survey questions. There is a long history of work in this area, and results from studies like this have informed current interviewing practice. Unfortunately, many studies of this type suffer from one or more of the following limitations in terms of their designs: 1) a failure to randomly assign interviewers to the treatments being compared; 2) a failure to formally test for differences in the variance components between the two groups; and 3) insufficient statistical power for comparison of the variance …

Let’S Talk About Money! How Do Interviewer Expectations Affect Item Nonresponse To Income And Asset Questions?, Sabine Friedel

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Personal income and assets are sensitive topics to discuss and the discussion of money tends to be a taboo. This phenomenon is reflected by high nonresponse rates to items that address income and assets questions in interviewer-mediated surveys. However, such information is important to obtain, as household income and different types of assets are used as core variables in socio-economic models. Such item nonresponse is influenced by interviewers. Although interviewers are trained to conduct standardized interviews, some interviewers obtain a higher number of item nonresponses than others. This study examines interviewer effects on nonresponse to several income and asset questions …

Explaining Interviewer Effects On Survey Unit Nonresponse: A Cross-Survey Analysis, Daniela Ackermann-Piek, Annelies G. Blom, Julie M. Korbmacher, Ulrich Krieger

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

In interviewer-administered surveys, interviewers are involved in nearly all steps of the survey implementation. However, besides many positive aspects of interviewers’ involvement, they are – intentionally or unintentionally – a potential source of survey errors. In recent decades, a large body of literature has accumulated about measuring and explaining interviewer effects on survey unit nonresponse. Recently, West and Blom (2017) have published a research synthesis on factors explaining interviewer effects on various sources of survey error, including survey unit nonresponse. They find that previous research reports great variability across surveys in the significance and even direction of predictors of interviewer …

General Interviewing Techniques: Developing Evidence-Based Practices, Steve Coombs, Margaret Hudson, Lisa Holland, Nora Cate Schaeffer, Jennifer Dykema

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

This poster is a hands-on demonstration of the in-progress General Interviewer Techniques (GIT) materials described by Schaeffer, Dykema, Coombs, Schultz, Holland, and Hudson. Participants will be able to view and listen to the lesson materials, delivered via an online interface, and talk to the GIT developers.

Effects Of Innovative Motivational Strategies And New Staffing Model On Interviewer Attrition: A Data Collection Year In Review, Theresa Camelo, Maureen O’Brien

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Due to high staff attrition and its negative effects on data collection and project cost, a large national study implemented motivational strategies and a new staffing model for the current data collection year. Motivational strategies included retention bonuses, organization gear, and other personalized recognitions. The new staffing model included both a change in weekly hour requirements as well as the number of interviewers staffed in each area. New staff, committed to 20 hours per week, were added to approximately half of the sampling areas with already existing 30 hour per week staff. Two Interviewers were now working a single area, …

Exploring The Mind Of The Interviewer: Findings From Research With Interviewers To Improve The Survey Process, Robin Kaplan, Erica Yu

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

The interviewers’ task in the data collection process is a complex one, with many judgments and decisions being made from moment to moment as they ask questions to get answers from respondents (Japec, 2008). Many survey organizations train their interviewers to use standardized language and read questions verbatim. However, in practice, interviewers may need to use a conversational approach and probe respondents to get the answers needed. This research explores the process by which interviewers make such decisions in real-time by conducting research with interviewers about their experiences collecting data. Using a cognitive interview approach, we asked interviewers about multiple …

How Customization Affects Survey Interaction, Antje Rosebrock, Malte Schierholz

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

One common trend in the world of survey data collection is the increasing use of new technological developments which can change the nature of the survey interview. A fairly recent trend is the use of machine-learning techniques to customize questions for respondents. This has the potential to create an individualized experience for the respondent and to improve data quality. Nevertheless, little is known so far of how customization affects the interaction in the survey interview.

We introduce a tool developed by Schierholz et al. (2018) to code respondents’ occupation categories during the survey. The tool uses supervised learning algorithms to …

Can Paradata Predict Interviewer Effects?, Sharan Sharma

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Consideration of interviewer effects (interviewer measurement error variance) in active quality control does not seem widespread despite its known effect on reducing precision of survey estimates. One major obstacle is that interviewer effect estimates computed on partial data (as a survey is in progress) can be very unstable. We address this issue by exploring the use of paradata (keystrokes and time stamps generated during the computer-assisted interviewing process) as proxies of interviewer effects with a focus on large-scale repeated cross-section or panel surveys.

We first estimate interviewer effects for each item in our analysis by using multilevel models that include …

Humans Vs. Machines: Comparing Coding Of Interviewer Question-Asking Behaviors Using Recurrent Neural Networks To Human Coders, Jerry Timbrook, Adam Eck

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Standardized survey interviewing techniques are intended to reduce interviewers’ effects on survey data. A common method to assess whether or not interviewers read survey questions exactly as worded is behavior coding. However, manually behavior coding an entire survey is expensive and time-consuming. Machine learning techniques such as Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) may offer a way to partially automate this process, saving time and money. RNNs learn to categorize sequential data (e.g., conversational speech) based on patterns learned from previously categorized examples. Yet the feasibility of an automated RNN-based behavior coding approach and how accurately this approach codes behaviors compared to …

Analysing The Influence Of Non-Observable And Observable Interviewer Characteristics On Measurement Error: Evidence From Zambia, P. Linh Nguyen

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

In Sub-Saharan Africa, where only one in five people uses the Internet and connectivity issues restrict the possibility for phone surveys in rural areas, interviewer-administered face-to-face (F2F) surveys are and will remain the principal data collection tool in the foreseeable future. Yet questions remain as to what extent previous findings on interviewer-administered surveys from Western countries may apply to a different cultural and geographical context. In this light, the objective of this study is to investigate the influence of certain observable interviewer characteristics (such as gender, age) and non-observable characteristics (such as education, attitudes) on interviewer variance on a subset …

Examining Interviewer Effects On The Agricultural Labor Survey: A Mixed-Methods Approach, David Biagas, Emilola Abayomi, Joseph Rodhouse, Heather Ridolfo

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

Interviewer effects remain a pervasive problem in survey research. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this study explores the effects that interviewers have on the reporting of agricultural workers on the USDA’s Agricultural Labor Survey. The Agricultural Labor Survey is administered by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service on a biannual basis, with each data collection period collecting information for two quarters (e.g. April and January of 2018). While the majority of data is collected via computer-assisted telephone interviewing, a sizeable proportion is completed online or via mail. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, this study explores the patterns of bias introduced by …

Did The Respondent Really Mean That? How The Behaviors Of Cati Interviewers And Data Editors Impact Measurement And Processing Errors In Establishment Surveys, Joseph Rodhouse, Heather Ridolfo, Emilola Abayomi, David Biagas

Interviewer Workshop, 2019: Interviewers and Their Effects from a Total Survey Error Perspective

It is well documented that interviewers can have profound effects on the survey data collection process. This research looks to build on that knowledge by examining the relationship between CATI interviewers and data editors and how the recording of answers, and editing of the survey answers recorded, contribute to total survey error (TSE). Specifically, we are interested in comparing answers recorded by CATI interviewers and the final response codes after the editing stage. Since the interviewing stage and the editing (or processing) stage are often two distinct phases of the data collection process where the interviewer and data editor work …

Wow! That Smarts!, Dave Jaffe

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

Dogs are stupider than we thought, although probably they'd argue the point if they had a clue. OK, maybe not stupider. Maybe even smart, but certainly not exceptional, according to a new study of the intellectual abilities of dogs by psychology professors Stephen Lea and Britta Osthaus of the University of Buzzkill Big, Fat Weenies.

Bob And The Great Pigeon War, Deborah Weir

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

Bob wasn't the only one with a real gun in our neighborhood; our next-door neighbor had one as well. Jim Driscoll worked on his black 1932 Packard sedan whenever he wasn't on the assembly line at the Ford plant. He loved that car more than his anything, and he kept it shined to a high-gloss finish. His garage was filled with tools for this hobby, so the car usually sat in the driveway. Bob and I didn't know that Mr. Driscoll owned a shotgun until the Great Pigeon War.

Should I Confess Or Brag?, Jan Marshall

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

I'm an environmentalist. Had not washed my car in months. People write "Dirty Girl" on the dust, which actually pleased me. Then, I used a tad of H20 to wipe the soot. Therefore, whether you blame or praise me, I obviously caused not only the rain but with it yes, the ants are back in my powder room.

Ohio University Students Help Inform Progress Related To Diversity And Inclusion (February 26, 2019), University Communications And Marketing

OHIO News Articles Archive

No abstract provided.

Housing News, Georgia Southern University

Housing News

• Women of Aux: Arianna Fournier

Black History Month Celebration Dinner, Black Law Students Association (Blsa)

2019 Event Invitations

No abstract provided.

Researchers: Web Accessibility Problems Widespread In Schools, Jolynne Lyon

Blog Posts

The blog post is about internet accessibility.

2018-2019 Junior Recital - Abigail Rowland (Trumpet), Abigail Rowland, Feruza Dadabaeva

Junior and Senior Recitals

No abstract provided.

Method Of Increasing Mass Transfer Rate Of Acid Gas Scrubbing Solvents, Joseph E. Remias, Cameron A. Lippert, Kunlei Liu

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty Patents

A method of increasing the overall mass transfer rate of acid gas scrubbing solids is disclosed. Various catalyst compounds for that purpose are also disclosed.

Literacy And Movement Can Be Fun; Here Is How, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Uab Piano Students Win State Mtna Auditions, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Uab Art Students, Professor Join Peers At A2ru Student Summit, Shannon Thomason

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Mcguinn Joins Uab As Director Of Developmental And Behavioral Pediatrics, Alicia Rohan

Browse All News

No abstract provided.