http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/publications/working-papers/iser/2009-07

While designing surveys one could use different kind of questions. In a panel survey a major distinction is between the questions used in dependent and independent interviewing. Dependent interviewing (DI) questions differ from independent interviewing questions as DI uses information collected in previous waves of a survey to word the questions or route respondents through the questionnaire sections. DI questions have been increasingly used in major longitudinal surveys. They are claimed to improve data quality, reduce interviewer and respondent burden (the physical and mental efforts associated with administering or answering a questionnaire) and to positively impact interviewer-respondent interactions. Although some of these claims have undergone empirical tests, the impact of DI on interviewer burden remains currently unexplored and undocumented. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the impact of DI on interviewer burden and describe the mechanisms by which DI affects it and ultimately data quality. We apply a revised version of the interviewer burden model originally developed by Japec (2008) to analyse qualitative data collected in a survey carried out in 2006 on the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) interviewers. We find that: (i) DI has a minor impact on interviewer burden, (ii) this impact is perceived by interviewers to be positive, (iii) the mechanisms by which DI reduces interviewer burden are mainly indirect as they are mediated by respondents, and (iv) in most cases the impact of DI on interviewer burden varies in relation to the type of DI questions asked and respondent circumstances. Issues concerning the relationship between interviewer burden and data quality are also discussed and future research areas are identified.

This paper evaluates the impact of dependent interviewing (DI) on interviewer burden and data quality using qualitative data collected from a survey carried out in 2006 on the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) interviewers. We find that: (i) DI has a minor effect on interviewer burden, (ii) this effect is perceived by interviewers to be positive, (iii) the mechanisms by which DI reduces interviewer burden are mainly indirect as they are mediated by respondents, and (iv) in most cases the effects of DI on interviewer burden varies in relation to the type of DI questions asked and respondent circumstances. Working Paper 2009-07 2009-03-12 Emanuela Sala Institute for Social and Economic Research esala@essex.ac.uk S.C. Noah Uhrig Institute for Social and Economic Research scnuhrig@essex.ac.uk Peter Lynn Institute for Social and Economic Research plynn@essex.ac.uk http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/home/plynn/index.htm