From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel Surveys
In many panel surveys that rely on face-to-face interviewing, interviewers are repeatedly allocated to the same respondents in each wave. Researchers and fieldwork agencies argue that interviewer continuity can contribute to the quality of the data collected, for instance, by reducing panel attritio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Survey Research Association
2018-08-01
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| Series: | Survey Research Methods |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/srm/article/view/7299 |
| _version_ | 1818331833206571008 |
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| author | Simon Kühne |
| author_facet | Simon Kühne |
| author_sort | Simon Kühne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In many panel surveys that rely on face-to-face interviewing, interviewers are repeatedly allocated to the same respondents in each wave. Researchers and fieldwork agencies argue that interviewer continuity can contribute to the quality of the data collected, for instance, by reducing panel attrition. However, there is almost no empirical evidence focusing on the effects of growing familiarity between interviewers and respondents on responses and measurement error in repeated interviews. This paper focuses on questions containing socially (un)desirable answer options. It is argued that interviewer continuity promotes the development of trust, emotional closeness, and loyalty, as well as interview rapport between respondents and interviewers, and that this, in turn, increases the respondents' motivation to answer truthfully rather than in a socially desirable way. Drawing on data derived from 31 waves of an ongoing household panel study in Germany, the results show a consistent effect of interviewer continuity on response behavior: Respondents who are more familiar with their interviewers are less likely to choose answer options associated with socially desirable connotations. This study provides evidence for a rare advantageous panel conditioning effect on data quality in longitudinal studies and points to the importance of taking into account the familiarity between respondents and interviewers when investigating conditioning effects on measurement error in longitudinal studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T13:26:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1cecd86f6d624e8390f540dc5eb0b660 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1864-3361 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T13:26:08Z |
| publishDate | 2018-08-01 |
| publisher | European Survey Research Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Survey Research Methods |
| spelling | doaj.art-1cecd86f6d624e8390f540dc5eb0b6602022-12-21T23:44:18ZengEuropean Survey Research AssociationSurvey Research Methods1864-33612018-08-0112210.18148/srm/2018.v12i2.7299From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel SurveysSimon Kühne0Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) German Institute for Economic Research, DIW BerlinIn many panel surveys that rely on face-to-face interviewing, interviewers are repeatedly allocated to the same respondents in each wave. Researchers and fieldwork agencies argue that interviewer continuity can contribute to the quality of the data collected, for instance, by reducing panel attrition. However, there is almost no empirical evidence focusing on the effects of growing familiarity between interviewers and respondents on responses and measurement error in repeated interviews. This paper focuses on questions containing socially (un)desirable answer options. It is argued that interviewer continuity promotes the development of trust, emotional closeness, and loyalty, as well as interview rapport between respondents and interviewers, and that this, in turn, increases the respondents' motivation to answer truthfully rather than in a socially desirable way. Drawing on data derived from 31 waves of an ongoing household panel study in Germany, the results show a consistent effect of interviewer continuity on response behavior: Respondents who are more familiar with their interviewers are less likely to choose answer options associated with socially desirable connotations. This study provides evidence for a rare advantageous panel conditioning effect on data quality in longitudinal studies and points to the importance of taking into account the familiarity between respondents and interviewers when investigating conditioning effects on measurement error in longitudinal studies.https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/srm/article/view/7299interviewer continuityinterviewer-respondent familiarityinterviewer effectspanel conditioningsocial desirabilitypanel surveys |
| spellingShingle | Simon Kühne From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel Surveys Survey Research Methods interviewer continuity interviewer-respondent familiarity interviewer effects panel conditioning social desirability panel surveys |
| title | From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel Surveys |
| title_full | From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel Surveys |
| title_fullStr | From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel Surveys |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel Surveys |
| title_short | From Strangers to Acquaintances? Interviewer Continuity and Socially Desirable Responses in Panel Surveys |
| title_sort | from strangers to acquaintances interviewer continuity and socially desirable responses in panel surveys |
| topic | interviewer continuity interviewer-respondent familiarity interviewer effects panel conditioning social desirability panel surveys |
| url | https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/srm/article/view/7299 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT simonkuhne fromstrangerstoacquaintancesinterviewercontinuityandsociallydesirableresponsesinpanelsurveys |