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27 - Tailored and targeted designs for hard-to-survey populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2014

By
Marieke Haan  and
Yfke Ongena
Edited by
Roger Tourangeau ,
Brad Edwards ,
Timothy P. Johnson ,
Kirk M. Wolter  and
Nancy Bates
Marieke Haan
Affiliation:
University of Groningen
Yfke Ongena
Affiliation:
University of Groningen
Roger Tourangeau
Affiliation:
Westat Research Organisation, Maryland
Brad Edwards
Affiliation:
Westat Research Organisation, Maryland
Timothy P. Johnson
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Chicago
Kirk M. Wolter
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Nancy Bates
Affiliation:
US Census Bureau
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Summary

Introduction

Obtaining survey data has become a challenging task, as response rates have decreased over the years in the United States and Europe (Atrostic, Bates, Burt, & Silberstein, 2001; de Heer, 1999). Collecting data from hard-to-survey populations is even more difficult; they are either hard to reach or known for low cooperation rates (for a more extensive discussion, see Tourangeau, Chapter 1 in this volume).

Complete lists covering many hard-to-survey populations do not exist (Sudman & Kalton, 1986) and there is no simple method to define these groups (Lin & Schaeffer, 1995; Smith, 1983). Nevertheless, researchers have made an attempt to identify characteristics of typical nonrespondents (e.g., Caetano, Ramisetty-Mikler, & McGrath, 2003; Gannon, Northern, & Carroll, 1971; Shahar, Folsom, & Jackson, 1996). Many nonresponse characteristics found in these studies are sample-specific and therefore not useful for other investigations. While most surveys cannot produce response rates by population group, use of inclusion rates (i.e., a ratio of the estimate in a survey to an official estimate) can provide useful information (Griffin, 2012). Hard-to-survey groups also possess characteristics that have demonstrated barriers to participating in many studies.

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Hard-to-Survey Populations , pp. 555 - 574
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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