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Activity Number:
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242
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Type:
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Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Tuesday, August 5, 2003 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
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Sponsor:
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Section on Survey Research Methods
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| Abstract - #301270 |
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Title:
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Response Process and Burden in Establishment Surveys
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Author(s):
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Tony Hak*+ and Amy E. Anderson and Diane K. Willimack
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Companies:
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U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau
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Address:
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4700 Silver Hill Rd., Washington, DC, 20233-0001,
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Keywords:
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response burden ; response process model ; establishment surveys ; qualitative methods
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Abstract:
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Burden in establishment surveys may be reduced if we have a better understanding of the response process in businesses. The Census Bureau typically measures 'respondent burden' as the estimated average burden hours totalled across all surveys that a company receives. We use the concept to designate the total effort (in terms of cognitive effort and other work of the respondent) of completing and submitting a questionnaire and the subjective evaluation of this effort (as more or less burdensome) by the respondent. We conducted a qualitative in-depth study to test and improve details of the 'hybrid' response process model of establishment surveys (Sudman et al. 2000). In the context of research on reporting mode preferences, we used protocols involving on-site direct observation and retrospective focused interviews to collect qualitative data on the response process and on response burden in a small number of establishment surveys that differ greatly in length and complexity. This paper describes how response burden was measured in this study and identifies major determinants of response burden relative to the steps in the establishment survey response process.
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