The Implications of Differential Measurement Error in Interviewer Observations for Nonresponse Adjustment of Survey Estimates: A Simulation Study

• Activity Number: 300
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Brady West*+
• Companies: Institute for Social Research
• Keywords: Survey Methodology ; Interviewer Observations ; Paradata ; Nonresponse Adjustment ; Measurement Error ; Survey Weighting

Abstract

Recent work by West (2013, JRSS-A) presented results from a simulation study designed to examine the implications of measurement error in a simple binary interviewer observation for nonresponse adjustments, where weighting classes are determined solely by the binary observation. This work suggested that the error rates currently observed in the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) could lead to adjusted estimates with reduced quality relative to complete case estimates, if weighting class adjustments for nonresponse are based solely on the binary observations. This study presents results from a more comprehensive set of simulation studies designed to examine the effects of differential measurement error in interviewer observations (i.e., different error rates for respondents and non-respondents) on weighting class adjustments for nonresponse that include additional auxiliary variables. Practical scenarios where differential measurement error will have the largest impact on the quality of the nonresponse adjustments will be discussed, presenting survey statisticians with guidance on problematic error rates. Suggestions for future research in this area will also be presented.