Tradeoffs in Quality: Examining the Relationship Between Cell Telephone Respondent Location and Data Quality
Christopher Ward
NORC at the University of Chicago
Becky Reimer
NORC at the University of Chicago
Laurie Elam-Evans
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC
David Yankey
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
Meena Khare
National Center for Health Statistics, CDC
It is becoming increasingly important to include cell telephone samples as the proportion of cell telephone-only and cell telephone-mainly households continues to increase in the United States. Cell telephone samples often have lower response rates and higher operational costs than landline samples. This research evaluated another dimension affected by the inclusion of cell-phone frames: data quality. We examined whether data quality varied by respondents' sample frame and location (landline telephone-at-home, cell telephone-at-home, and cell telephone-away-from-home). We used data from the 2012 National Immunization Survey (NIS), a national, dual-frame, random-digit-dial survey. The completeness of questionnaire items (e.g., reporting on vaccinations their children had received), completeness of reporting on socio-demographic characteristics, and ability to report healthcare provider names and contact information were evaluated. Results showed that data quality on some variables may have been lower for respondents who were away from home at the time of the interview than those who were at home. This research provides insight into the differential reporting by respondent location.