Transitions from Telephone Surveys to Self-Administered and Mixed-Mode Surveys: AAPOR Task Force Report

Telephone surveys have been a ubiquitous method of collecting survey data, but the environment for telephone surveys is changing. Many surveys are transitioning from telephone to self-administration or combinations of modes for both recruitment and survey administration. Survey organizations are conducting these transitions from telephone to mixed modes with only limited guidance from existing empirical literature and best practices. This article summarizes findings by an AAPOR Task Force on how these transitions have occurred for surveys and research organizations in general. We find that transitions from a telephone to a selfadministered or mixed-mode survey are motivated by a desire to control costs, to maintain or improve data quality, or both. The most common mode to recruit respondents when transitioning is mail, but recent mixedmode studies use only web or mail and web together as survey administration modes. Although early studies found that telephone response rates met or exceeded response rates to the self-administered or mixed modes, after about 2013, response rates to the self-administered or mixed modes tended to exceed those for the telephone mode, largely because of a decline in the telephone mode response rates. Transitioning offers opportunities related to improved frame coverage and geographic targeting, delivery of incentives, visual design of an instrument, and cost savings, but challenges exist related to selecting a respondent within a household, length of a questionnaire, differences across modes in use of computerization to facilitate skip patterns and other questionnaire design features, and lack of an interviewer for respondent motivation and clarification. Other challenges related to surveying youth, conducting surveys in multiple languages, collecting nonsurvey data such as biomeasures or consent to link to administrative data, and estimation with multiple modes are also prominent

Egocentric Social Network Structure, Health, and Pro-Social Behaviors in a National Panel Study of Americans

Using a population-based, panel survey, we study how egocentric social networks change over time, and the relationship between egocentric network properties and health and pro-social behaviors. We find that the number of prosocial activities is strongly positively associated with having more friends, or an increase in degree, with approximately 0.04 more prosocial behaviors expected for every friend added. Moreover, having more friends is associated with an improvement in health, while being healthy and prosocial is associated with closer relationships. Specifically, a unit increase in health is associated with an expected 0.45 percentage-point increase in average closeness, while adding a prosocial activity is associated with a 0.46 percentage-point increase in the closeness of one’s relationships. Furthermore, a tradeoff between degree and closeness of social contacts was observed. As the number of close social contacts increases by one, the estimated average closeness of each individual contact decreases by approximately three percentage-points. The increased awareness of the importance of spillover effects in health and health care makes the ascertainment of egocentric social networks a valuable complement to investigations of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and health

Modeling the interactions between river morphodynamics and riparian vegetation

The study of river-riparian vegetation interactions is an important and intriguing research field in geophysics. Vegetation is an active element of the ecological dynamics of a floodplain which interacts with the fluvial processes and affects the flow field, sediment transport, and the morphology of the river. In turn, the river provides water, sediments, nutrients, and seeds to the nearby riparian vegetation, depending on the hydrological, hydraulic, and geomorphological characteristic of the stream. In the past, the study of this complex theme was approached in two different ways. On the one hand, the subject was faced from a mainly qualitative point of view by ecologists and biogeographers. Riparian vegetation dynamics and its spatial patterns have been described and demonstrated in detail, and the key role of several fluvial processes has been shown, but no mathematical models have been proposed. On the other hand, the quantitative approach to fluvial processes, which is typical of engineers, has led to the development of several morphodynamic models. However, the biological aspect has usually been neglected, and vegetation has only been considered as a static element. In recent years, different scientific communities (ranging from ecologists to biogeographers and from geomorphologists to hydrologists and fluvial engineers) have begun to collaborate and have proposed both semiquantitative and quantitative models of river-vegetation interconnections. These models demonstrate the importance of linking fluvial morphodynamics and riparian vegetation dynamics to understand the key processes that regulate a riparian environment in order to foresee the impact of anthropogenic actions and to carefully manage and rehabilitate riparian areas. In the first part of this work, we review the main interactions between rivers and riparian vegetation, and their possible modeling. In the second part, we discuss the semiquantitative and quantitative models which have been proposed to date, considering both multi- and single-thread river

Social presence in web surveys

Social interface theory has widespread influence in the field of human-computer interaction. The basic thesis is that humanizing cues in a computer interface can engender responses from users similar to human-human interaction. In contrast, the survey interviewing literature suggests that computer administration of surveys on highly sensitive topics reduces or eliminates social desirability effects, even when such humanizing features as voice are used. In attempting to reconcile these apparently contradictory findings, we varied features of the interface in a Web survey (n=3047). In one treatment, we presented an image of 1) a male researcher, 2) a female researcher, or 3) the study logo at several points. In another, we varied the extent of personal feedback provided. We find little support for the social interface hypothesis. We describe our study and discuss possible reasons for the contradictory evidence on social interfaces

Transitions from Telephone Surveys to Self-Administered and Mixed-Mode Surveys: AAPOR Task Force Report

Telephone surveys have been a ubiquitous method of collecting survey data, but the environment for telephone surveys is changing. Many surveys are transitioning from telephone to self-administration or combinations of modes for both recruitment and survey administration. Survey organizations are conducting these transitions from telephone to mixed modes with only limited guidance from existing empirical literature and best practices. This article summarizes findings by an AAPOR Task Force on how these transitions have occurred for surveys and research organizations in general. We find that transitions from a telephone to a selfadministered or mixed-mode survey are motivated by a desire to control costs, to maintain or improve data quality, or both. The most common mode to recruit respondents when transitioning is mail, but recent mixedmode studies use only web or mail and web together as survey administration modes. Although early studies found that telephone response rates met or exceeded response rates to the self-administered or mixed modes, after about 2013, response rates to the self-administered or mixed modes tended to exceed those for the telephone mode, largely because of a decline in the telephone mode response rates. Transitioning offers opportunities related to improved frame coverage and geographic targeting, delivery of incentives, visual design of an instrument, and cost savings, but challenges exist related to selecting a respondent within a household, length of a questionnaire, differences across modes in use of computerization to facilitate skip patterns and other questionnaire design features, and lack of an interviewer for respondent motivation and clarification. Other challenges related to surveying youth, conducting surveys in multiple languages, collecting nonsurvey data such as biomeasures or consent to link to administrative data, and estimation with multiple modes are also prominent

Development and Evaluation of the CAHPS (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) Survey for In-Center Hemodialysis Patients

BackgroundThe US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services assess patient experiences of care as part of the end-stage renal disease prospective payment system and Quality Incentive Program. This article describes the development and evaluation of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) In-Center Hemodialysis Survey.Study designWe conducted formative research to generate survey questions and performed statistical analyses to evaluate the survey's measurement properties.Setting & participantsFormative research included focus groups, cognitive interviews, and field testing the survey with dialysis patients.Measurements & outcomesWe assessed internal consistency reliability (Cronbach alpha) and center-level reliability for 3 multi-item scales. We evaluated construct validity using correlations of the scales with global ratings of the kidney doctor, staff, and dialysis center.ResultsResponse rate was 46% (1,454 completed surveys). Analyses support 3 multi-item scales: Nephrologists' Communication and Caring (7 items, alpha=0.89), Quality of Dialysis Center Care and Operations (22 items, alpha=0.93), and Providing Information to Patients (11 items, alpha=0.75). The communication scale was correlated the most strongly with the global rating of the "kidney doctor" (r=0.78). The Dialysis Center Care and Operations scale was correlated most strongly with global ratings of staff (r=0.75) and the center (r=0.69). Providing Information to Patients was correlated most strongly with the global rating of the staff (r=0.41).LimitationsA relatively small number of patients completed the survey in Spanish.ConclusionsThis study provides support for the reliability and validity of the CAHPS In-Center Hemodialysis Survey for assessing patient experiences of care at dialysis facilities. The survey can be used to compare care provided at different facilities

Measuring sedimentation in tidal marshes:a review on methods and their applicability in biogeomorphological studies

<p>It is increasingly recognised that interactions between geomorphological and biotic processes control the functioning of many ecosystem types as described e.g. by the ecological theory of ecosystem engineering. Consequently, the need for specific bio-geomorphological research methods is growing recently. Much research on bio-geomorphological processes is done in coastal marshes. These areas provide clear examples of ecosystem engineering as well as other bio-geomorphological processes: Marsh vegetation slows down tidal currents and hence stimulates the process of sedimentation, while vice versa, the sedimentation controls ecological processes like vegetation succession. This review is meant to give insights in the various available methods to measure sedimentation, with special attention to their suitability to quantify bio-geomorphological interactions. The choice of method used to measure sedimentation is important to obtain the correct parameters to understand the biogeomorphology of tidal salt marshes. This review, therefore, aims to be a tool for decision making regarding the processes to be measured and the methods to be used. We, subdivide the methods into those measuring suspended sediment concentration (A), sediment deposition (B), accretion (C) and surface-elevation change (D). With this review, we would like to further encourage interdisciplinary studies in the fields of ecology and geomorphology.</p>