Respondent Behavior in Panel Studies: A Case Study for Income-Nonresponse by Means of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP)

Many validation studies deal with item-nonresponse and measurement error in earnings data. In this paper we explore motives of respondents for the failure to reveal earnings using the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). GSOEP collects socio-economic information of private households in the Federal Republic of Germany. We explain the evolution of income-nonresponse in the GSOEP and demonstrate the importance of a discrimination between refusing the income-statement or don't know.Respondent behavior; Interviewer effects; Item-Nonresponse; Panel analysis; Multilevel modeling

Benford's Law As an Instrument for Fraud Detection in Surveys Using the Data of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

This paper focuses on fraud detection in surveys using Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data as an example for testing newly methods proposed here. A statistical theorem referred to as Benford's Law states that in many sets of numerical data, the significant digits are not uniformly distributed, as one might expect, but rather adhere to a certain logarithmic probability function. To detect fraud we derive several requirements that should, according to this law, be fulfilled in the case of survey data. We show that in several SOEP subsamples, Benford's Law holds for the available continuous data. For this analysis, we have developed a measure that reflects the plausibility of the digit distribution in interviewer clusters. We are able to demonstrate that several interviews that were known to have been fabricated and therefore deleted in the original user data set can be detected using this method. Furthermore, in one subsample, we use this method to identify a case of an interviewer falsifying ten interviews who had not been detected previously by the fieldwork organization. In the last section of our paper, we try to explain the deviation from Benford's distribution empirically, and show that several factors can influence the test statistic used. To avoid misinterpretations and false conclusions, it is important to take these factors into account when Benford's Law is applied to survey data.Falsification, data quality, Benford's Law, SOEP

Individual and Neighborhood Determinants of Survey Nonresponse: An Analysis Based on a New Subsample of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), Microgeographic Characteristics and Survey-Based Interviewer Characteristics

This study examines the phenomenon of nonresponse in the first wave of a refresher sample (subsample H) of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). Our first step is to link additional (commercial) microgeographic data on the immediate neighborhoods of the households visited by interviewers. These additional data (paradata) provide valuable information on respondents and nonrespondents, including milieu or lifestyle, dominant household structure, desire for anonymity, frequency of moves, and other important microgeographic information. This linked information is then used to analyze nonresponse. In a second step, we also use demographic variables for the interviewer from an administrative data set about the interviewers, and, in a third step, we use the results of a special interviewer survey. We use multilevel statistical modeling to examine the influence of neighborhoods and interviewers on non-contacts, inability to participate, and refusals. In our analysis, we find our additional variables useful for understanding and explaining non-contacts and refusals and the inability of some respondents to participate in surveys. These data provide an important basis for filling the information gap on response and nonresponse in panel surveys (and in cross-sectional surveys). However, the effect sizes of these effects are negligible. Ignoring these effects does not cause significant biases in statistical inferences drawn from the survey under consideration.Nonresponse, interviewer effects, microgeographic data, multilevel modeling, SOEP

Changing from PAPI to CAPI: A Longitudinal Study of Mode-Effects Based on an Experimental Design

This paper examines the implication of the move to CAPI for data quality by analyzing the conversion from PAPI to CAPI of a subsample of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) which was done within an experimental design. The 2000 addresses for the sample E of SOEP were split into two subsamples E1 and E2 with the same structure using twin - sample points. Each of the 125 sample points contained 16 addresses (8 for E1 and 8 for E2) and had to be realized in the first wave alternately with PAPI and CAPI mode per interviewer. In the subsequent waves the PAPI mode was partly replaced by CAPI. With this experimental longitudinal design we are able to control for possible interviewer effects in the analysis of mode effects. The paper assesses whether any mode effects are apparent for the response rate. Within the data, we examine monetary dimensions such as gross income, item and unit nonresponse rates. We were able to find some minor effects but our main results show that we have made the shift without introducing strong mode effects.CAPI, Mode effects, data quality, interviewer effects

Was kann man am Beispiel des SOEP bezüglich Nonresponse lernen?

"Die vorliegende Untersuchung beschäftigt sich mit dem Ausfallprozeß in der Basiserhebung des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP). Neben einer detaillierten Deskription der Ausfälle in der ersten Welle, werden Multilevelmodelle verwendet, um den Prozeß der Interviewteilnahme in Abhängigkeit von Befragten-, Interviewer- und Situationsmerkmalen zu erklären. Hierbei wird zwischen Erreichbarkeit und Kooperationsbereitschaft der Befragten und zusätzlich zwischen Erst- und Nachbearbeitung differenziert. Durch diese Erweiterung besteht die Möglichkeit, auch die Konvertierung von Verweigerern in der Erstbearbeitung bei der Modellierung mit zu berücksichtigen." (Autorenreferat)"The following study describes the process of non-response in the first wave in the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Multilevel statistical modelling is used to explore the influence of characteristics of respondents and interviewers on non-contacts and refusal rates. In addition, a further distinction between first treatment (contact) and followup treatment (contact) allows us to analyse the converted respondents who first decided to refuse but then did participate when contacted again." (author's abstract

Automatic Identification of Faked and Fraudulent Interviews in Surveys by Two Different Methods

This paper presents two new tools for the identification of faking interviewers in surveys. One method is based on Benford's Law, and the other exploits the empirical observation that fakers most often produce answers with less variability than could be expected from the whole survey. We focus on fabricated data, which were taken out of the survey before the data were disseminated in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). For two samples, the resulting rankings of the interviewers with respect to their cheating behavior are given. For both methods all of the evident fakers are identified.

Kommunales Präventionsmonitoring: Konzept - Umsetzungspotentiale - Alternativen

Ansätze eines integrierten Monitorings haben im Rahmen des Aufbaus einer kommunalen Präventionspolitik in Kommunen eine hohe Bedeutung. Neu ist im Kontext von Prävention vor allem die Orientierung am Lebenslauf von Kindern und Jugendlichen. Dieses Konzept trifft auf eine heterogene Landschaft von kleinräumigen kommunalen Berichtssystemen. Darüber hinaus gibt es alternative Ansätze, die auch als Serviceangebot Informationsgrundlagen für den Aufbau einer Präventionspolitik liefern können

Kommunales Präventionsmonitoring: Konzept - Umsetzungspotentiale - Alternativen

Im Rahmen dieser Expertise wird eine exemplarische Bestandsaufnahme und strukturierte Analyse vorhandener kleinräumiger Berichtssysteme im Themenbereich Soziales und Prävention durchgeführt. Ergänzt wird die exemplarische Metaanalyse von kommunalen Monitorings durch zwei Beispiele flächendeckender, kleinräumiger Berichterstattung ohne kommunale Beteiligung aus dem Kontext der Landessozial- und Bildungsberichterstattung. Außerdem wurden leitfadengestützte ExpertInneninterviews zu Bedingungen einer gelungenen Berichterstattung durchgeführt. Ziele der Studie sind zum einen die vorhandenen Berichtssysteme vergleichend zu analysieren und dabei sowohl planungsbezogene Handlungsbedarfe als auch kommunale Handlungsmöglichkeiten für ein kleinräumiges Präventionsmonitoring zu beschreiben. Zum anderen werden mit Blick auf eine nachhaltig integrierte Berichterstattung Handlungsempfehlungen für die kommunale Praxis formuliert werden, die auch alternative Zugänge berücksichtigen, damit aus 'Daten Taten' werden.Within the framework of this expertise, an exemplary survey and structured analysis of existing small-scale reporting systems in the area of social issues and prevention will be carried out. The exemplary survey of municipal monitoring is supplemented by two examples of regional, small-scale reporting without municipal participation from the context of state social and educational reporting. In addition, guideline-based expert interviews, were conducted on conditions of successful reporting. The aims of the study are to analyze the existing reporting systems in a comparative manner and to describe planning-related needs for action as well as municipal options for small-scale prevention monitoring. On the other hand, with a view to sustainable integrated reporting, recommendations for action for local practice will be formulated, which will also consider alternative approaches, thus turning the principle "data to deeds" into reality