Interviewer Effects on Nonresponse

In face-to-face surveys interviewers play a crucial role in making contact with and gaining cooperation from sample units. While some analyses investigate the influence of interviewers on nonresponse, they are typically restricted to single-country studies. However, interviewer training, contacting and cooperation strategies as well as survey climates may differ across countries. Combining call-record data from the European Social Survey (ESS) with data from a detailed interviewer questionnaire on attitudes and doorstep behavior we find systematic country differences in nonresponse processes, which can in part be explained by differences in interviewer characteristics, such as contacting strategies and avowed doorstep behavior.

Educational psychology in latin america: with linear hierarchical models

Research in clinical psychology, since its inception, has been aimed at analyzing, predicting and explaining the effect of treatments, by studying the change of patients in the course of them. To study the effects of therapy, research based on quantitative analysis models has historically used classical methods of parametric statistics, such as Pearson correlations, least squares regressions Student’s T-Tests and Variance Analysis (ANOVA). Hierarchical linear models (HLMs) represent a fundamental statistical strategy for research in psychotherapy, as they allow to overcome dependence on the observations usually presented in your data. The objective of this work is to present a guide to understanding, applying and reporting HLMs to study the effects of psychotherapy

Impact of age norms and stereotypes on managers' hiring decisions of retirees

Purpose -Our study investigates the role of managers in the re-employment of early retirees and asks what the effect is of managers’ age norms and stereotypes on managers’ employment decisions. Design/methodology/approach- A combination of a factorial study and a survey was conducted. First, information on the age norms and stereotypes was collected. Secondly, profiles of hypothetical retired job applicants were presented to the employers, who were asked to make a specific hiring decision. The information collected during both studies was combined in the analysis and multilevel models were estimated. Findings -The results indicate that higher age norms result in a higher propensity to hire an early retiree. Stereotypes, by contrast, do not influence managers’ decisions. Early retirees’ chances for re-employment are also related to their own circumstances (physical appearance and relevant experience) and organisational forces, as they are hired when organisations face labour force shortages. Research limitation / implications – with the use of vignettes study we deal with hypothetical hiring situation. Originality value- Although the effect of age norms and age stereotypes has been often suggested, not much empirical evidence was presented to support this notion. Our study estimates the effect of age norms and stereotypes on hiring decision. key words: bridge employment; early retirees; age norms; age stereotypes; multilevel models.

Multilevel analysis : techniques and applications, 2nd ed./ Hox

x, 382 hal.: ill., tab.; 24 c

Evaluating Bias of Sequential Mixed-mode Designs Against Benchmark Surveys

This study evaluated three types of bias—total, measurement, and selection bias (SB)—in three sequential mixed-mode designs of the Dutch Crime Victimization Survey: telephone, mail, and web, where nonrespondents were followed up face-to-face (F2F). In the absence of true scores, all biases were estimated as mode effects against two different types of benchmarks. In the single-mode benchmark (SMB), effects were evaluated against a F2F reference survey. In an alternative analysis, a “hybrid-mode benchmark” (HMB) was used, where effects were evaluated against a mix of the measurements of a web survey and the SB of a F2F survey. A special reinterview design made available additional auxiliary data exploited in estimation for a range of survey variables. Depending on the SMB and HMB perspectives, a telephone, mail, or web design with a F2F follow-up (SMB) or a design involving only mail and/or web but not a F2F follow-up (HMB) is recommended based on the empirical findings

Handling Do-Not-Know Answers : Exploring New Approaches in Online and Mixed-Mode Surveys

An important decision in online and mixed-mode questionnaire design is if and how to include a “do-not-know” (DK) option. Mandatory response is often a default option, but methodologists have advised against this. Several solutions for the DK category are suggested. These include (1) not explicitly offering a DK, but skipping questions is allowed, (2) explicitly offering a DK option with visual separation from the substantive responses, and (3) using the interactivity of the web to emulate interviewer probing after a DK answer. To test these solutions, experimental data were collected in a probability based online panel. Not offering DK, but allowing respondents to skip questions, followed by a polite probe when skips occurred, resulted in the lowest amount of missing information. To assess the effect of probing across different modes, a second experiment was carried out that compared explicitly and implicitly offering the DK option for web and telephone surveys