An analysis of item nonresponse and "don't know" responses in the Feneral Social Survey of Canada, 1985 /

The issue of nonresponse to surveys is a serious problem in survey research because it reduces the amount of information obtained, creates a significant nuisance for data analysis and may introduce bias into the survey results by flawing the representativeness of the target population under investigation. This paper examines item-nonresponse and "don't know" responses in the General Social Survey of Canada of 1985 and comments specifically on the different effects of personal and telephone interviewing technique on rate of item omission. The effect of sensitivity of the question, and position of the item in the questionnaire on nonresponse are also examined in an exploratory descriptive analysis. Results of an analysis of variance and multiple regression/correlation indicate that both sensitivity and position are factors influencing item omission. In addition, demographic characteristics were found to be significantly and differentially correlated with item omission and "don't know" responses by topic area for the survey under investigation. The results of this study further demonstrate that telephone interviewing significantly increases the rate of item omission, especially for questions on social support