Difficult Groups in Survey Research and the Development of Tailor-made Approach Strategies

This thesis deals with ‘difficult groups’ in survey research, which are currently under-represented groups in survey research. The focus is on ethnic minorities and people living in non-private households. Ethnic minorities are under-represented in survey research because they have below-average response rates. Nonresponse has the potential to bias survey estimates and thus threaten the validity of survey results. In this thesis strategies to reduce nonresponse among ethnic minorities are developed. Among others, in a large-scale experiment conducted by Statistics Netherlands, incentives are used as an instrument to decrease nonresponse rates in survey research. People living in non-private households are excluded from the sample frame before the actual survey is conducted. In a large pilot study the possebility of conducting survey research among residents of homes for the elderly and nursing homes, the two largest groups living in non-private households, is investigated. Moreover, the potential bias of excluding these groups from standard survey research is examined

Studying people living in non-private households: results of a large pilot study in the Netherlands (THESIS VERSION)

Residents of non-private households are currently excluded from most general social surveys. Their inability to answer survey questions and difficulties in approaching them are viewed as obstacles to survey this population. However, excluding them can potentially bias survey estimates. These two claims are investigated in this study. Firstly, we evaluate the opportunities to study residents of elderly and nursing homes, two major groups belonging to the non-private population. Secondly, we assess possible differences between the key characteristics of these two groups and those of comparable residents of private households to explore the potential bias of excluding them from survey research. To do so, a pilot study is conducted at Statistics Netherlands. In this pilot study, 537 responses are collected from residents of elderly and nursing homes. We find that with an adjusted approaching strategy and questionnaire, conducting survey research among residents of elderly and nursing homes is certainly feasible in terms of response rates and data quality. An examination of the potential bias caused by excluding non-private households from general nation-wide social surveys reveals substantial differences between non-private and private households on almost all key survey variables

Structurele vergelijkingen modellen

In dit artikel worden Structural Equations Models (SEM) besproken. SEM wordt al decennialang toegepast, met in de jaren zeventig van de vorige eeuw een voortrekkersrol voor het softwareprogramma LISREL. Ze bieden steeds meer mogelijkheden tot verschillende analyses. Een structureel vergelijkingen model is een model gebaseerd op een achterliggende theorie, waarbij met name de mogelijkheid om een complexe theorie in een model te analyseren SEM aantrekkelijk maakt

Looking for Homogeneous Groups of Respondents and Nonrespondents Using Latent Class Analysis

Concerns about decreasing response rates have led to many nonresponse studies. Unfortunately, usually only a limited amount of data is available on nonrespondents. Linking administrative data makes information available on all the sampled units including nonrespondents. Statistics Netherlands has constructed a database in which several administrative records and several surveys are connected. In this explorative study we use this dataset to look for homogenous groups of respondents and nonrespondents in survey research using latent class cluster analysis. Latent class techniques can provide insight into the problem of selective nonresponse and currently under-represented societal groups. We identify four different latent classes in a recent Dutch survey and replicate the findings for the same survey conducted 4 years later. Two of the types of sampled units have above-average response rates and the other two have below-average response rates. We also evaluate various latent class models with other response outcomes to gain insight into the contact and cooperation process

Incentives and Ethnic Minorities: Results of a Controlled Randomized Experiment in the Netherlands

"In this article the authors examine the effect of a prepaid incentive on cooperation rates among ethnic minorities in the Netherlands. They find that the incentive did have a substantial positive effect on the cooperation rates among native sampled units and Western foreigners. Among Non-Western foreigners this effect was only modest. Furthermore, the authors also matched ethnic minorities with native sampled units using propensity score matching to compare the effect of the incentive on the cooperation rates among ethnic minorities and 'comparable' native sampled units. They found that the increase in cooperation rate was larger among natives compared to the increase in cooperation rate among ethnic minorities." (author's abstract