The Problem of Nonresponse in Sample Surveys

作者：Morris H. Hansen, William N. Hurwitz · 发表于：The American Statistician · 年份：2004 · DOI：10.1198/000313004x6328 · 被引用次数：84 · 研究领域：Survey Methodology and Nonresponse

The mail questionnaire is used in a number of surveys be cause of the economies involved. The principal objection to this method of collecting factual information is that it generally in volves a large nonresponse rate, and an unknown bias is involved in an assumption [that] responding are representative of the combined total of respondents and nonrespondents. Personal interviews generally elicit a substantially complete response, but the cost per schedule is, of course, considerably higher than it would be for the mail questionnaire method. The purpose of this paper is to indicate a technique which combines the advantages of both procedures. The problem considered is to determine the number of mail questionnaires to be sent out and the number of personal inter views to take in following up nonresponses to the mail ques tionnaire, in order to attain the required precision at a minimum cost. The procedure outlined below can be applied whatever the methods of collecting data are. For example, perhaps equally important as the problem of nonresponse in using mail question naires is the problem of call-backs in taking field interviews. In this latter problem the procedure to minimize cost for a given degree of reliability would call for taking a larger sample of first interviews and calling back on a fraction of those not at home. The technique presented herein makes it possible to use unbi ased designs at a reasonable cost where the excessive cost of ordinary methods of follow-up...