Dear Colleagues,
The 5th European Survey Research Association (ESRA) conference will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia from July 15-19, 2013.
https://www.
We are organising a session titled “Is it worth mixing modes? New evidence on costs and survey error on mixed-modes surveys” and we invite you to consider contributing a presentation to the session.
Survey designers face a continuous tension between minimizing survey error and keeping costs low (Groves, 1989). A strategy that has been pursued to reduce costs is the use of mixed modes of data collection, using cheaper modes early in the process, and reserving more efficient and expensive modes to increase response rates and coverage.
A considerable amount of research has tried to assess the impact of using mixed modes of data collection on data quality in terms of response error and measurement error. This body of research typically compares response distributions and response rates across modes but fails to report the effect of the mode design on actual comprehensive costs and on timeliness. However, mixed mode survey implementations may not be as efficient as first thought. With the current technological tools, the costs associated with the production of equivalent questionnaires across modes, equivalent contact forms, equivalent data protocols, and other fieldwork documents might be an underestimated burden. Further to this, findings about the effects on response rates and measurement effects are far from conclusive, and the field is in need of new evidence linking total survey error and survey costs.
In this session we invite studies that address challenges and lessons learned from the implementation of mixed mode designs, with an emphasis on the link between survey error and costs. Papers submitted for this session will ideally include evidence of the effect of the use of mixed-modes on:
– costs, time, and other resources;
– coverage error;
– response rates and/or response bias;
– measurement error.
Please submit an abstract of not more than 250 words via the ESRA website, https://www.
Four papers will be accepted for the 90 minute session. It may be possible to add a second session on the same topic if there is a strong interest. You will be notified in early February 2013 regarding the status of your submission.
Please forward this request for submissions to others who may be interested in this session. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries about the session.
Thank you,
Ana Villar, City University London
Peter Lynn, University of Essex, UK