Survey Participation, Nonresponse Bias, Measurement Error Bias, and Total Bias

2006/01/01 by Kristen Olson · 198 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Health Professions · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Econometrics #Healthcare Policy and Management #Information bias #Mathematics #Non-response bias #Observational error #Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare #Psychology #Selection bias #Social psychology #Statistics #Survey Methodology and Nonresponse

paper · doi:10.1093/poq/nfl038

published in Public Opinion Quarterly 70(5), 737-758 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2006/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

A common hypothesis about practices to reduce survey nonresponse is that those persons brought into the respondent pool through persuasive efforts may provide data filled with measurement error. Two questions flow from this hypothesis. First, does the mean square error of a statistic increase when sample persons who are less likely to be contacted or cooperate are incorporated into the respondent pool? Second, do nonresponse bias estimates made on the respondents, using survey reports instead of records, provide accurate information about nonresponse bias? Using a unique data set, the Wisconsin Divorce Study, with divorce records as the frame and questions about the frame information included in the questionnaire, this article takes a first look into these two issues. We find that the relationship between nonresponse bias, measurement error bias, and response propensity is statistic- specific and specific to the type of nonresponse. Total bias tends to be lower on estimates calculated using all respondents, compared with those with only the highest contact and cooperation propensities, and nonresponse bias analyses based on respondents yield conclusions similar to those based on records. Finally, we find that error properties of statistics may differ from error properties of the individual variables used to calculate the statistics.

Citations

• Consequences of Reducing Nonresponse in a National Telephone Survey
• Invited Commentary: Propensity Scores
• Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys
• The Role of Topic Interest in Survey Participation Decisions
• Constructing a Control Group Using Multivariate Matched Sampling Methods That Incorporate the Propensity Score

Cited by

• Examining the Relationship Between Nonresponse Propensity and Data Quality in Two National Household Surveys
• Satisficing Among Reluctant Respondents in a Cross-National Context
• A Comparison of Alternative Indicators for the Risk of Nonresponse Bias
• Nonresponse versus Measurement Error
• Total Bias in Income Surveys when Nonresponse and Measurement Errors are Correlated
• A Categorical Framework of Ethical Leadership for Public Organizations: Testing a Multi-Dimensional Model of Local Government Managers
• Do Non-Response Follow-Ups Improve or Reduce Data Quality?: A Review of the Existing Literature
• Enhancing Surveys of Health Care Professionals
• Random sample community-based health surveys: does the effort to reach participants matter? [europepmc]
• Childhood Maternal School Leaving Age (Level of Education) and Risk Markers of Metabolic Syndrome in Mid-Adulthood: Results from the 1958 British Birth Cohort. [europepmc]
• Cross-national comparisons of health indicators require standardized definitions and common data sources. [europepmc]
• Listening to Mental Health Crisis Needs at Scale: Using Natural Language Processing to Understand and Evaluate a Mental Health Crisis Text Messaging Service. [europepmc]
• Exploring Residents' Perceptions of Neighborhood Development and Revitalization for Active Living Opportunities. [europepmc]
• A Sensitivity Analysis Framework Using the Proxy Pattern-Mixture Model for Generalization of Experimental Results. [europepmc]

Related

• Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys
• Examining the Relationship Between Nonresponse Propensity and Data Quality in Two National Household Surveys
• The Impact of Nonresponse Rates on Nonresponse Bias: A Meta-Analysis
• Experiments in Producing Nonresponse Bias
• Organizations and Survey Research