Conferences

The quality of survey data is of concern to social scientists and policy makers alike. It is determined by many aspects of the survey process including sampling, patterns of response and non-response as well as survey design and data collection procedures. The evaluation of survey features such as question design and administration techniques is an openly debated issue because the quality of resulting survey data can be multidimensional, difficult to define and difficult to measure. Our session focuses on methods adopted to evaluate survey data collection techniques, cognitive interviewing or behaviour coding for instance, and how such methods can be applied to recent developments in survey data collection such as event history calendar interviewing, dependent interviewing, or data collection modes. The main aims of this session are, therefore, to discuss, compare and contrast the methods used to evaluate aspect of survey design and to explore future changes in the development of such methods in an environment of innovations in data collection procedures and designs.

Papers that address the following issues are welcome:

- Theoretical issues concerning the methods of evaluating data collection procedures and survey design

- Applications of the different methods used to evaluate data collection procedures and survey design such as cognitive interviewing, conversation analysis, behavioural coding, expert review, interviewer debriefing, etc… particularly to recent developments in both data collection practices and questionnaire construction.

- Comparisons and contrasts between various evaluative methods

- Limits of the methods currently available

- Future development in the methods used to evaluate survey data collection procedures and survey design generally

Papers that address other aspects of the methods to evaluate data collection procedures in surveys will also be taken into consideration.