Control of Interviewer Errors in Social Surveys

Li Wei

Institute of Sociology, CASS.Beijing,100732

Abstract:

Interviewer in social survey are extremely important ones, they play several essential roles in surveys for enumerating eligible persons, implementing respondent selection rules, eliciting the cooperation of sample respondents and managing the question-and-answer process. How well interviewer performs these aspects of their job can have important effects on survey errors, especially nonresponse error and measurement error.

The nonresponse errors results from interviewer include: 1) improper ways to deliver interview request to sample units that increase noncontactibility; 2) lack of telling tacit producing refusal; and 3) unskillful usage of respondents’ selection. The measurement errors come from interviewer are: 1) distorting the concepts and items of questionnaire by using their own words; 2) ignoring and omitting items, particularly in much length of questionnaires interviews; 3) misguiding and pruning respondents answers; and 4) eliciting social desirability of respondents.

Survey error induced by interviewers are reduced when interviewers are effective in motivating good respondent behavior, using task-oriented approaches to the interaction, reading questions as worded, explaining the response task to the respondents, probing nondirectively, and recording answers exactly as given.

The efforts to reducing such kind of interviewer errors and to changing interviewer behavior in General Social Survey in China 2006, conducted by Institute of Sociology, CASS., would be introduced. It based on 1) well and comprehensive training program for interviewers consist of interviewing skill, imitating interview among respondent groups and trial interview in real field work; 2) proper timing and calendar arrangement for interviewer in recruitment stage; 3) strictly supervise and monitor in interview process by using digital techniques, e.g. digital audio record; 4) day by day interview groups summing up meeting; and 5）consultation and technique services offered by centralized at-once hot-line.

Key words: survey error, interviewer error, survey methodology

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