Trust in Surveys and the Respondents‘ Susceptibility to Item Nonresponse

Volker Stocké () and Tobias Stark ()
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Volker Stocké: Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Postal: L 13, 15, D-68131 Mannheim
Tobias Stark: Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Postal: L 13, 15, D-68131 Mannheim

No 06-06, Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications from Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim

Abstract: We test the hypothesis that respondents with a strong attitude that surveys in general cannot be trusted are more susceptible to item nonresponse. This is done separately for the don’t know and refusal rate observed for subjective and factual questions. In a comparative perspective, using data from the ten new member states of the European Union, we firstly find substantial between-country and sociodemographic differences in all four types of nonresponse. A series of negative-binomial regressions shows secondly that lacking trust in surveys significantly increases the rate of unanswered questions, but this negative effect is restricted on the subsample of respondents who consistently reported this attitude in multiple questions. This is equally the case for don’t knows as well as refusals on subjective as well as factual questions. Thirdly, the between-country differences in nonresponse rates are only partly due to the national samples, having differently strong faith in surveys.

Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2006-05-14
Note: Stimulating discussions with Hartmut Esser are gratefully acknowledged. Furthermore, we would like to thank Robert Manchin for drawing our attention to the data utilized in this article. Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 504, at the University of Mannheim, is gratefully acknowledged.
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