Faculty Publications

Interviewers' Ratings Of Data Quality In Household Telephone Surveys

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

North American Journal of Psychology

Volume

8

Issue

1

First Page

163

Last Page

170

Abstract

Data quality is assessed in many ways, including level of error, effects of the interviewer, how the instrument itself impacts the type and quality of data collected, and how respondents' cognitive and motivational abilities affect their answers. One aspect of data quality that has not been examined in detail is the interviewer's perception of the quality of the interview process itself and the subsequent data collected, Interviewers provide a unique glimpse into the data collection process. We had interviewers systematically evaluate the quality of the data collected from each interview (N=-1,355) and examined the differences in respondent answers based on interviewers' ratings. While most interviews were rated as excellent by these data collectors, those interviews that were rated as less than excellent show differential responding patterns. Instead of focusing solely on minimizing interviewer related error, we should also capitalize on the fact that the interviewer is an accessible informant into the data collection process. By having interviewers assess the quality of the data provided in the interviews they conduct, we get another piece of information with which to rate overall data quality. © NAJP.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

3-1-2006

This document is currently not available here.

Comments?

Share

COinS