The impact of using the Web in a mixed-mode follow-up of a longitudinal birth cohort study: Evidence from the National Child Development Study

Goodman, Alissa; Brown, Matt; Silverwood, Richard J.; Sakshaug, Joseph W.; Calderwood, Lisa; Williams, Joel und Ploubidis, George B. (2022): The impact of using the Web in a mixed-mode follow-up of a longitudinal birth cohort study: Evidence from the National Child Development Study. In: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society / Series A (Statistics in Society), Bd. 185, Nr. 3: S. 822-850

Abstract

A sequential mixed-mode data collection, online-to-telephone, was introduced into the National Child Development Study for the first time at the study's age 55 sweep in 2013. The study included a small experiment, whereby a randomised subset of study members was allocated to a single mode, telephone-only interview, in order to test for the presence of mode effects on participation andmeasurement. Relative to telephone-only, the offer of theWeb increased overall participation rates by 5.0 percentage points (82.8% vs. 77.8%;95% confidence interval for difference: 2.7% to 7.3%). Differences attributable to mode of interview were detected in levels of item non-response and response values for a limited number of questions. Most notably, response by Web (relative to telephone) was found to have increased the likelihood of non-response to questions relating to pay and other financialmatters, and increased the likelihood of `less desirable' responses. For example, response by Web resulted in the reporting of more units of alcohol consumed, and more negative responses to subjective questions such as self-rated health, self-rated financial status and well-being. As there was evidence of mode effects, there is the potential for biases in some analyses, unless appropriate techniques are utilised to correct for these.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Mathematik, Informatik und Statistik > Statistik
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 510 Mathematik
• ISSN: 0964-1998
• Sprache: Englisch