Effect of Respondent’s Age on Survey Research |
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| Coordinator 1 | Dr Susanne Vogl (University of Vienna) |
Insights into survey methodology is often based on middle-aged, middle-class, white, and well-educated members of “mainstream” society. However, in times of globalization, increased international mobility as well as aging western societies, effects of respondent characteristics on different stages of the survey lifecycle have to be consider. Arguably, respondents’ age can affect survey research in multiple ways: Cognitive, verbal, and interactive skills change over the life course and thus have an effect on the question-answer-process. However, life styles and living conditions and position within societal hierarchy also change and affect the definition of target populations, sampling frames, recruitment procedures, interview modes, interviewer behaviour and so on.
The session aims to bring together expertise on age-related changes in cognitive and communicative processes but also motivational and lifestyle changes and their interrelation with research method effects. Age-related differences in cognitive functioning, memory, text comprehension, communication and speech exert differential methods effects for younger and older respondents. Furthermore, changes in sensory, cognitive and motivational aspects over the life course go hand in hand with different effects of research instruments and settings and give rise to age-sensitive context effects.
Presentations can range from laboratory research to field research, re-analysis of existing data sets, meta-analysis or a theoretical discussion. Contributions can focus on either one specific age groups like children or the elderly, or can be based on a comparison across the life course. We particularly welcome contributions on – without being limited to those: age effect on cognitive processes, data quality (e.g. question order and response effects, interviewer bias, social desirability, satisficing), item & unit non-response, motivation to survey participation, unit- and itemnonresponse. We are also interested in the interrelation of age and mode effects and interviewer characteristics as well as innovative approaches to adapt methods to specific age groups.
We hope to stimulate a fruitful discussion to gain a better understanding of age-related effects on the applicability of survey research methods and techniques.