Interviewer-Assisted or Not? Strengths and Drawbacks of Mode Transitions in Times of Crisis |
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| Coordinator 1 | Dr Melike Sarac (Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies) |
There is a growing trend of switching modes of data collection from interviewer-assisted face-to-face surveys (e.g., PAPI and CAPI) to self-administered methods (e.g., web surveys and self-administered surveys). This is mostly because of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world in recent years as well as its subsequent challenges when collecting survey data (ESS, 2022). It appears to be that data collection procedures of survey organisations in times of crisis will have long-term effects, regardless of whether the pandemic or different kinds of crisis disappear completely.
As discussed in the literature on interviewer effects, interviewers utilize interviewing process by providing assistance to respondents although they may create bias on survey estimates. Socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors of interviewers might affect survey responses (West and Blom, 2017). On the other hand, matching characteristics between interviewers and respondents may improve survey data (Vercruyssen et al., 2017). From the total survey error perspective, interviewers are known as the principal contributors to measurement and non-response errors (West and Olson, 2010).
The methodological discussions about interviewer presence during the data collection are required while mode transition from interviewer-assisted to self-administered is among hot topics in such times. The submissions which aim to discuss the strengths and drawbacks of interviewer assistance during the data collection would be insightful for mode switching decisions in surveys. In this regard, the submissions are expected to suggest useful methodological strategies for future surveys to keep the overall quality at a high level.