Surveying the Elderly: Methodological Issues |
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| Coordinator 1 | Ms Nicole Hameister (German Centre of Gerontology) |
| Coordinator 2 | Stefan Stuth (German Centre of Gerontology) |
European societies have been ageing for many decades now and will continue to do so. This dynamic holds challenges and chances, but in order to understand these changes, surveys are essential to assess the life situations of the older population. National and international surveys that target and cover the ageing populations can deliver this important knowledge but, at the same time, face a range of very specific methodological issues. These include, but are not limited to:
• fieldwork management, contact strategies and participant engagement for older target group
• age-related coverage errors of different sampling frames
• nonresponse bias and measurement error due to declining cognitive and physical (listening, reading) abilities
• restricted use of modes (online, mobile) and mixed-mode surveys for older people
• age-related interview challenges and the need for specific interviewer skills and training
• the use of proxy interviews or 'triad interviews' and consequences for data quality
• conversion of gate keepers who refuse / hesitate to let an older person be interviewed
• tracking /tracing of panel members, e.g., for people moving to institutions or the deceased
• data linkage: developments and new sources, for example to public health / death records
• age differences in the quality of data in face-to-face or self-administered interview modes
• the question of “vulnerability” of older respondents and ethical issues in general
• new survey tools/new data resources to improve data collection and quality among older people.
We invite researchers to address these or related issues of surveying the older population. We also encourage presentations on the potential adjustments necessary or beneficial to data collection.