Education Bias in general population surveys |
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| Coordinator 1 | Professor Tobias Gummer (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) |
| Coordinator 2 | Dr Elias Naumann (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) |
Nonresponse bias is a challenge for general population surveys in the social sciences. When the determinants of participation also relate to variables of interest, results drawn from survey data might be biased. Education is a key variable in the social sciences, frequently used in various research fields and correlating with many other variables of interest. Prior research hints at an underrepresentation of persons with lower education in general population surveys. Moreover, the recent transition from face-to-face to self-administered modes seems to have worsened the participation among respondents of lower education. Against this background, the present session aims to assess the magnitude of education bias for general population surveys, understand the underlying mechanism of nonresponse with respect to education, and stimulate the development of methods to improve participation among lower educated persons.
We invite submissions that address the challenge of education bias in general population surveys. Submissions should focus on one or more of the following aspects:
- Overviews of education bias in general population surveys to gauge the magnitude of the problem from a cross-national or longitudinal perspective
- Assessment of the mechanisms behind the underrepresentation of lower educated persons
- Comparison of survey modes and their impact on the participation of respondents with different education levels
- Analyses of the connection between education bias and nonresponse of other hard-to reach-groups (e.g., migrants) to arrive at a more pronounced definition of risk groups
- Empirical evidence (esp. from experiments) on the feasibility of methods to improve participation among lower educated persons