Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 British Household Panel Survey

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 BHPS outline Began in 1991 with a sample of 5,000 households /10,000 individuals in Great Britain All adults in the household aged 16 and over interviewed annually Face to face interview Sample members are followed as they move address and new members joining sample households become eligible for interview Since 1994, children aged also interviewed

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 In 1999, extension samples of 1,500 households added in each of Scotland and Wales In 2001, sample of 2,000 households added in Northern Ireland Twelve waves of data currently available Wave 14 fieldwork currently underway Multi-topic questionnaire with core questions repeated every year and variable questions repeated less frequently Collection of continuous records of employment and income a key area for the BHPS Collection of employment and income subject to recall error, seam effects, coding variability and random ‘noise’

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 Use of fed forward data BHPS collected using paper questionnaires from Wave 1 to Wave 8 Since Wave 9, collected using CAPI BHPS has always used some fed forward information Extensive use of fed forward data during the interview not possible in PAPI mode CAPI increased possibility of using more fed forward data during the interview But raises issues of longitudinal comparability of measures

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 Fed forward data on BHPS primarily used for –sample management and correct identification of individuals –routing respondents correctly through the main questionnaire Fed forward data includes: –Address details –Name –Unique personal ID (PID) –Sex –Date of Birth –Interview outcome at previous wave –Type of interview eligible for at current wave –Sample status (Permanent or Temporary sample member) –Details of contact persons collected at previous wave (for tracking during field)

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 Fed forward data are used to: –Check and confirm individuals details (name, sex, date of birth) –Route respondents through the main questionnaire depending on whether they were Interviewed at the previous wave Were not interviewed at the previous wave but have been interviewed previously Or have never been interviewed before –Use sex and date of birth for routing in the interview –Provide interviewers with the details they need to Determine whether a sample member should be followed Trace people who have moved to a new address Confirm current contact person details or collect new details at the current wave

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 Use of substantive fed forward data Details of e.g. occupation, employment status or income receipt details are not fed forward for use during the interview Occupation, industry, income etc are re-asked at each year of the survey Partly due to history of PAPI data collection Concerns about introducing a break in the longitudinal measures through using dependent interviewing No evidence to date of what effect this might have in the context of a long running panel

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 Competing views of effects of dependent interviewing vs repeated measures –Is it too easy for respondents to simply agree with whatever they are presented with? –Will it lead to an underestimate of ‘true’ change? –Does respondent agreement with the fed forward data mean we have data with less error or is it just more consistent over time? –What do we do with previously collected data when respondents tell us it is not correct at the next wave? –Is recall error associated with agreement or disagreement with the fed forward data? –Does dependent interviewing reduce respondent burden? –Does re-asking questions at each year lead to greater levels of error – reporting and coding? –Does re-asking questions at each year over-estimate change? –Does re-asking questions at each year increase respondent burden?

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 Interviewers, on the whole, like dependent interviewing –Makes the interview flow –Reduces their workload –Lessens the feeling that respondents keep on being asked the same old questions year in, year out –It may reduce respondent burden But what is the right balance between DI and re-asking questions –An interview which says ‘Last year you said you were…. Is that still the case’? too often is also monotonous and burdensome –Concerns that respondents may not like having too much of their personal information given back to them a year later –data confidentiality issues

Essex Dependent Interviewing Workshop 17/09/2004 Resources Finally, technical issues involved in feeding forward data accurately should not be underestimated Time and resources are required to check and re-check CAPI scripts to make sure that the data being presented to respondents is correct The script needs to cater for the possibility that the respondent may disagree with the fed forward data In a panel such as the BHPS, the fed forward data may not come from the previous wave only but from two or more waves previously