The Effect of Rapport on Data Quality in Face-to-Face Interviews: Beneficial or Detrimental?

The benefits of rapport between interviewers and respondents, in terms of recruiting the latter and motiving them to participate in research, have been generally endorsed. However, there has been less clarity with regard to the association between rapport and data quality. In theory, rapport could be beneficial if it motivates people to give complete and honest responses. On the other hand, efforts to maintain rapport by exhibiting pleasing and socially desirable behaviour could well be detrimental to data quality. In a large longitudinal epidemiological sample, generalized estimating equations (GEE) analyses were used to examine the association between rapport and the following three quality indicators: missing responses, responses to sensitive questions, and consistency of responses. The results of these analyses indicate an association between a high level of rapport and fewer missing responses. In contrast, we found more socially desirable responses for the high-rapport group. Finally, the high-rapport group did not differ from the low-rapport group in terms of the consistency of their responses.

A Randomized Response Technique for Reducing the Effect of Initial Non-response of the Regression Estimator in Panel Surveys

The results of Sample surveys play a vital role in decision making. One of the main issues being faced by survey statisticians during the collection of survey data is the problem of non-response which may affect survey cost and accuracy of estimates. The problem of non-response becomes more severe if the survey contains sensitive questions like related to family planning methods, use of drugs. To diminish the non-response rate arising in the case of direct questioning (DQ) technique, Warner (1965) proposed an indirect survey technique known as the randomized response (RR) technique. He addressed this problem for a cross-sectional data. This method is a well-known procedure that produces more valid responses on sensitive questions in surveys. The method avoids the direct link between respondent’s response and the sensitive question through the help of a randomization device. Thereby protecting respondent’s privacy which in turn greatly increases survey response rate. However, due to the complex nature of panel estimator, the work is missing the in the context of RR technique. To cover this gap, we propose a linear regression model in the context of panel surveys/longitudinal studies under the application of the RR technique. We solve all these issues through simulation study.

Comparison of Data Quality between PAPI and CAPI Modes of Data Collection in Longitudinal Household Surveys: RLMS–HSE Experiment Results

This article presents the results of an experimental study on how the transition from PAPI to CAPI modes affected data quality in longitudinal household surveys. The study was conducted in 2018–2019 within the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS–HSE). In the previous paper, which was based on data from the 26th wave of the RLMS HSE, it was shown that the use of CAPI leads to a significant decrease in the rate of non-substantive responses (“Don’t know”), as well as significant differences in sensitive questions. This paper was aimed at verifying these findings using new data collected during the 27th wave of the RLMS–HSE. The results show that the use of CAPI leads to a decrease in the rate of non-substantive responses, which helps to improve data quality. However, it was shown that the use of CAPI could lead to an increase in social desirability bias.

Consequences of Asking Sensitive Questions in Surveys

I review selected articles from the survey methodology literature on the consequences of asking sensitive questions in censuses and surveys, using a total survey error (TSE) framework. I start with definitions of sensitive questions and move to examination of the impact of including sensitive questions on various sources of survey error—specifically, survey respondents’ willingness to participate in a survey (unit nonresponse), their willingness to respond to next rounds of interviews (wave nonresponse), their likelihood to provide an answer to sensitive questions after agreeing to participate in the survey (item nonresponse), and the accuracy of respondents’ answers to sensitive questions (measurement error). I also review the simultaneous impact of sensitive questions on multiple sources of error in survey estimates and discuss strategies to mitigate the impact of asking sensitive questions on measurement errors. I conclude with a summary and suggestions for future research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Statistics and Its Application, Volume 8 is March 8, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

African Christian View on Morality of Abortion

There are several medical, ethical, theological, and personal sensitive questions on abortion – a developing phenomenon across all racial groups. Admittedly, the debates over its morality and verdicts are complex. Notwithstanding the complexity and the numerous sensitive questions surrounding its morality, it has been observed that some women practice abortion regardless of their religious and cultural affiliations. Perhaps, there must have been a gap which may have been serving as grounds for the practice of abortion among women without considering the rights of the foetus. This study seeks to find out the rightness or wrongness of the phenomenon, viewed from African Christian perspective. The study blends ethical and theological methods and a qualitative technique in the analysis. The findings are that even though women have the rights to commit abortion, regardless of the rights of the foetus, they should exercise those rights and make the choice before conception, and not after. This is because once they conceive, the child has independent rights both before and after birth. The study recommends that pregnant women should not take it upon themselves to end the lives of the unborn. Those who are seeking abortion are to be encouraged to consider other options such as giving birth and giving out the babies for adoption. This work fills the gap between African Christian and secular views on the morality of abortion. Keywords: foetus, abortion, morality, murder.