Research

"Fear of Crime"-Survey Konstanz 2002

Accuracy of Birthday Respondent Selection Methods in Mail Surveys

We compare the selection within households using the last-birthday method with
individual-level data from the official town register (n=1,069). About 33%
of selections within multi-adult households appeared to be in error. Based on a
qualitative study of households within which selection errors took place (n=30),
we conclude that two age-cohort specific intra-household mechanisms are
responsible for such errors. These results were validated by logistic regressions
within subgroups of the survey.

Publications

Sonja A. Ziniel (2003): The external validation of the Last-Birthday Method as respondent selection method in mail surveys, Master's Thesis, University of Konstanz.

Rainer Schnell, Sonja Ziniel, Elisabeth Coutts (2007):  Inaccuracy of Birthday Respondent Selection Methods in Mail and Telephone Surveys; paper to be presented at the Second International Conference of the European Survey Research Association, Prague, June 2007.