Dynamic Summary and Correction Screens
In panel studies the same type of screens can also be used to reduce considerably the work for the respondents. De Pijper and Saris (1986) developed for this purpose a procedure which they have called a dynamic SC screen. This procedure consists of the following steps:
1. Data needed repeatedly in different interviews is stored in variables.
2. After each interview these variables with their values are stored in a file that can be used in the next interview
3. In the next interview the variables are presented in an SC screen .
4. The respondent is asked whether this information is still correct.
5. If the answer is yes with one click the data is stored for the next interview
6. If the answer is no the respondent is asked to indicate what has been changed
7. After that, in one or more questions he can introduce the changed information and this information is stored
The annoying work concerning these repeated questions is considerably reduced for the respondent unless everything has been changed. A typical example of such a dynamic SC screen is presented below.
1. Data needed repeatedly in different interviews is stored in variables.
2. After each interview these variables with their values are stored in a file that can be used in the next interview
3. In the next interview the variables are presented in an SC screen .
4. The respondent is asked whether this information is still correct.
5. If the answer is yes with one click the data is stored for the next interview
6. If the answer is no the respondent is asked to indicate what has been changed
7. After that, in one or more questions he can introduce the changed information and this information is stored
The annoying work concerning these repeated questions is considerably reduced for the respondent unless everything has been changed. A typical example of such a dynamic SC screen is presented below.
A dynamic SC screen as created with Interv for household information
All the information about the names, work or school, number of hours work and the organization were storied in variables that were transferred by files from one survey to the next. It will be clear that the first requirement for this approach is that this information was correct when it was collected in the previous interview. If that is the case and nothing has been changed the gain in response time is considerable for the respondent. In a panel the questions about this information are not the ones the respondents like a lot so if the response time can be reduced this is a big advantage. Given the reduction of effort for the respondents, one can also expect that they are more willing to take the time to make the necessary corrections. With some experience with such panel research they will also realize that they otherwise may get problems with later questions.
As a last remark about this procedure we would like to say that this procedure can be used for any kind of information, for example also for income and expenditure data. It is in that case less certain that the information given at the previous interview is still correct. This issue was discussed in a previous section under the heading range and consistency checks.
This approach of using answers given in previous surveys in the next ones is nowadays called "dependent interviewing" (Sala et al. 2009) while a distinction is made between proactive dependent interviewing and non-proactive interviewing Eggs and Jäckle 2015). The example we have presented here, calling it "a dynamic SC screen", is a typical example of proactive dependent interviewing because we provide all information from the previous interview to the respondent. The nonproactive procedure have been discussed in a previous section.
References:
De Pijper M.W. and W.E.Sais (1986) The formulation of interview using the program INTERV . Amsterdam , SRF
Saris W.E. (1992) Computer assisted interviewing. Qualitative applications in the social sciences 80, Sage
Prastacos P. , M.M. Recoder and W.E.Saris ( 1992) CASIP : A complete automatic system for information processing in family budget research. Proceedings of the conference on New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics, EUROSTAT, Bonn, 80-87, ISBN-92-826-4827-3
Prastacos P. , M.M. Recoder and W.E.Saris ( 1992) CASIP : A complete automatic system for information processing in family budget research. THe final report of the EUROSTAT DOSES report. Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam
Sala E., Noah Uhrig S.C., Lyn P. (2009) It is time computers do clever things: The impact of dependent interviewing on the interviewer burden. Colchester, ISER.
Eggs J. and Jäckle A. (2015) Dependent interviewing and sub-optimal responding. Survey Research Methods, 15- 29.
As a last remark about this procedure we would like to say that this procedure can be used for any kind of information, for example also for income and expenditure data. It is in that case less certain that the information given at the previous interview is still correct. This issue was discussed in a previous section under the heading range and consistency checks.
This approach of using answers given in previous surveys in the next ones is nowadays called "dependent interviewing" (Sala et al. 2009) while a distinction is made between proactive dependent interviewing and non-proactive interviewing Eggs and Jäckle 2015). The example we have presented here, calling it "a dynamic SC screen", is a typical example of proactive dependent interviewing because we provide all information from the previous interview to the respondent. The nonproactive procedure have been discussed in a previous section.
References:
De Pijper M.W. and W.E.Sais (1986) The formulation of interview using the program INTERV . Amsterdam , SRF
Saris W.E. (1992) Computer assisted interviewing. Qualitative applications in the social sciences 80, Sage
Prastacos P. , M.M. Recoder and W.E.Saris ( 1992) CASIP : A complete automatic system for information processing in family budget research. Proceedings of the conference on New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics, EUROSTAT, Bonn, 80-87, ISBN-92-826-4827-3
Prastacos P. , M.M. Recoder and W.E.Saris ( 1992) CASIP : A complete automatic system for information processing in family budget research. THe final report of the EUROSTAT DOSES report. Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam
Sala E., Noah Uhrig S.C., Lyn P. (2009) It is time computers do clever things: The impact of dependent interviewing on the interviewer burden. Colchester, ISER.
Eggs J. and Jäckle A. (2015) Dependent interviewing and sub-optimal responding. Survey Research Methods, 15- 29.
