Optimization of Data Collection Designs in Mixed Mode
The Working Group
The working group is coordinated by Matthias Till (Statistik Austria) and supported by a team consisting of: Joachim Gerich and Andreas Quatember (Johannes Kepler University of Linz), Franz Höllinger (University Graz), Martin Weichbold (University Salzburg), Irene Baumgartner (Statistics Austria), Alexander Kowarik (Statistics Austria), Marc Plate (Statistics Austria) und Brigitte Salfinger-Pilz (Statistics Austria).
Short Description of the Working Group
The team will deal with a broad range of questions and practical challenges related to design and mixed mode questions: e.g.
- How can costs and errors of a data collection design be minimized through the combination of data collecting methods?
- How can measurement errors be quantified and compared between data collection methods?
- Which implications are to be expected from the application of web-based surveys (CAWI) for social-statistical indicators?
- How do CAPI or CATI questions need to be adapted for their usage in CAWI?
- What questions are not suitable for online surveys?
- How long might a web survey be?
- How can (CAWI) proxy interviews be prevented?
- How relevant are mode-specific distortions and how can their implications for accuracy requirements respectively effective sample sizes be estimated?
- Are alternative estimation procedures necessary?
- Which communication strategies can contribute to more quality and acceptance of surveys in Austria?
- How do respondents react on different contacting manners and incentives (respondent recruiting)?
- How can the willingness of participation - especially for repeated surveys - be increased?
- Which implications could voluntariness of respondence have for the quality of responses?
- What effects have gender and age of interviewers?
Goals and objectives
Modern and efficient data collection designs
- Literature review on strengths and weaknesses (especially of CAWI)
- Code/guide of practice with recommendations for project and design leaders
- Practise-oriented knowledge transfer
Fundamental basis for evidence-based decisions on design questions
- Evaluation criteria
- Development of innovative, practical designs
- Evaluation of experimental design variations
Implementation and evaluation of optimized (responsive) designs at Statistics Austria
