Abstract

Interviewer administrated surveys have the substantial advantage of strengthening panel relationships and thus, are often utilized in establishment panels to mitigate panel attrition. However, one of the primary disadvantages of interviewer-administered surveys lies in the influence it exerts on respondents' answering behavior. Respondents tend to provide socially accepted responses to sensitive questions when an interviewer is involved, even when employing factorial survey experiments, such as vignettes, to attain a sincere reaction. To concurrently maintain the panel relationship and create a situation where respondents feel unobserved by an interviewer, it could be beneficial to switch from an interviewer-administered mode (e.g. telephone) to a self-administered mode (e.g. web) during the interview. The questions emerging are whether this approach leads to an increase in break-offs, refusals & item nonresponse. And furthermore, does this approach heighten the burden and negate the panel relationship aspect expected from an interviewer-administrated interview?