PEDAKSI: Methodology for Collecting Data about Survey Non-Respondents

The effects of unit non-response on survey errors are of great concern to researchers. However, direct assessment of non-response bias in survey estimates is rarely possible. Attempts are often made to adjust for the effects of non-response by weighting, but this usually relies on the use of frame data or external population data, which are at best modestly correlated with the survey variables. This paper reports the development of a method to collect limited survey data from non-respondents to personal interview surveys and a large-scale field test of the method on the British Crime Survey (BCS). The method is shown to be acceptable and low cost, to provide valid data, and to have no detrimental effect on the main survey. The use of the resultant data to estimate non-response bias is illustrated and some substantive conclusions are drawn for the BCS.