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Ethnic Differences in the Quality of the Interview Process and Implications for Survey Analysis: The Case of Indigenous Australians

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  • Francisco Perales
  • Bernard Baffour
  • Francis Mitrou

Abstract

Comparable survey data on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are highly sought after by policymakers to inform policies aimed at closing ethnic socio-economic gaps. However, collection of such data is compromised by group differences in socio-economic status and cultural norms. We use data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey and multiple-membership multilevel regression models that allow for individual and interviewer effects to examine differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in approximate measures of the quality of the interview process. We find that there are both direct and indirect ethnic effects on different dimensions of interview process quality, with Indigenous Australians faring worse than non-Indigenous Australians in all outcomes ceteris paribus . This indicates that nationwide surveys must feature interview protocols that are sensitive to the needs and culture of Indigenous respondents to improve the quality of the survey information gathered from this subpopulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Perales & Bernard Baffour & Francis Mitrou, 2015. "Ethnic Differences in the Quality of the Interview Process and Implications for Survey Analysis: The Case of Indigenous Australians," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0130994
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130994
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Hikichi, Hiroyuki & Aida, Jun & Matsuyama, Yusuke & Tsuboya, Toru & Kondo, Katsunori & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2020. "Community-level social capital and cognitive decline after a natural disaster: A natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    3. Jiun-Hao Wang & Szu-Yung Wang, 2019. "Indigenous Social Policy and Social Inclusion in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, June.

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