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Can I Just Check...? Effects of Edit Check Questions on Measurement Error and Survey Estimates

Author

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  • Lugtig Peter

    (Department of Methods and Statistics, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, 3508 TC, Utrecht, the Netherlands,and University of Essex)

  • Jäckle Annette

    (University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK)

Abstract

Household income is difficult to measure, since it requires the collection of information about all potential income sources for each member of a household.Weassess the effects of two types of edit check questions on measurement error and survey estimates: within-wave edit checks use responses to questions earlier in the same interview to query apparent inconsistencies in responses; dependent interviewing uses responses from prior interviews to query apparent inconsistencies over time.Weuse data from three waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to assess the effects of edit checks on estimates, and data from an experimental study carried out in the context of the BHPS, where survey responses were linked to individual administrative records, to assess the effects on measurement error. The findings suggest that interviewing methods without edit checks underestimate non-labour household income in the lower tail of the income distribution. The effects on estimates derived from total household income, such as poverty rates or transition rates into and out of poverty, are small.

Suggested Citation

  • Lugtig Peter & Jäckle Annette, 2014. "Can I Just Check...? Effects of Edit Check Questions on Measurement Error and Survey Estimates," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 30(1), pages 45-62, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:offsta:v:30:y:2014:i:1:p:45-62:n:3
    DOI: 10.2478/jos-2014-0003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stephen P. Jenkins & Lorenzo Cappellari & Peter Lynn & Annette Jäckle & Emanuela Sala, 2006. "Patterns of consent: evidence from a general household survey," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 169(4), pages 701-722, October.
    2. Peter Lynn & Annette Jäckle & Stephen P. Jenkins & Emanuela Sala, 2012. "The impact of questioning method on measurement error in panel survey measures of benefit receipt: evidence from a validation study," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 175(1), pages 289-308, January.
    3. Lynn, Peter & Jäckle, Annette & Sala, Emanuela & P. Jenkins, Stephen, 2004. "Validation of survey data on income and employment: the ISMIE experience," ISER Working Paper Series 2004-14, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. Bound, John & Brown, Charles & Mathiowetz, Nancy, 2001. "Measurement error in survey data," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 59, pages 3705-3843, Elsevier.
    5. Lynn, Peter & Sala, Emanuela & Noah Uhrig, S.C., 2009. "“It is time computers do clever things!” The impact of dependent interviewing on interviewer burden," ISER Working Paper Series 2009-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Jäckle, Annette & Noah Uhrig, S.C. & Laurie, Heather, 2007. "The introduction of dependent interviewing on the British Household Panel Survey," ISER Working Paper Series 2007-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
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