Dependent interviewing has been introduced by a number of panel surveys as a means of reducing measurement error, in particular the typically observed concentration of transitions at the seam between waves, the 'seam effect'. Little evidence exists, however, of the effects on survey estimates. We report on a large scale randomised experiment comparing dependent interviewing with traditional independent methods. Proactive dependent interviewing improves the quality of work history data by reducing seam effects in estimates of monthly labour force transitions and eliminates differential seam effects across subgroups. Proactive interviewing does not have any effect on measures of cumulative experience and does not appear to lead to under-reporting of change. Seam transitions in continuous work histories are caused by response errors but can be either visible or hidden, depending on the editing rules used to reconcile reports from repeated panel observations. Proactive methods reduce seam effects by precluding overlapping non-corresponding reports. The potential for eliminating seam effects is, however, limited by item non-response to questions about dates.
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Paper provided by Institute for Social and Economic Research in its series ISER working papers with number
2004-24.
Length: 22 Date of creation: 07 Dec 2004 Date of revision: Publication status: published Handle: RePEc:ese:iserwp:2004-24
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