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How Social Processes Distort Measurement: The Impact of Survey Nonresponse on Estimates of Volunteer Work

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  • Katharine G. Abraham
  • Sara E. Helms
  • Stanley Presser

Abstract

Estimates of volunteering in the United States vary greatly from survey to survey and do not show the decline over time common to other measures of social capital. We argue that these anomalies are caused by the social processes that determine survey participation, in particular the propensity of people who do volunteer work to respond to surveys at higher rates than those who do not do volunteer work. Thus surveys with lower responses rates will usually have higher proportions of volunteers, and the decline in response rates over time likely has led to increasing overrepresentation of volunteers. We analyze data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) -- the sample for which is drawn from Current Population Survey (CPS) respondents -- together with data from the CPS Volunteering Supplement to demonstrate the effects of survey nonresponse on estimates of volunteering activity and its correlates. CPS respondents who become ATUS respondents report much more volunteering in the CPS than those who become ATUS nonrespondents. This difference is replicated within demographic and other subgroups. Consequently, conventional statistical adjustments for nonresponse cannot correct the resulting bias. Although nonresponse leads to estimates of volunteer activity that are too high, it generally does not affect inferences about the characteristics associated with volunteer activity. We discuss the implications of these findings for the study of other phenomena.

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  • Katharine G. Abraham & Sara E. Helms & Stanley Presser, 2008. "How Social Processes Distort Measurement: The Impact of Survey Nonresponse on Estimates of Volunteer Work," NBER Working Papers 14076, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14076
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    1. Katharine G. Abraham & Aaron Maitland & Suzanne M. Bianchi, 2006. "Non-response in the American Time Use Survey: Who Is Missing from the Data and How Much Does It Matter?," NBER Technical Working Papers 0328, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    6. Stephen Knack, 1992. "Civic Norms, Social Sanctions, and Voter Turnout," Rationality and Society, , vol. 4(2), pages 133-156, April.
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    2. Atamanov,Aziz & Tandon,Sharad Alan & Lopez-Acevedo,Gladys C. & Vergara Bahena,Mexico Alberto, 2020. "Measuring Monetary Poverty in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region : Data Gaps and Different Options to Address Them," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9259, The World Bank.
    3. Griffin, John & Nickerson, David & Wozniak, Abigail, 2012. "Racial differences in inequality aversion: Evidence from real world respondents in the ultimatum game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 600-617.
    4. Almoayad,Safa Ali Qassim & Favari,Eliana & Halabi,Samira & Krishnaswamy,Siddharth & Music,Almedina & Tandon,Sharad Alan, 2020. "Active Conflict and Access to Education : Evidence from a Series of Conflict-Related Shocks in the Republic of Yemen," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9330, The World Bank.
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    6. Trey Standish & Paul D. Umbach, 2019. "Should We Be Concerned About Nonresponse Bias in College Student Surveys? Evidence of Bias from a Validation Study," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(3), pages 338-357, May.
    7. Urszula Tymoszuk & Neta Spiro & Rosie Perkins & Adele Mason-Bertrand & Kate Gee & Aaron Williamon, 2021. "Arts engagement trends in the United Kingdom and their mental and social wellbeing implications: HEartS Survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-35, March.
    8. Brick J. Michael & Tourangeau Roger, 2017. "Responsive Survey Designs for Reducing Nonresponse Bias," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 33(3), pages 735-752, September.
    9. Tiago Freire & Xiaoye Li, 2013. "How Immigration Reduced Social Capital in the US: 2005-2011," ERSA conference papers ersa13p1285, European Regional Science Association.
    10. Milton Mayfield & Jacqueline Mayfield, 2021. "Sound and Safe: The Role of Leader Motivating Language and Follower Self-Leadership in Feelings of Psychological Safety," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-30, May.
    11. Ori Heffetz & Matthew Rabin, 2013. "Conclusions Regarding Cross-Group Differences in Happiness Depend on Difficulty of Reaching Respondents," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 3001-3021, December.
    12. Hamrick, Karen S., 2012. "Nonresponse Bias Analysis of Body Mass Index in the Eating and Health Module," Technical Bulletins 184303, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    13. Hans Schmeets & Floris Peters, 2021. "The Impact of Social Capital on Organ Donation: Evidence from the Netherlands," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 863-897, October.

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    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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