"The Data that did not arrive for the Date. Talkin' the Nonresponse Blues"

Karsten Boye RasmussenDepartment of Marketing and Management, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

kbr@sam.sdu.dk

Heiko ThimmSchool of Engineering, Pforzheim University, Pforzheim, Germany

Did not answer

Did not answer

Number of pregnancies

Male Female

Did not answer

0-n Error OK

over n Error Probable error

Did not answer - skip pattern

Number of pregnancies

MaleShould not answer

FemaleShould answer

Did not answer Irrelevant No answer

0-n Error OK

over n Error Probable error

Did not answer

Number of pregnancies

MaleShould not answer

FemaleShould answer

Did not answer Irrelevant No answer

0-n Error OK

over n Error Probable error

Did not answer

• The missing data

Missing Data

•

Nonresponse

•

Nonresponse

•

Nonresponse

•

logos

eBusco.net survey • Production SME companies in South Denmark & North Germany• Response rate 12.6%• 64 and 66 respectively• 130 of the selected 1033 companies

!

Response rates in other SME surveys

• Wales Jones, 2003 26%

UK Daniel, 2002a 10.4% "deseletion"

UK Daniel, 2002b 4.5%

Singapore Thong, 1999 13.8%40.6%

mortalityof firms

Australia Goode, 2000 42%

Potential effect of nonresponse• 64 of 130 companies have an English web-site• Thats 50%• How about the 903 nonrespondents?

• A extreme: They all have English web-site => 94%• B extreme: None have English web-site => 6%

• So the correct answer would be: • 50% +/- 44%

The Blues

• Woody Guthrie

The Blues

• Talkin' World War III Blues

Potential effect of nonresponse• 64 of 130 companies have an English web-site• Thats 50%• How about the 903 nonrespondents?

• A extreme: They all have English web-site => 94%• B extreme: None have English web-site => 6%

• So the correct answer would be: • 50% +/- 44%

Confidence intervals for nonresponse

Comparison with known value

"archival analysis" as the quest for "the third variable" in causalitywe have not found the variable causing nonresponseyet

Data Source

Extrapolation of the nonrespondents

• The respondents• And the late respondents• Assuming nonresponse = late

• Question: How difficult is it to join two points with a straight line?

Time

Data Sourcephone calls

• Passive showingnot plannedsociallyacceptablebut did not find the time

ActiveExpressing planned behavior

Country Total

Nick- D DK name

Does not have the questionnaire (a new is sent)

43 45 88 9.31 10.20

The proper person does not have the questionnaire (a new is sent)

11 33 44 2.38 7.48

Will download the questionnaire 1 5 6 0.22 1.13

Questionnaire has already been returned (but not received)

1 6 7 0.22 1.36

Will locate the questionnaire, look into the matter, a message is given

21 5 26 171 Polite 4.55 1.13

Have no interest in this area 34 74 108 7.36 16.78

Never answers that, don't give this kind of information

47 7 54 162 Uninterested 10.17 1.59

Don't have the time 61 58 119 119 13.20 13.15 Busy

Phone number does not exist 20 2 22 4.33 0.45

Not reachable 35 28 63 85 7.58 6.35

Not included in the phone campaign 188 178 366 366 40.69 40.36

Total 462 441 903 903

PassiveBusy

No answer

ActiveUinterested

PassivePolite

phone calls

• Passive nonresponsewill nothavenonresponsebias

Active nonresonsewill havenonresponse bias

Rogelberg and Stanton (2007, p. 201)

Country Total

Nick- D DK name

Does not have the questionnaire (a new is sent)

43 45 88 9.31 10.20

The proper person does not have the questionnaire (a new is sent)

11 33 44 2.38 7.48

Will download the questionnaire 1 5 6 0.22 1.13

Questionnaire has already been returned (but not received)

1 6 7 0.22 1.36

Will locate the questionnaire, look into the matter, a message is given

21 5 26 171 Polite 4.55 1.13

Have no interest in this area 34 74 108 7.36 16.78

Never answers that, don't give this kind of information

47 7 54 162 Uninterested 10.17 1.59

Don't have the time 61 58 119 119 13.20 13.15 Busy

Phone number does not exist 20 2 22 4.33 0.45

Not reachable 35 28 63 85 7.58 6.35

Not included in the phone campaign 188 178 366 366 40.69 40.36

Total 462 441 903 903

PassiveBusy

No answer

ActiveUinterested

PassivePolite

Thundershields soldiers?• Are nonrespondents ..

• Karlsten - Marstrand • became a nobleman 1716• and got his name• former Peter Wessel

Contact and participation

Survey No contact Contact with

Business agency Total

Nonresponse 41388.3%

2875.7% 441

Participation in survey 5511.3%

924.3% 64

Total 468 37 505

Data Source

Conclusion

• Significant difference!

• Nonrespondents are different!

thankstalkin'

• Karsten Boye Rasmussen• associate professor • kbr@sam.sdu.dk• Institute of Marketing and Management• University of Southern Denmark• Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark• +45 6550 2115 fax: +45 6593 1766 ?

Talkin' World War III blues

Well, now time passed and now it seemsEverybody's having them dreams.Everybody sees themselves walkin' around with no one else.Half of the people can be part right all of the time,Some of the people can be all right part of the time.But all the people can't be all right all the timeI think Abraham Lincoln said that."I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,"I said that.