Chapter 5: Using a Panel in your research

Question 1

What are the advantages of using a panel in your research? (3)

Answer 1

1. Efficiency gains in recruiting
2. Reduced sampling variation in the measurement of change
3. Possibility to analyze behavior at the individual level

Question 1

What are the disadvantages of using a panel in your research? (2)

Answer 1

1. Attrition bias

2. Panel conditioning

Question 2

What are the 3 different types of panels?

Answer 2

1. Non-probability based panel - volunteer opt-in panel
2. Probability based panel (online, equipment for non-internet users)
3. mixed mode design - people can fill-in the survey in another way then online

Question 3

What are the several design choices that will have to be made when designing a panel invitation? (5)

Answer 3

1. Salutation (personal/impersonal)
2. Content (short/long, order and content)
3. Panel introduction (URL)
4. Authority of e-mail signature (high/low)
5. Profile of the requesting office (high/low)

Question 4

Why can timing of panel requests be an important predictor of response rates but not of panel size?

Answer 4

1. If survey first and then the panel request, higher recruitment rates
2. If panel request and then survey, higher retention

Question 5

What are the requirements of a good panel management system (4)?

Answer 5

1. Easy overview of basic data
2. When and how to which survey a respondents as invited and the actual responses
3. Overview of all communications
4. Information about periods of absence or holidays

Question 6

The use of multiple respondents from the same household is a common malpractice. Why is this? (2)

Answer 6

1. This conflicts with the assumption of independence. People in the same household share to much features and are to much alike
2. Reasons for household attrition might be different than from individual attritrion

Question 7

What are advantages of using multilevel models in panel research? (3)

Answer 7

1. It allows to explain variation within a household panel
2. Allows for better estimates
3. Prevention of incorrect inferences. Individuals within same household are probably more similar than in different households and this allows you to analyze if this is true

Question 8

What are the advantages of using a household panel in research? (2)

Answer 8

1. More easy to recruit new members if one of the household has already agreed
2. allows to take household context into account in surveys

Question 9

What are the disadvantages of using household panels in surveys? (3)

Answer 9

1. Answers of individuals can be correlated so no individual observations
2. (Item) non-response is not missing at random
3. Weights should be computed on the household and individual level