NCJ Number
211570
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2005 Pages: 345-363
Date Published
September 2005
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Using a special longitudinal National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data file, this study examined the presence and influence of respondent fatigue (decreased level of reporting due to multiple interviews) in the NCVS.
Abstract
The study tested the theory that respondents exposed to longer interviews during their first interview are more likely to refuse to participate in the survey 6 months later. The 1996-1999 NCVS Longitudinal File is a nested, hierarchical incident record-defined, data file that contains 323,265 personal records that encompass 18 quarterly collection cycles. It contains five types of records: index address ID records, address ID records, household records, personal records, and incident records. The index address ID records are unique to the longitudinal file and allow linkage of individuals' records across all seven interviews. Instrument-level and respondent-level variables were included in the current study. Instrument-level variables include the survey model and the number of victimizations reported during a respondent's initial exposure to the survey. Respondent-level variables pertain to the demographic characteristics of interviewees. Contrary to expectations based on the literature, findings show that prior reporting of victimization and exposure to a longer interview were not significant predictors of a refusal to be interviewed during the following contact once relevant individual characteristics were taken into account. The study did find significant effects of survey mode and several respondent characteristics on a refusal to participate in a subsequent interview. 4 tables and 36 references