The Influence of Data Collection Method on Structural Models

A Comparison of a Mail, a Telephone, and a Face-to-Face Survey

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2331771
AutoresEdith D De Leeuw (0000-0003-4601-0784, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Gideon J Mellenbergh (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Joop J Hox (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Año1996
Volumen24
Número4
Páginas443-472
Fecha de publicación1996-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociological Methods & Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0049-1241 • E-ISSN: 1552-8294
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0049124196024004002
OpenAlexW2317776490
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas13
Referencias citadas15

In survey data, four potential sources of measurement error can jeopardize the results: the respondents, the interviewers, the questions, and the data collection method. In the past two decades, a shift has occurred in the way survey data are collected; telephone surveys and, to a lesser degree, mail surveys are now more extensively used. This has stimulated empirical research on the influence of the data collection method on data quality. Most of these mode comparisons used univariate criteria. In this study we concentrate on the potential influence of the data collection method on two substantive structural models. A controlled field experiment was conducted in which a mail, a telephone, and a face-to-face survey were compared. Using multigroup comparisons, two substantive structural equation models (one for loneliness and one for general well-being) were compared across the different data collection methods. The different data collection methods turned out to produce significantly different covariance matrices. Subsequent analyses showed that structural models, based on these covariance matrices, also differed

Covariance · Data collection · Data quality · Econometrics · Multivariate statistics · Statistics · Structural equation modeling · Survey data collection · Survey methodology · Univariate · Computer Science · Engineering · Mathematics · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Survey Methodology and Nonresponse · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies