Survey participation effects in conflict research

Bibliographic Data

ID4841701
AuthorsAlexander De Juan (0000-0002-6649-5064, Institute for Social Sciences, University of Osnabrück, corresponding author), Cheryl Koos (0000-0002-1259-7495, Chr. Michelsen Institute)
Year2021
Volume58
Issue4
Pages623-639
Publication date2021-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022343320971034
OpenAlexW3136838088
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited34

Do survey participants in conflict zones respond differently if they have been interviewed before? Academic and policy interest in postwar political opinion has increased tremendously. One unexpected consequence of this surge of survey research is a growing probability that individuals will be interviewed multiple times. However, if participating in one survey causes respondents to change their attitudes or behavior, their subsequent survey responses may be biased in comparison to the rest of the sample population. Our article aims to investigate such 'survey participation effects' in conflict contexts. We draw on original survey data collected in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In our representative sample, 18% of respondents report that they have been interviewed before. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that their stated attitudes on social relations, political institutions, gender norms, and wartime victimization differ substantively from the responses of first-time interviewees. Moreover, our analyses indicate that experienced respondents have specific response styles - in particular, a tendency to support extreme response options. While substantive bias in multivariate analyses seems to be rather rare, our findings indicate that researchers should be aware of the footprints of data collection efforts in areas frequently targeted by household and opinion surveys

Data collection · Democracy · Demographic economics · Economics · General Social Survey · Political science · Politics · Population · Public opinion · Sample (material) · Social science · Sociology · Survey data collection · Survey methodology · Survey research · Applied Psychology · Demography · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Survey Methodology and Nonresponse · Survey Sampling and Estimation Techniques

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access