The Effect of Interviewer Characteristics and Expectations on Response

This study reports on two sets of findings related to interviewer effects, derived from a national RDD sample of the adult population. The first of these concerns the effect of interviewer characteristics and expectations on overall cooperation rates; the second, the effect of interviewer characteristics and expectations on item nonresponse and response quality. We found that interviewers' age, the size of the interviewing assignment, and interviewers' expectations all had a strong effect on overall cooperation rates; the relation of experience to response rate was curvilinear in this sample. Age and education have consistent but statistically insignificant effects on item nonresponse. The effect of interviewers' expectations on responses within the interview resembles that in earlier studies, but is less pronounced and less consistent.