Estimating the Nonresponse Bias Due to Refusals in Telephone Surveys

This paper attempts to aid the process of accumulating the necessary information for making more informed judgments about the effects of nonresponse under different conditions. Two measures, which permit quantifiable nonsubjective assessment of the effects of nonresponse on sample estimates, are introduced and are used to examine the effects of respondent refusals in a random-digit-dialed general population telephone survey of over 1,200 households as the response rate isincreased from 74.5 percent to 86.8 percent. By applying these measures under a wide range of conditions, the adequacy of various response rates may be assessed and more rational decisions made about the costs and benefits of devoting extraordinary resources to minimizing nonresponse.