Retrospective Interviewing and Its Application in Study of Residential Mobility

Recent work in the area of transportation and land use modeling and, more specifically, residential mobility modeling has recognized the need for increased experimentation with dynamic models. Implicitly, dynamic models require longitudinal data, which are time-consuming and expensive to collect. As an alternative to panel studies, a retrospective interviewing technique to collect data for use in a dynamic model of residential mobility is examined. A small retrospective survey of households in Toronto, Canada, was conducted using three data collection methods; mail, telephone, and telephone with mail. Ninety complete observations were obtained. The retrospective survey process and the three data collection methods are assessed and evaluated. Though not without problems, the retrospective survey proved to be a favorable alternative to panel studies. The telephone-with-mail survey method showed the most potential for use in future data collection efforts on the basis of its costs, response rates, and quality of data.