The effect of the refusal avoidance training experiment on final disposition codes in the German ESS-2

Abstract

"The implementation of a Refusal Avoidance Training (RAT) within wave 2 of the German part of the European Social Survey (ESS) successful reduced the amount of reported refusal by nearly 7%. The effect of the reduction was compensated by a nearly equal increase in the proportion of non-contacted designated respondents. This effect may be due to non-random allocation of trained interviewers. Further randomized experiments are neccessary to separate the effects of RAT on response rates." (author's abstract)