Transitioning to a Mixed-Mode Study Design in a National Household Panel Study: Effects on Fieldwork Outcomes, Sample...

Area of Science:

• Survey Methodology
• Social Science Research Methods
• Data Collection Techniques

Background:

• The U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) historically used computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).
• A transition to a web-first mixed-mode design (web and CATI) was planned for 2021.
• Evaluating the impact of data collection mode on fieldwork outcomes is crucial for survey efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the fieldwork outcomes of two sequential mixed-mode protocols: web-first versus CATI-first.
• To assess the effects of the new mixed-mode design on response rates, contact attempts, duration, and cost.
• To compare current mixed-mode results with historical data from a traditional telephone design.

Main Methods:

• An experimental design randomized sample families into two protocols: web-first and CATI-first.
• The web-first protocol prioritized online interviews, followed by telephone.
• The CATI-first protocol prioritized telephone interviews, with a later option for web completion.

Main Results:

• The web-first design yielded comparably high response rates to the CATI-first design.
• Web-first resulted in faster interview completion, lower effort, and reduced costs.
• Compared to the previous wave, the mixed-mode design generally reduced effort and showed similar non-response patterns across subgroups.

Conclusions:

• The web-first mixed-mode approach is effective for household panel studies, demonstrating efficiency gains.
• This study provides empirical evidence supporting the use of mixed-mode designs in large-scale surveys.
• The findings contribute valuable insights into optimizing data collection strategies and reducing costs in longitudinal studies.