Response consistency and response time across later life stages: evidence from a factorial survey on housing decisions

Factorial surveys are increasingly used in gerontological research to study complex decision-making in later life. While prior work has demonstrated their feasibility among older adults, less is known about how response behavior varies across later-life stages and how response time relates to response consistency, particularly among the oldest old.

Data are drawn from a factorial survey on housing decisions conducted with a convenience sample of adults aged 50 to 99 years in Germany (N = 266). Response inconsistency was operationalised as a respondent-level measure based on residual variation in vignette evaluations. Regression and interaction analyses were used to examine age-related patterns and the relationship between response time and response inconsistency.

Response time increased with age. Response inconsistency did not vary across most age groups but was higher among the oldest respondents. No statistically robust association between response time and response inconsistency was observed, and interaction effects were not significant. Exploratory analyses indicated that age-related differences in inconsistency were detectable only within a limited range of response times.

The findings emphasise the importance of differentiating between stages of later life when assessing survey response behavior. They suggest that response pace and response consistency capture distinct dimensions that should not be treated as interchangeable indicators of data quality. By focusing on age-specific patterns, the study contributes to a more differentiated interpretation of response behavior in gerontological survey research.