Mark Trappmann

Interviewer Effects on a Network-Size Filter Question

Abstract There is evidence that survey interviewers may be tempted to manipulate answers to filter questions in a way that minimizes the number of follow-up questions. This becomes relevant when ego-centered network data are collected. The reported network size has a huge impact on interview duration if multiple questions on each alter are triggered. We analyze interviewer effects on a network-size question in the mixed-mode survey “Panel Study ‘Labour Market and Social Security’” (PASS), where interviewers could skip up to 15 follow-up questions by generating small networks. Applying multilevel models, we find almost no interviewer effects in CATI mode, where interviewers are paid by the hour and frequently supervised. In CAPI, however, where interviewers are paid by case and no close supervision is possible, we find strong interviewer effects on network size. As the area-specific network size is known from telephone mode, where allocation to interviewers is random, interviewer and area effects can be separated. Furthermore, a difference-in-difference analysis reveals the negative effect of introducing the follow-up questions in Wave 3 on CAPI network size. Attempting to explain interviewer effects we neither find significant main effects of experience within a wave, nor significantly different slopes between interviewers.

PASS: a new panel study for labour market research

Purpose - This paper aims to introduce a new large-scale panel study (“PASS”) for research on the labour market, the welfare state and poverty that combines a sample of 6,000 recipient households with an equally large sample of the general population. Design/methodology/approach - The authors show how research goals and the specific population of the survey are accounted for in a tailored survey design. Findings - The authors point the reader to new research potential created by the new study. The new potential is mainly derived from the sampling design (large recipient sample combined with a population sample), the direct measurement of poverty by a deprivation index, the detailed measurement of the migratory background, additional information (like attitudes, search intensity) for models of recipiency dynamics, and the linkage of the survey data with administrative data. Originality/value - The data set described fills a major gap in the data-infrastructure available for labour-market research. From a methodological point of view it presents an innovative sampling design.

A Note on Mechanisms Leading to Lower Data Quality of Late or Reluctant Respondents

Survey methodologists worry about trade-offs between nonresponse and measurement error. Past findings indicate that respondents brought into the survey late provide low-quality data. The diminished data quality is often attributed to lack of motivation. Quality is often measured through internal indicators and rarely through true scores. Using administrative data for validation purposes, this article documents increased measurement error as a function of recruitment effort for a large-scale employment survey in Germany. In this case study, the reduction in measurement quality of an important target variable is largely caused by differential measurement error in subpopulations and respective shifts in sample composition, as well as increased cognitive burden through the increased length of recall periods among later respondents. Only small portions of the relationship could be attributed to a lack of motivation among late or reluctant respondents.

Messung und Erklärung von Schwarzarbeit in Deutschland - Eine empirische Befragungsstudie unter besonderer Berück- sichtigung des Problems der sozialen Erwünschtheit* Measuring and Explaining Undeclared Work in Germany - An Empirical Survey with a Special Focus on Social Desirability Bias

Zusammenfassung Der vorliegende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, wie das Ausmaß von Schwarzarbeit in Deutschland im Rahmen von Befragungen der allgemeinen Bevölkerung mçglichst valide geschätzt werden kann. In einem experimentellen Design wird die konventionelle direkte Befragungstechnik mit zwei Spezialtechniken, der Randomized-Response- Technik (RRT) und der Item-Count-Technik (ICT), verglichen. Die RRTund die ICT wurden für die Messung besonders heikler Verhaltensweisen entwickelt und sollen durch eine Erhçhung der Anonymität in der Interviewsituation sozial erwünschtes Antwortverhalten reduzieren. Unsere Befunde zeigen, dass die häufig angenommene Wirkung der beiden Spezialtechniken auf die Bereitschaft der Befragten, sozial unerwünschtes Verhalten zu berichten, nicht eindeutig ausfällt. Zudem werden theoretisch bedeutsame Einflussfaktoren von Schwarzarbeit diskutiert und deren Wirkung im Rahmen von multiplen Regressionsanalysen empirisch überprüft. Neben Gelegenheitsstrukturen sind vor allem soziale Normen gute Prädiktoren für die individuelle Entscheidung schwarzzuarbeiten. Summary This article explores methods used to obtain a higher validity in estimates of the prevalence of undeclared work in Germany in surveys within the general population. Using an experimental design two “dejeopardizing” techniques are compared as alternatives to direct questioning when asking sensitive questions: the randomized response technique (RRT) and the item count technique (ICT). These techniques were specifically developed to reduce misreporting on sensitive topics: The goal is to elicit a higher proportion of honest answers from respondents by increasing the anonymity of the question-and-answer process. Our results suggest that neither RRT nor ICT provide unambiguous results with respect to more successful elicitation of reports of socially undesirable behavior. In addition, the theoretically significant influence of background variables is investigated empirically by means of multiple regression. Factors which foster illicit work are, aside from opportunity structures, social norms, which contribute significantly to the explanation of individual decisions to engage in undeclared work.

Wenig gebildet, viel sanktioniert? Zur Selektivität von Sanktionen in der Grundsicherung des SGB II

Abstract Welfare benefit recipients who are subject to benefit sanctions live below the subsistence level for a fixed period of time. Individuals with low education bear an increased risk of being sanctioned. Quantitative analyses of linked administrative and survey data indicate that this increased risk cannot be attributed to a lower motivation to work or a lower willingness to make concessions regarding job offers. Our analyses of qualitative interviews and individual case files reveal complex processes: Low cultural capital when dealing with administrative matters, a habitual distance vis-à-vis job center employees as well as previous negative attributions in case files can advance the sanctioning of low-skilled welfare recipients. In this way, sanctions contribute to the (re)production of social inequality.

A Study of Assimilation Bias in Name-Based Sampling of Migrants

Abstract The use of personal names for screening is an increasingly popular sampling technique for migrant populations. Although this is often an effective sampling procedure, very little is known about the properties of this method. Based on a large German survey, this article compares characteristics of respondents whose names have been correctly classified as belonging to a migrant population with respondentswho aremigrants and whose names have not been classified as belonging to a migrant population. Although significant differences were found for some variables even with some large effect sizes, the overall bias introduced by name-based sampling (NBS) is small as long as procedures with small false-negative rates are employed.

Prestige, Zentralität und Zentralisierung

Verfahren zur Messung von Zentralitat wurden entwickelt, um die “wichtigsten” Akteure in einem Netzwerk zu lokalisieren. Dabei gibt es in Abhangigkeit von den unterschiedlichen Vorstellungen, wann ein Akteur fur ein Netzwerk wichtig oder zentral ist, unterschiedliche Mase. So kann man einen Akteur zentral nen-nen, falls er direkte Beziehungen zu besonders vielen anderen Akteuren hat. Um diese Art von Zentralitat zu messen, wurde das Konzept der degree centrality entwickelt. Beim Konzept der closeness centrality hingegen geht es darum fest-zustellen, welche Akteure hinsichtlich der gemessenen Beziehung besonders nah an allen anderen Akteuren liegen. Ein drittes Konzept von Zentralitat beruht auf der Vorstellung, dass ein Akteur fur ein Netzwerk dann zentral ist, wenn viele Verbindungen zwischen je zwei anderen Akteuren „uber ihn laufen”, d.h. wenn er haufig auf den kurzesten oder sogar den einzigen Verbindungen zwi-schen den anderen liegt (betweenness centrality, information centrality). Nach einem vierten, komplizierteren Konzept ist ein Akteur in dem Ausmas zentral, wie er Beziehungen (direkt oder auch indirekt, je nach Konzept) zu Akteuren hat, die selbst wiederum eine zentrale Lage (in einer der drei genannten Bedeutungen) im Netzwerk haben.

Empfehlungen zur Vertiefung

Diese Einfuhrung in die Analyse sozialer Netzwerke erhebt keinen Anspruch auf Vollstandigkeit. An dieser Stelle sollte aber der Einstieg in Standardmetho-den der Netzwerkanalyse gelungen sein. Einige Konzepte und Entwicklungen finden in dieser Einfuhrung jedoch keinen Platz mehr.

Positionen und Rollen

Bei der Analyse von Teilgruppen kam es darauf an, Mengen von Akteuren aus-zumachen, die durch die Netzwerkbeziehung in irgendeiner Weise relativ stark untereinander verbunden sind. Dagegen werden bei der Analyse von Positionen solche Akteure gesucht, die ein ahnliches Muster von Beziehungen aufweisen und somit in ahnlicher Weise in das Netzwerk eingebunden sind. Rollen schlieslich beziehen sich auf das Muster der Beziehungen zwischen Angehori-gen gleicher oder verschiedener Positionen.