Effects of Interviewer Attitudes and Behaviors on Refusal in Household Surveys

This paper aims to identify the interviewer characteristics that influence survey cooperation. A multilevel cross-classified logistic model with random interviewer effects is used to account for clustering of households within interviewers due to unmeasured interviewer attributes, and for the cross-classification of interviewers within areas. We find that interviewer confidence and attitudes play an important role in explaining between-interviewer variation in refusal rates. We also find evidence of interaction effects between the interviewer and householder, for example with respect to gender and educational level, supporting the notion of similarity of interviewers and respondents generating higher cooperation. The results are discussed with respect to potential implications for survey practice and design.