The ESA Research Network 21 "Quantitative Methods" seeks abstract submissions for the European Sociological Association's 11th Conference which will take place in
*Torino, Italy 28-31 August 2013.*
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The Quantitative Methods Research Network (RN21) of the European Sociological Association (ESA) brings together social scientists with a research interest in quantitative methodology and empirical research, including survey research, mixed methods, experimental methods, causal inference, simulation, statistical techniques, comparative methods, and others. The theme of the 11th conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA) is "Crisis, Critique and Change." In accordance with this thematic RN21 especially invites papers on quantitative approaches on the contemporary economic crisis and on crisis and change in quantitative methodology. We welcome submissions on all quantitative issues, but especially encourage paper presentations on one of the following topics:
01RN21. Measurement Quality and Measurement Equivalence
02RN21. Standardizing Variables for Cross-National Survey Research
03RN21. Experimental Methods and Simulation in Sociological Research
04RN21 Methods and Applications of Social Network Analysis
05RN21. Mixing Methods: Moving Beyond the Quantitative-Qualitative Divide
06RN21. Teaching Quantitative Methods
07RN21. Quantitative Methods(open)
We are open for additional topics as long as they can be accommodated in the conference schedule. Colleagues from outside of Europe are of course welcome to submit abstracts and participate in the sessions.
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Authors are invited to submit their abstract either to the general session (open) or any specific session. Please submit each abstract only to one session. After abstract evaluation, coordinators will have the chance to transfer papers between sessions where applicable.
Abstracts should not exceed 1750 characters (including spaces, approximately 250 words). Each paper session will have the duration of 1.5 hours. Normally sessions will include 4 papers. Abstracts can only be submitted online no later than 1st of February 2013to the submission platform at: www.esa11thconference.eu. Abstracts sent by email cannot be accepted.
The information requested during abstract submission include: 1) name(s), afflation(s) and email of all the author(s); 2) contact details of presenting author (postal address, and telephone in addition to email); 3) title of proposed presentation; 4) up to 4 keywords (optional). Submitting authors will receive an email of acknowledgement of successful submission receipt. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed and selected for presentation by the relevant Research Network or Research Stream; the letter of notification will be sent by the conference software system in early April 2013. Each author cannot
submit more than two abstracts (as first author).
*Abstract submission deadline: 1st February 2013*
*Abstract submission platform: http://www.esa11thconference.eu*
If you have further questions on the conference, please visit the conference website. If you have any questions on RN21 sessions please do not hesitate to write an email to henning.best(a)gesis.org .
I'm looking forward to seeing you in Turin,
Henning Best (ESA RN21 coordinator)
Dear Colleagues,
The 5th European Survey Research Association (ESRA) conference will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia from July 15-19, 2013. We invite you to submit a presentation to our session "The use of respondent incentives in face-to-face surveys: Effects on response rates, survey error and survey costs "
---------Session Details
Decreasing response rates have become a major concern for face-to-surveys in modern societies in the last decades. To counter this downward trend, one possible and often used measure is respondent incentives. Incentives are used in a large variety of forms, modes and value, and survey modes.
While there is evidence for a positive effect of incentives on response rates, there is still debate on the effects on survey error. Respondent incentives may increase sample selectivity by attracting a specific subset of respondents over proportionally to the survey. Incentives may also systematically change answers by survey respondents, thus producing measurement error, by changing survey participants' perception of the study or their motivation for participation.
As incentives increase direct survey costs, research on the overall cost effectiveness of incentives is needed. Incentives may ease contact processes or increase data quality, thus save the survey enterprise fieldwork or data editing costs.
Contributions sought for this session will address one or more of following research questions:
· Effects of respondent incentives on survey outcome: How are contact, cooperation, response rates influenced by incentives?
· Effects of respondent incentives on sample composition and nonresponse bias. Do incentives differentially affect the response propensity of various subgroups of the population?
· Effects of respondent incentives on measurement error. Do respondent incentives change the response behavior during the interview?
· Are respondent incentives cost effective? Can savings in terms of fieldwork effort outweigh the direct expenses for incentives?
We want to focus the session on contributions from large-scale face-to-face surveys. We prefer results from experimental studies; however, all studies addressing the research questions are welcome.
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For submitting an abstract, please log onto the ESRA website, http://www.europeansurveyresearch.org/conferences/register. The deadline for abstract submission is January 13, 2013. During the submission process, you will be asked to select the area of survey methodology to which your presentation belongs. Here, please select "Unit Nonresponse and attrition" and then the title of this session: " The use of respondent incentives in face-to-face surveys: Effects on response rates, survey error and survey costs ".
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries about the session.
Thank you very much and best regards
Klaus Pforr, GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany, klaus.pforr(a)gesis.org<mailto:klaus.pforr@gesis.org>
Ulrich Krieger, University of Mannheim, Germany, Ulrich.Krieger(a)uni-mannheim.de<mailto:Ulrich.Krieger@uni-mannheim.de>
Michael Blohm, GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany, michael.blohm(a)gesis.org<mailto:michael.blohm@gesis.org>
__________________________________
Klaus Pforr
GESIS -- Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaft
B2,1
Postfach 122155
D - 68072 Mannheim
Tel: +49 621 1246 298
Fax: +49 621 1246 100
E-Mail: klaus.pforr(a)gesis.org<mailto:klaus.pforr@gesis.org>
__________________________________
Dear colleagues,
Annelies Blom, Oliver Lipps and me are organizing a session on "Using Paradata to Improve Survey Data Quality" at the next ESRA conference and would like to invite you to submit a proposal. We believe that your research might well fit within the scope of our session. Please find the complete session outline below.
The call for papers will remain open until 13 January 2013. During this period, we welcome you to submit a proposal for a paper online on the ESRA website. You will find our session in the section "paradata and fieldwork".
You can find more information about the conference on http://www.europeansurveyresearch.org/
Please feel free to contact us in case you have any questions. We look forward to your proposal and hope to see you in Ljubljana.
Kind regards,
Annelies Blom
Oliver Lipps
Volker Stocké
Session Description:
"Paradata" are measures of the survey data collection process, such as data describing interviewer or respondent behaviour or data available from the sampling frame, such as administrative records. Examples of paradata are call-record data in CATI surveys, keystroke information from CAI, timestamp files, observations of interviewer behaviour or respondents' response latencies. These data can be used to enrich questionnaire responses or to provide information about the survey (non-)participation process. In many cases paradata are available at little additional cost. However, there is a lack of theoretically guided reasoning about how to use available paradata indicators to assess and improve the quality of survey data. Areas which might benefit from the effective use of paradata are:
- Paradata in fieldwork monitoring and nonresponse research: Survey practitioners can for example monitor fieldwork progress and interviewer performance (Japec 2005, Laflamme et al. 2008). They are also indispensable in responsive designs as real-time information about fieldwork and survey outcomes which affect costs and errors (Groves and Heeringa 2006). In methodological research into interviewer (Lipps 2008, Blom et al. 2011) or fieldwork (Lipps 2009) effects, consistent predictors of nonresponse and nonresponse bias (Blom et al. 2010), the jury is still out on the added value of paradata.
- Paradata to understand respondent behavior: Paradata might aid assessing of the quality of survey responses, e.g. by means of response latencies (Callegaro et al. 2009, Stocké 2004) or back-tracking (Stieger and Reips 2010). Research has used paradata to identify uncertainty in the answers given by respondents, e.g., if respondents frequently alter their answers, need a lot of time, or move the cursor over several answer options.
Papers in this session consider all aspects of measuring, preparing and analyzing paradata for data quality improvement in longitudinal as well as cross sectional surveys.
Prof. Dr. Volker Stocké
Professur für Methoden der Empirischen Sozialforschung
Universität Kassel
Fachbereich 05 Gesellschaftswissenschaften
Nora-Platiel-Str. 5, Raum 2122
34109 Kassel
E-Mail: volker.stocke(at)uni-kassel.de
Phone: +49-561 804-3127
Fax: +49-561 804-3464
Homepage: http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb05/fachgruppen/soziologie/methoden-der-empirisch…
Privat: Terrasse 17
34117 Kassel
Phone: +49-561-40700024
Gartenfeldstr. 35
68169 Mannheim
Mobile: +49(0)176-61030014