Abstract
The time-use diary is a complex and burdensome data collection instrument. This can negatively affect data quality, leading to less detailed and/or inaccurate activity reporting as the surveyed time period unfolds. However, it can also be argued that data quality may actually improve over time as respondents become more familiar with the diary instrument format and more interested in the diary task. These competing hypotheses have only been partially tested on data from paper and telephone-administered diaries, which are traditionally used for large-scale data collection. Less is known about self-administered modes that make use of new technologies, despite their increasing popularity among researchers. This research note rectifies this omission by comparing diary quality in self-administered web and app diaries, drawing on data from the Millennium Cohort Study. We construct a person-level data quality typology, using information on missing data, episode changes, and reporting of key daily activity domains. Results show significant mode differences on person-level data quality, after controlling for characteristics known to influence diary mode selection and data quality. App diarists were more likely to return two diaries of inconsistent quality. Both respondent fatigue and improvement of completion over time appear more common among app diarists.
Highlights
Time diaries are burdensome to fill in, which typically leads to low response rates in stand-alone time-use surveys (Gershuny, 2003; Abraham, Maitland and Bianchi, 2006; Ingen, Stoop and Breedveld, 2009)
Aside from diary mode, our analysis draws on a set of variables known to influence diary mode selection and data quality: sex, ethnicity (White, Mixed, Indian, Pakistani/Bangladeshi, Black), parental educational attainment, family structure, and score on a naming vocabulary test administered at age 14, which was derived from a shortened version of the APU Vocabulary Test (Closs & Hutchings, 1976)
As these characteristics are known to influence data quality, our analysis examines whether differences in person-level diary quality are driven by variation in other factors
Summary
Time diaries are burdensome to fill in, which typically leads to low response rates in stand-alone time-use surveys (Gershuny, 2003; Abraham, Maitland and Bianchi, 2006; Ingen, Stoop and Breedveld, 2009). Diarists who experience respondent fatigue and still choose to complete their designated diaries (instead of dropping out) may be less likely to provide accurate time-use accounts as the surveyed time period unfolds. This could be the result of a higher tendency to engage in survey satisficing (Krosnick, 1991). Diarists may become more familiar with the instrument format and/or more interested in the diary task as the surveyed time period unfolds This could lead to more detailed descriptions over time, achieved by making use of a wider range of pre-coded activities in “light” time diaries or by providing more detailed and frequent textual descriptions in “heavy” open-ended diaries. Web and app time diary, and reflect on how instrument characteristics may be associated with person-level diary quality
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