Reducing Item-Specific Nonresponse Bias

Abstract

This article describes a method of dealing with partially-responded-to questionnaires in survey research which utilizes nonparametric Bayesian discriminant analysis to predict missing responses based on “profiles” of the partial and the “complete” respondents. Some background of nonresponse bias in survey research is discussed, and two other methods of dealing with partial nonresponse bias are briefly criticized. The Bayesian method is detailed along with its statistic, and limitations on the use and effectiveness of all the methods are considered.