Sampling, nonresponse, and quality in travel surveys

Abstract

Response rates have been continuously declining in most countries for many decades. Therefore, the risk of selectivity and of response bias are steadily increasing. During the workshop, we discussed the use of different lists based on sampling frames, as this can greatly improve the efficiency of data collection. However, the impact of the weighting procedure must be considered. The study of nonresponse mechanism is fundamental for representativeness of the sample of respondents. Furthermore, soft refusal is not limited to not reporting any trips at all, but can also be defined as underreporting trips. We found that it is necessary to improve surveys with the help of technologies or usage logs in order to deal with burdensome and underreporting. At the end of the workshop we came up with research priorities and recommendations for the next conference.