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Abstract
A research study was conducted during the 1991 Farm Costs and
Returns Survey (FCRS) to identify and classify the reasons given to
field interviewers by potential respondents who refused to
participate in the survey. The reasons given by field interviewers
for coding a sampled unit as inaccessible during the survey were
also identified and classified.
The research was conducted in all 48 surveyed states, and included
6 FCRS questionnaire versions. Upon receiving a refusal,
interviewers were instructed to record the reason given for
refusing on the face page of the questionnaire. If no reason was
given, or in cases where more than one reason was given, the
interviewers were instructed to discuss the concerns of the
respondent in regards to completing an interview, and to identify
the main reason for refusing. When a sampled unit was coded as
inaccessible, interviewers were instructed to explain the reason.
During the manual edit of the questionnaires, the reasons for
refusal or being coded as inaccessible were reviewed and compared
to a coded list of reasons for nonresponse compiled from previous
research into this topic on the FCRS. statisticians could consider
the comments from the interviewers as a match to a pre-coded
response, or add additional codes for unique comments.
The nonresponse rate on FCRS averages 30% per year. The reasons
behind the nonresponse have been a source of speculation for many
years, and previously only anecdotal evidence was available on
which to base efforts to maximize response. This research shows
the anecdotal evidence to have been sometimes on and other times
off the mark.