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The Psychology of Survey Response

The Psychology of Survey Response

A presentation from former AAPOR president David Dutwin

While psychological and personality-based attributes have long been recognized as having powerful influences on behavior, and have been recognized as a potential significant predictor of survey nonresponse, research on their effect toward nonresponse has been largely limited to a small suite of metrics and within a limited set of nonresponse output measures. Now more than ever, given the decades-long increase in nonresponse and recent challenges in election polling, survey researchers are seeking greater understanding of and methods to mitigate nonresponse that go beyond operational best-practices and weighting to demographics. This presentation explores the impact of psychological and personality-based measures on survey nonresponse. Beyond consideration of theoretical rationales for the influence of psychological metrics, results from a major study reveal the specific impact of 20 different psychological and personality-based metrics on survey nonresponse, and well as the impact of nonresponse reduction strategies on these metrics. The presentation will detail the differential impact of inward and outward facing personality traits, as well as discuss the impact of these traits on political measures and voting behavior.


​David Dutwin, PhD is NORC’s senior vice president of strategic initiatives within the Business Ventures and Innovation department. Dutwin provides scientific and programmatic thought leadership in support of NORC’s ongoing innovations, ensuring work is disseminated throughout the scientific community. Dutwin is also the chief scientist of AmeriSpeak, NORC’s multi-client panel-based research platform, where in addition to identifying new business opportunities, he lends expertise on research design conceptualization, methodological innovation, and product development. Prior to joining NORC, Dutwin worked at SSRS as the chief data officer overseeing executive vision and strategy, project acquisition, statistical estimation, and management of advance research methods. He is a senior fellow of the Program for Opinion Research and Election Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as a lecturer. An avid member of the AAPOR community, Dutwin served as president from 2018-2019. He previously served on AAPOR’s Executive Council, was conference chair, and has served full terms on a number of committees. For over fifteen years, he has taught Survey Research and Design, Political Polling, Research Methods, Rhetorical Theory, Media Effects, and other courses as an adjunct professor at University of Pennsylvania and at West Chester University. Dutwin is also a research scholar at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research.


Pricing:

Members: $15

Non members: $30

Students: Free

Mar 15, 2023

10:00 PM

Online presentation

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