TY - JOUR T1 - Does Sequence Matter in Multi-Mode Surveys: Results from an Experiment. JF - Field methods Y1 - 2014 A1 - James Wagner A1 - Arrieta, Jennifer A1 - Heidi M Guyer A1 - Mary Beth Ofstedal AB -

Interest in a multi-mode approach to surveys has grown substantially in recent years, in part due to increased costs of face-to-face interviewing and the emergence of the internet as a survey mode. Yet, there is little systematic evidence of the impact of a multimode approach on survey costs and errors. This paper reports the results of an experiment designed to evaluate whether a mixed-mode approach to a large screening survey would produce comparable response rates at a lower cost than a face-to-face screening effort. The experiment was carried out in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), an ongoing panel study of Americans over age 50. In 2010, HRS conducted a household screening survey to recruit new sample members to supplement the existing sample. The experiment varied the sequence of modes with which the screening interview was delivered. One treatment offered mail first, followed by face-to-face interviewing; the other started with face-to-face and then mail. A control group was offered only face-to-face interviewing. Results suggest that the mixed mode options reduced costs without reducing response rates to the screening interview. There is some evidence, however, that the sequence of modes offered may impact the response rate for a follow-up in-depth interview.

PB - 26 VL - 26 UR - http://fmx.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/24/1525822X13491863.abstract IS - 2 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24764767?dopt=Abstract U4 - Mixed Mode/Nonresponse/Survey research/multimode/Response Rate ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Unhealthy lifestyles among older adults: exploring transitions in Mexico and the US. JF - Eur J Ageing Y1 - 2008 A1 - Rebeca Wong A1 - Mary Beth Ofstedal A1 - Yount, Kathryn A1 - Emily M. Agree AB -

Lifestyle risk factors are important precursors of old age disease and disability, and the population level impact of these factors likely differs across countries that vary in their economic growth and the attributes of the populations that adopt and abandon unhealthy lifestyles. This paper describes the stage of "lifestyle transition" among older adults in two countries with vastly different trajectories of socio-economic development. A series of hypotheses are proposed on the socioeconomic patterns of health risk factors that would be expected in the two countries, given their economic circumstances and the historical timing of policy interventions that were initiated to mitigate lifestyle risks in these populations. The paper compares the prevalence of smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, obesity, and lack of physical exercise, as well as the socioeconomic and demographic covariates of these risk factors, among adults aged 55 and older in Mexico and the United States. The findings indicate that smoking- and physical-activity-related transitions toward healthier lifestyles are well under way among older adults in the United States but not in Mexico, whereas a trend toward reduced levels of obesity has just begun in the United States but not in Mexico. There is no evidence of a transition in heavy alcohol drinking in either country among older adults.

PB - 5 VL - 5 IS - 4 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25419206?dopt=Abstract U4 - MHAS_/Cross Cultural Comparison/cross-national comparison/Lifestyle/Obesity/Smoking/Alcohol/Exercise/Mexico/United States ER -