Correlates of the Unit Nonresponse in Survey Research: Evidence from the KGSS 2012 Nonresponse Survey

Abstract

In spite of an ever-increasing usage and heavy reliance on the traditional, face-to-face, in-depth interview survey data in the social science nowadays, an undue attention has been paid in Korea concerning a few critically important issues of survey nonresponses: how do unit nonresponses in general deviate systematically from valid or substantive responses; how do unit nonresponses vary by certain characteristics of interviewers and interviewees; what are some of the homogeneities and heterogeneities associated with unit nonresponses of social survey data in Korea in the cross-cultural perspective. In an effort to address these issues, this study tries to provide the results of data analysis working on the latest (2012) nonresponse survey data of KGSS (Korean General Social Survey). Results of data analysis provide a few intriguing findings that might provide an important clue as to the diagnosis and prescription of potential systematic bias, as opposed to random error, underlying most large-scale national sample surveys in Korea.