title: Alternative indicators for the risk of non-response bias: a simulation study.
abstract: The growth of nonresponse rates for social science surveys has led to increased concern about the risk of nonresponse bias. Unfortunately, the nonresponse rate is a poor indicator of when nonresponse bias is likely to occur. We consider in this paper a set of alternative indicators. A large-scale simulation study is used to explore how each of these indicators performs in a variety of circumstances. Although, as expected, none of the indicators fully depicts the impact of nonresponse in survey esti mates, we discuss how they can be used when creating a plausible account of the risks for nonresponse bias for a survey. We also describe an interesting characteristic of the FMI that may be helpful in diagnosing NMAR mechanisms in certain situations.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research Program in Survey Methodology 426 Thompson Street, Room 4134 Ann Arbor, MI, USA 48104.
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research 426 Thompson Street, Room 4064 Ann Arbor, MI, USA 48104 jameswag@umich.edu.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research 426 Thompson Street, Room 4064 Ann Arbor, MI, USA 48104 University of Michigan Department of Biostatistics University of Michigan School of Public Health M4041 SPH II 1420 Washington Heights Ann Arbor, MI, USA 48109 mrelliot@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Elliott
keywords: Bias; Missing data; Nonresponse; Nonresponse indicators; Survey data quality measures