Household Refusal

The household refusal disposition is used in telephone, in-person, and mail surveys to categorize a case in which contact has been made with a household, but someone in the household has refused either a request by an interviewer to complete an interview (telephone or in-person survey) or a mailed request to complete and return a questionnaire (mail survey). The household refusal typically occurs before a designated respondent is selected. Household refusals are considered eligible cases in calculating response and cooperation rates.

In a telephone survey, a case is coded with the household refusal disposition when an interviewer dials a telephone number, reaches a person, and begins the introductory script, and the person who answers the telephone declines to complete the interview. In calls ending in a household refusal, the person the interviewer spoke with may provide an explanation for the refusal, such as “We don't do surveys,” “I don't have time,” “We're not interested,” or “Please take us off your list.” In other instances, the person contacted may simply hang up. It is important to note that for a case to be coded as a household refusal, the refusal either must occur before the interviewer selects the designated respondent or must be generated by a household member other than the designated respondent. If a refusal was generated by the person known to be the designated respondent, the case should be coded with the respondent refusal disposition, not the household refusal disposition. Past research has shown that the majority of refusals in a telephone survey come from household refusals.

Household refusals in an in-person survey occur when an interviewer contacts a household, a household member answers the door, the interviewer begins the introductory script, and the person declines to proceed with the survey request. As in a telephone survey, cases should be considered household refusals when the refusal occurs before the interviewer selects a designated respondent or when the refusal is provided by a household member other than the designated respondent. A case in an in-person survey should be coded with the respondent refusal disposition—not [Page 318]the household refusal disposition—if a refusal was generated by the person known to be the designated respondent. Common reasons in in-person surveys for household refusals parallel those listed earlier in this entry for telephone surveys.

Cases in a mail survey of specifically named persons are coded with the household refusal disposition when contact has been made with the housing unit in which the sampled person lives and another member of the household declines to have the sampled person complete and return the questionnaire. Because little may be known in a mail survey about who in the household generated the refusal, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether a household refusal or respondent refusal disposition is most appropriate, but when in doubt a household refusal should be coded.

Household refusals are considered final dispositions, unless a refusal conversion process is used in the survey. Because refusal rates for all types of surveys have increased significantly in the past decade, many survey organizations review cases ending in household refusals and choose such cases in which the refusal is not extremely strong in nature to be contacted again in order to try to convert the case's disposition to a completed interview.

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