Respondent

A respondent is the person who is sampled to provide the data that are being gathered in a survey. (In some social science disciplines, such as psychology, the person from whom data are gathered is called the “subject.”) A respondent can report data about himself or herself or can serve as a proxy in reporting data about others (e.g. other members of the household). Even when the respondent is serving as a proxy, he or she is directly generating the data and contributing to their accuracy, or lack thereof.

Some surveys sample respondents directly, whereas other surveys begin by sampling larger units, such as households, and then choose a respondent within the unit from whom to gather data. In interviewer-administered surveying, such as what is done face-to-face or via the telephone, rapport first must be developed by the interviewer with the respondent in order to gain cooperation and then gather accurate data. In self-administered surveys, such as those conducted via mail and the Internet, there is no one representing the researcher's interests who is available to mediate the respondent's behavior, and cooperation typically is gained from the respondent via printed materials, such as a cover letter, which are sent to the respondent to read.

Gaining cooperation from sampled respondents has become progressively more difficult in the past two decades as lifestyles have become more hectic. The quality of the data that a survey gathers will be no better than the quality of the effort the respondent makes and her or his ability to provide it. A respondent's willingness and ability to provide accurate data will vary considerably across respondents and also from time to time for the same respondent.

There are many factors that influence whether a respondent will agree to participate in a survey and [Page 739]whether a respondent will provide complete and accurate data after agreeing to participate. It remains the responsibility of the researcher to choose the best survey methods, within the limitations of the researcher's finite budget for conducting the survey, that make it most likely that a sampled respondent will agree to cooperate when contacted, and once the respondent agrees, that he or she will provide the highest possible quality of data when answering the questionnaire.