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Home Issues Backissues Volume 31, No.1 Attitudes on Survey Participation and Its Change in Taiwan: 1986-1998

Attitudes on Survey Participation and Its Change in Taiwan: 1986-1998

Su-Feng Chen and Lu-Huei Chen
2000 / 05
Volume 7, No.1

pp.115-138
10.6612/tjes.2000.07.01.115-138
Paper

Abstract

In Taiwan, researchers and scholars widely use survey data to conduct research analysis, construct theories and test hypotheses. However, problems came from process of data collection seldom been noticed. From the perspective of survey research methodolo-gy, this paper examined people’s attitudes on survey participation in Taiwan between 1986 and 1998. This research showed that, in Tai-wan, people became less likely to participate in survey interview even political environment became more democratic and open in the last decade. Among people who did not participate in survey, one quarter of them can not be reached by interviewers, and one out of four can be reached but refused to participate in survey. Worthy to be noticed is that the ratio of “refuse to be interviewed” increased gradually. Compared with survey on “election studies”, sur-vey topic on “relation between Taiwan and Mainland China” re-ceived higher refuseal rate. The paper indicated that the response rate of sensitive questions was influenced by respondents’ demo-graphic background and level of information they had. Men, youths, mainlanders, high-educated and party identifiers were more likely to answer the sensitive question-whom did you vote for- in this research. Type of elections also playd a role on re-sponse rate. In the survey on presidential election and gubernator-rial/mayoral election, nonresponse rates on reporting preferential candidates were lower than nonresponse rates in legislative elec-tions. Therefore, the difference of electoral system between sin-gle member district and SNTV might affect nonresponse rates. Several methodological suggestions are also presented for future sur-vey participation research.

Keywords

survey research

methodology

survey participation

non respondent

sensitive question