Are We Done Yet?
Response Fatigue and Rural Livelihoods
with Kate Ambler and Mywish Maredia
Response Fatigue and Rural Livelihoods
with Kate Ambler and Mywish Maredia
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Most Recent Version:
(October 2020) |
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Abstract:
Survey modules that gather information about multiple household members impose significant costs on households’ designated respondents. In rural Ghana, we estimate how response fatigue impacts the measurement of productive activities by randomizing the order in which members are asked about. We estimate that response fatigue leads to an undercounting of labor activities by an average of 8%. Women and youth are systematically listed later and the effects of fatigue, conditional on roster position, are also stronger for these groups. These two factors induce systematic biases when comparing labor contributions by gender or age, both within households and in population-wide estimates.
Survey modules that gather information about multiple household members impose significant costs on households’ designated respondents. In rural Ghana, we estimate how response fatigue impacts the measurement of productive activities by randomizing the order in which members are asked about. We estimate that response fatigue leads to an undercounting of labor activities by an average of 8%. Women and youth are systematically listed later and the effects of fatigue, conditional on roster position, are also stronger for these groups. These two factors induce systematic biases when comparing labor contributions by gender or age, both within households and in population-wide estimates.