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Response Rates

A summary of the outcomes of the wave 1 fieldwork is provided in Tables 51 and 52 below. Table 51 reveals that from the 11,693 households identified as in–scope, interviews were completed with all eligible members of 6872 households and with at least one eligible member of a further 810 households. The household response rate was, therefore, 66 per cent. Wooden, Freidin and Watson (2002) provide some comparisons of this response rate to other similar studies and conclude there are good reasons to be extremely satisfied with the rate of response obtained.

Table 51: Wave 1 Household Outcomes
Sample outcome Number Per cent
Addresses issued 12,252  
Less out–of–scope (vacant, non–residential, foreign) 804  
Plus multi–households additional to sample 245  
Total households 11,693 100.0
Refusals to interviewer 2,670 22.8
Refusals to fieldwork company (via 1800 number or email) 431 3.7
Non–response with contact 469 4.0
Non–contact 441 3.8
Fully responding households 6,872 58.8
Partially responding households 810 6.9

 

The wave 1 person–level outcomes are provided in Table 52. Within the 7682 households interviewed, there were 19,914 people, resulting in an average of 2.6 persons per household. Of these people 4787 were under 15 years of age on the preceding 30 June and hence were ineligible for an interview in wave 1. This provided a sample of 15,127 eligible persons, 13,969 of whom completed the Person Questionnaire.

Table 52: Wave 1 Person Outcomes
Sample outcome Number Percent
Enumerated persons 19,914  
Ineligible children (under 15) 4,787  
Eligible adults 15,127 100.0
Refusals to interviewer 597 3.9
Refusals to fieldwork company (via 1800 number or email) 31 0.2
Non–response with contact 218 1.4
Non–contact 312 2.1
Responding individuals 13,969 92.3

 

Table 53 through to Table 57 show the household outcomes for waves 2 through 6. The household response rate (including fully and partially responding households) ranges from 87.0 per cent in wave 2 to 76.3 per cent in wave 6.

It is also constructive to consider the household outcomes for two groups – those that responded in the previous wave and those that didn’t.48 The household response rates for those households responding in the previous wave are:

  • wave 2 – 87.0 per cent;
  • wave 3 – 90.6 per cent;
  • wave 4 – 92.3 per cent;
  • wave 5 – 94.6 per cent; and
  • wave 6 – 94.7 per cent.

In Table 58 and Table 59 we report a summary of the person–level response in waves 2 to 6. Of the 13,969 people interviewed in wave 1:

  • 11,993 were re–interviewed in wave 2;
  • 11,190 were re–interviewed in wave 3;
  • 10,565 were re–interviewed in wave 4;
  • 10,391 were re–interviewed in wave 5; and
  • 10,085 were re–interviewed in wave 6.

The number interviewed in all six waves is 8864.

A common measure of the re–interviewing success is the attrition rate, calculated as the proportion of respondents in the previous wave that did not provide an interview in the current wave, excluding those that are out of scope (that is, those that have died or moved overseas). The wave–on–wave attrition rates, as shown in Table 59, are:

  • wave 2 – 13.2 per cent;
  • wave 3 – 9.6 per cent;
  • wave 4 – 8.4 per cent;
  • wave 5 – 5.6 per cent; and
  • wave 6 – 5.2 per cent.

The attrition rates recorded in the early waves of the HILDA Survey are slightly higher than surveys such as the British Household Panel Study (BHPS), which achieved attrition rates in waves 2 and 3 of 12.4 percent and 7.8 percent respectively (after excluding proxy interviews). We believe they compare favorably given the comparative waves of the BHPS were conducted 10 years earlier and it has been generally accepted that response rates to surveys have been falling. Indeed, the wave 2 and 3 attrition rates for the recent BHPS Welsh sub-sample were 15.0 percent and 9.6 percent respectively and those for the recent BHPS Scottish sub–sample were 12.2 percent and 8.1 percent respectively (and these figures include proxy interviews which are not permitted in the HILDA Survey). The attrition rate in the HILDA Survey is noticeably higher than the BHPS in both Waves 4 and 6, but did drop below the BHPS attrition rate in Wave 5 by 0.8 percentage points.

Table 53: Wave 2 Household Outcomes
Sample Outcome Number Percent
Households issued 7,682  
Plus split households 712  
Less out of scope households (due to death or move overseas) 68  
Total households 8,326 100.0
Refusals to interviewer 490 5.9
Refusals to fieldwork company (via 1800 number or email) 132 1.6
Non–response with contact 134 1.6
Non–contact, not lost to tracking 75 0.9
Lost to tracking 250 3.0
Fully responding households 6,541 78.6
Partially responding households 704 8.5

 

Table 54: Wave 3 Household Outcomes
Sample Outcome All households   Wave 2 responding HH   Wave 2 non–responding HH
Number %   Number %   Number %
Households from wave 2 8371     7245     1126  
Plus split households 463     394     69  
Less out of scope households (due to death or move overseas) 156     78     78  
Total households 8878 100.0   7561 100.0   1117 100.0
Refusals to interviewer 722 8.3   395 5.2   327 29.3
Refusals to fieldwork company (via 1800 number or email) 271 3.1   80 1.1   191 17.1
Non–response with contact 163 1.9   103 1.4   60 5.4
Non–contact, not lost to tracking 59 0.7   43 0.6   16 1.4
Lost to tracking 367 4.2   90 1.2   277 24.8
Fully responding households 6463 74.5   6289 83.2   174 15.6
Partially responding households 633 7.3   561 7.4   72 6.4

 

Table 55: Wave 4 Household Outcomes
Sample Outcome All households   Wave 3 responding HH   Wave 3 non–responding HH
Number %   Number %   Number %
Households from wave 3A 8738     7096     1642  
Plus split households 397     344     53  
Less out of scope households (due to death or move overseas) 247     136     111  
Total households 8888 100.0   7304 100.0   1584 100.0
Refusals to interviewer 871 9.8   312 4.3   559 35.3
Refusals to fieldwork company (via 1800 number or email) 339 3.8   52 0.7   287 18.1
Non–response with contact 199 2.2   117 1.6   82 5.2
Non–contact, not lost to tracking 93 1.0   43 0.6   50 3.2
Lost to trackingB 399 4.5   37 0.5   362 22.9
Fully responding households 6304 70.9   6122 83.8   182 11.5
Partially responding households 683 7.7   621 8.5   62 3.9
A Excludes 55 dead households and 41 empty households identified in Wave 2 and 3. Back to where you were
B Includes 321 households that were identified as untraceable in Wave 2 and 3. Back to where you were

 

Table 56: Wave 5 Household Outcomes
Sample Outcome All households   Wave 4 responding HH   Wave 4 non–responding HH
Number %   Number %   Number %
Households from wave 4A 9037     6987     2050  
Plus split households 388     329     59  
Less out of scope households (due to death or move overseas) 287     134     153  
Total households 9138 100.0   7182 100.0   1956 100.0
Refusals to interviewer 944 10.3   224 3.1   720 36.8
Refusals to fieldwork company (via 1800 number or email) 369 4.0   12 0.2   357 18.3
Non–response with contact 177 1.9   85 1.2   92 4.7
Non–contact, not lost to tracking 81 0.9   41 0.6   40 2.0
Lost to trackingB 442 4.8   31 0.4   411 21.0
Fully responding households 6495 71.1   6251 87.0   244 12.5
Partially responding households 630 6.9   538 7.5   92 4.7
A Excludes 95 dead households and 99 empty households identified in Wave 2 to 4. Back to where you were
B Includes 370 households that were identified as untraceable in an earlier wave. Back to where you were

 

Table 57: Wave 6 Household Outcomes
Sample Outcome All households   Wave 5 responding HH   Wave 5 non–responding HH
Number %   Number %   Number %
Households from wave 5A 9297     7125     2172  
Plus split households 397     373     24  
Less out of scope households (due to death or move overseas) 343     155     188  
Total households 9351 100.0   7343 100.0   2008 100.0
Refusals to interviewer 1097 11.7   240 3.3   857 42.7
Refusals to fieldwork company (via 1800 number or email) 399 4.3   11 0.1   388 19.3
Non–response with contact 190 2.0   82 1.1   108 5.4
Non–contact, not lost to tracking 51 0.5   32 0.4   19 0.9
Lost to trackingB 475 5.1   25 0.3   450 22.4
Fully responding households 6538 69.9   6396 87.1   142 7.1
Partially responding households 601 6.4   557 7.6   44 2.2
A Excludes 146 dead households and 173 empty households identified in Wave 2 to 5. Back to where you were
B Includes 407 households that were identified as untraceable in an earlier wave. Back to where you were

 

Table 58: Wave 2 - 6 Person Outcomes Against Wave 1 Person Outcomes
  Wave 1   New entrants each wave  
Resp. Non–resp. Child   2 3 4 5 6 Total
Wave 2
Respondent 11993 222 250   576 – – – – 13041
Non–respondent 1824 904 61   210 – – – – 2999
Out–of–scope 152 32 19   – – – – – 203
Child – – 4457   345 – – – – 4802
Wave 3
Respondent 11190 223 462   356 497 – – – 12728
Non–respondent 2464 886 165   154 156 – – – 3825
Out–of–scope 315 49 37   334 – – – – 735
Child – – 4123   287 364 – – – 4774
Wave 4
Respondent 10565 209 666   284 287 397 – – 12408
Non–respondent 2898 879 289   138 113 167 – – 4484
Out–of–scope 506 70 63   445 322 – – – 1406
Child – – 3769   264 295 332 – – 4660
Wave 5
Respondent 10392 238 909   261 230 247 482 – 12759
Non–respondent 2958 844 354   97 77 81 108 – 4519
Out–of–scope 619 76 67   514 424 279 – – 1979
Child – – 3457   259 286 289 356 – 4647
Wave 6
Respondent 10085 245 1146   233 191 200 311 494 12905
Non–respondent 3144 833 477   96 76 61 81 115 4883
Out–of–scope 740 80 67   553 483 364 256 – 2543
Child – – 3097   249 267 271 298 343 4525
Total 13969 1158 4787   1131 1017 896 946 952 24856

 

Table 59: Individual response rates (%) for the HILDA Survey, waves 2, to 6 compared
    All people     People in responding household in previous wave
W2 W3 W4 W5 W6     W2 W3 W4 W5 W6
Previous wave respondent   86.8 90.4 91.6 94.4 94.8     86.8 90.4 91.6 94.4 94.8
Previous wave non–respondent   19.7 17.6 12.7 14.7 8.4     19.7 19.8 18.1 25.3 18.2
Previous wave child   80.4 71.3 70.7 74.6 75.4     80.4 81.8 81.2 87.3 89.5
New entrant this wave   73.3 76.1 70.4 81.7 81.1     73.3 78.5 71.8 85.4 81.0

 

Table 60 shows the response rates for the Self–Completion questionnaire, calculated as the percentage of respondents to which an SCQ could be matched.

Table 60: Self–Completion Questionnaire response rate by wave
  Person Questionnaire Matched Self–Completion Questionnnaire % Matched
Wave 1 13969 13055 93.5
Wave 2 13041 11638 89.2
Wave 3 12728 11747 92.3
Wave 4 12408 11393 91.8
Wave 5 12759 11460 90.0
Wave 6 12905 11709 90.7

 

Endnotes:

48 Only responding households in wave 1 were issued in wave 2, so the closest comparison in the household response rate to be made in later waves is for households responding in the previous wave. Back to where you were

 
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