Conferences

The term “paradata” is used to describe empirical measurements about the process generating survey data. Paradata can be call records or administrative records external to the actual survey data, such as information about the data collection process, visual observations of interviewers, observations of respondents themselves about the data collection, information on interviewers and area information. Key-stroke files are another example of a set of paradata that is created automatically during the measurement process. Paradata are already used for progress updates during data collection or decision making tools for responsive designs. Increasingly, survey methodologists are using paradata to provide insights into survey nonresponse and measurement errors. Papers in this session will discuss applications and challenges in the collection and analysis of paradata. The session will focus on data collected by interviewers or those that reflect information about them.