ADDResponse: European Social Survey Round 6 (UK) Plus Auxiliary Data, 2010-2014: Secure Access

The ADDResponse study appended geocoded auxiliary data from a range of different sources to UK data from Round 6 of the <i>European Social Survey</I> (ESS, UK Data Archive SN 4732), a methodologically rigorous general population survey of public attitudes and opinion. The ADDResponse dataset was used to explore survey nonresponse – arguably one of the major challenges facing social research today. As non-respondents may be very different from respondents, nonresponse can introduce significant bias into the conclusions drawn from survey data and there is a pressing need, therefore, to understand more about the extent and sources of nonresponse bias. This requires having information about both respondents and non-respondents. In the absence of interview data being available for non-respondents, this information must be obtained from other, external, sources.<br>
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The ADDResponse project explored the opportunities that exist for matching external data from three different sources of survey data: small-area administrative data; commercial marketing data and geocoded information from the Ordnance Survey. Each data source was evaluated in terms of: what information it can provide which may be matched to the survey records of respondents and non-respondents; the accuracy and completeness of this information; and the challenges that matching data presents in terms of the increased risk of individuals or households being identified from the combination of data held about them. ADDResponse focused on the usefulness of these data for nonresponse modelling and adjustment. However, the same data sources may also be useful for substantive analysis, exploring the effect of local context on attitudes and behaviour.<br>
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Further information about the ADDResponse project and the ESS is provided in the <a href="http://www.addresponse.org" title="ADDResponse">ADDResponse</a> and the <a href="http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org" title="European Social Survey">European Social Survey</a> websites.<br>
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