ABSTRACT
The content and methods of interviewer training are often overlooked factors in minimizing interviewer effects in interviewer-administered surveys. This chapter evaluates the effectiveness of interviewer training methods using meta-analytic methods to summarize the results of interviewer training experiments. Ideal interviewer training should focus on two main areas of interviewer activity, namely, gaining respondents’ cooperation (reducing nonresponse rates) and adhering to the practices of standardized interviewing (reducing measurement error). A meta-analysis consists of five steps: a comprehensive literature search; checking the eligibility of studies found; coding of relevant data; calculation of training effect sizes; and analysis of variables that moderate effect size. The duration of interviewer training was found to have only a small but significant impact on response rates. Training methods also are determining factors for the success of training. The results of the meta-analysis and systematic review of experimental effect sizes from 14 different studies is that interviewer training improves data quality targeted to both nonresponse and measurement errors.
