ABSTRACT
In the total survey error (TSE) paradigm, nonsampling errors can be difficult to quantify, especially errors that occur in the data collection phase of face-to-face surveys. In TSE, interviewer behavior is only one of a number of error sources, and the sources interact – a decrease in one can lead to an increase in another. Interviewer training improves skills and has the potential for reducing interviewer effects in TSE. Two question series were of particular interest because they were asked in all interviews, they were always recorded in computer-assisted recorded interviewing. and they were critical building blocks for producing data on the use and cost of health care services. The newly instituted data quality alerts offer a novel, rapid approach to identifying and addressing within-interview behavior that more directly influences key study estimates. Alerts can be considered another form of rapid feedback to interviewers, but one that draws from data as well as paradata, at least for MEPS.
