END OF FIELDWORK REPORT SPAIN
EUROPEAN SOCIAL SURVEY, 3RD ROUND
By: Spanish National Coordination Team
Polling institute:
16 March 2007
Duration and progress of fieldwork
Fieldwork in Spain for the 3rd round of the ESS has been carried out between 25
October and 4 March 2007, which is a total of 19 weeks (only 17 of them complete).
However, it must be born in mind that during the Christmas break –which in Spain
spans between 22 December and 7 January- fieldwork was substantially slowed down.
Graph 1 illustrates the pattern of progress of fieldwork in Spain for this 3rd round of
the ESS and compares it with the weekly goals that were set up before fieldwork
started by the polling institute jointly with the NC team.
Graph 1. Cumulated distribution of complete interviews per week
3200
3000
2800
Total complete interviews
2600
2400
2200
2000
2200
Goal of 70% response rate
(over gross sample)
1850
2000
1700
1800
1550
1600
1400
1350
1704
1150
1200
1331 1390
900
1000
800
1425
1502
1794 1847
1879 1894
1569
1161
600
600
400
200
2100
2300
946
766
300
100
99
456
578
246
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
week
Cumulated number of expected completed interview s
Cumulated number of real completed interview s
Trend of number of achieved interview s
Source: Spanish National Coordination Team of the ESS.
As we can see, the declining weekly returns by week 17 indicated a trend that led both
the polling institute and the NC team to conclude that extending further fieldwork
would not produce substantive improvements in the overall results.
Graph 2 shows that, probably, the problem remains to be the difficulty that polling
institutes have to sustain the initial increasing trend of the first weeks. As we can see,
1
the distribution of the weekly completed interviews for round 3 resembles more that
of round 2 –at least in its shape- than the expected distribution.
Graph 2. Distribution of completed interviews per week, comparison rounds 2 and 3.
350
Total completed interviews
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Expected completed interview s
8
9
10
11
w eek
12
Real completed interview s
13
14
15
16
Real completed interview s, 2nd round
Source: Spanish NC Team of the ESS.
In addition, one of the main obstacles for the smoother evolution of fieldwork in
Spain seems to be the difficulties polling institutes seem to have to extend the
coverage of their fieldwork network to the whole sample.
As we can see in the following Table, it was not until the 11th week that the
interviewers had got in contact with all the 3,290 households of the individuals in the
sample. And, clearly, the weeks of Christmas (8-10) slow down the whole fieldwork
process.
Graph 3. Evolution of m ain results
70
60
Percentage
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Week
% achieved over gross sample
% refusals over gross sample
2
% ineligibles over gross sample
17
Progress of Fieldwork in Spain, ESS 3rd Round
nd
rd
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
th
Week
1st
Date data updated
6/11
12/11
15/11
21/11
28/11
4/12
12/12
18/12
26/12
2/1
7/1
14/1
21/1
28/1
4/2
11/2
18/2
Date of report
9/11
14/11.
20/11
27/11
3/12
11/12
17/12
25/12
1/1
7/1
14/1
21/1
28/1
4/2
11/2
18/2
4/2
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
2
3290
3
3290
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Total sample
3290
Total selected sample
1166
2015
2413
2956
3200
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
Units contact already attempted
341
794
1263
1784
2203
2472
2865
3228
3255
3280
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
3290
No contact attempted as yet
825
1221
1150
1172
997
818
425
62
35
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Achieved complete interviews
99
246
456
578
766
946
1161
1331
1390
1425
1502
1569
1704
1794
1847
1879
1894
Incomplete interviews
0
4
5
24
26
20
21
22
22
19
18
14
11
13
5
0
0
Refusals
37
87
160
226
283
314
347
407
415
453
473
474
481
493
493
545
557
Non-contacts
76
144
205
308
360
436
494
536
520
491
418
401
334
308
292
246
226
Unavailable- not traceable
45
118
160
231
380
366
378
389
378
330
324
300
266
193
181
172
167
Ineligibles
23
54
88
122
160
181
228
267
268
327
356
365
373
392
396
432
431
Appointments pending
59
123
173
274
205
196
222
259
244
215
180
152
117
81
62
1
0
Other
2
18
16
21
21
13
14
17
17
20
17
15
15
16
14
15
15
Result of last visit when contact
attempted (summary)
3
Detailed analysis of last result per sample individual and response rates
The following Table provides a detailed classification of the result of the last
visit/contact for each of the individuals included in the sample.
Percentage
Achieved interviews
1894
57,6
48,3
Completed interview
1894
57,6
48,3
Partial interview
0
0
0,01
Appointments pending
0
0
2,6
226
6,9
12,1
No contacts
No contact ever attempted
%2
nd
N
round
0
0
0,2
No contact with any member of the HH in
last visit, but previous contact
143
4,3
2,7
No contact ever with any member of the HH
83
2,5
9,2
Refusals
557
16,9
16,7
Refusal of respondent
523
15,9
13,8
Refusal by proxy
33
1,0
2,9
Refusal, dont know if target respondent
1
0,0
0
167
5,1
13,6
Unavailable / not able
Contact HH but R not available but will be
during fieldwork
Contact HH but R not available and unknown
when available
Respondent not available/away, during all
fieldwork period *
2
0,1
3,8
50
1,5
-
18
0,5
-
Respondent mentally/ physically not able *
52
1,6
1,5
Respondent moved, still in country
2
0,1
2,5
Language barrier *
13
0,4
0,1
Contact: Other
8
0,2
4,8
Address not traceable, address was not
sufficient *
22
0,7
0,9
Ineligibles **
431
13,1
4,2
Respondent deceased
38
1,2
0,5
Respondent moved out of country/
destination unknown
350
10,6
2,0
Derelict or demolished house/address
9
0,3
0,1
Not yet built/not yet ready for occupation
2
0,1
0,1
Address not residential: business purpose
2
0,1
0,0
Address not residential: institution
2
0,1
0,1
Address is not occupied
28
0,9
1,4
Other not traceable, not residential or not
occupied
0
0
1,5
Other
15
0,5
1,1
3290
100
100
Total
* Fieldwork “ineligibles”
** Pure ineligibles
4
As we can see, all of the elements of the results –except for the amount of ineligibleshave substantially improved this 3rd round as compared to the 2nd round. This is
especially the case with all those final results that clearly depend on the polling
institute’s commitment to organise fieldwork supervision and organisation adequately
(appointments, contacts and availability).
The case of the dramatically higher number of ineligibles results, primarily, from the
much higher percentages of individuals who fall under the category “moved out of
country or moved to an unknown destination”. The fact that this category merges in
the contact forms two very different situations, one of pure ineligibility (moved out of
country), and another of “fieldwork” ineligibility is highly problematic and makes it
impossible for the NC team to supervise the real nature of these. This is clearly
something that should be improved in the contact forms for the 4th round of the ESS.
In any case, the major improvements in substantial aspects of the fieldwork
organisation and supervision has resulted in substantially higher response rates for this
3rd round in Spain.
1) “True” response rate
No. of completed interviews
__________________________
No. of addresses selected – ineligibles
1894
_________________ * 100= 66.2%
(3290 –431) = 2859
2) “Field” response rate
Nº of completed interviews
_______________________
(Nº of addresses selected – ineligibles –
Fieldwork ineligibles)
Response rates
Gross response rate
“True” response rate
“Fieldwork” response rate
Interviews needed for effective sample
size = 1500
Achieved interviews
Ratio interviews achieved/needed
1894
___________________ * 100 = 68.8%
(3290-431-105) = 2754
1st round
46.7
51.7
55
2,088
2nd round
48.3
54.8
56.3
1,829
3rd round
57.6
66.2
68.8
1,904
1,736
0.83
1,663
0.91
1,894
0.99
As we see, the improvement is net and consistent for all possible forms of computing
the response rate, with more than 10 percentage points of increase in the gross
response rate as compared to the 1st round, and 9 as compared to the 2nd round.
Equally, the improvement in the achievement of the target of an effective sample size
of 1,500 is notable.
5
Geographical distribution of the fieldwork results and efforts
The following Table provides a general overview of the distribution of efforts and
results all over the country for this 3rd round.
Individuals
Completed interviews
Total
Contacted
Attempts
of contact
Attempts per
individual in
sample
Expected
Achieved
Achieved/sample
Andalucía
559
559
1972
3.5
391
327
58.5
Aragón
98
98
332
3.4
69
56
57.1
Asturias
85
85
296
3.5
59
62
72.9
Baleares
70
70
268
3.8
49
39
55.7
Canarias
143
143
470
3.3
100
89
62.2
Cantabria
45
45
103
2.3
32
25
55.6
Castilla-León
187
187
641
3.4
131
118
63.1
Castilla-La
Mancha
132
132
439
3.3
92
81
61.4
Cataluña
512
512
1842
3.6
358
273
53.3
Valencia
342
342
1163
3.4
239
184
53.8
Extremadura
82
82
290
3.5
57
44
53.7
Galicia
203
203
585
2.9
142
118
58.1
Madrid
458
458
1547
3.4
321
244
53.3
Murcia
99
99
358
3.6
69
62
62.6
Navarra
38
38
170
4.5
27
23
60.5
País Vasco
204
204
589
2.9
143
130
63.7
La Rioja
26
26
78
3.0
18
15
57.7
Ceuta &
Melilla
7
7
11
1.6
5
4
57.1
3,290
3,290
11,154
3.4
2,302
1,894
57.6
Total
For this 3rd round, the monitoring of fieldwork by the Spanish NC team paid special
attention to the correct distribution of efforts and response rates across regions. And,
as we can see, results are relatively homogeneous across the 18 regions of the
country.1 Only in one region (Asturias) are the results well above the average (73% as
opposed to the 58% average), and no region is below the 50% response rate, with the
lowest rate being 53%.
The relative homogeneity of the distribution of response rates across regions, thus,
contributes to the greater representativeness of the results.
1
Ceuta and Melilla are formally 2 different Autonomous Cities, but for the purposes of the sample we
have joined them in a single “region”.
6
Other relevant aspects of fieldwork organisations and results
Number of contact attempts, 0-5+
N
Percentage
1,00
615
18,7
2,00
808
24,6
3,00
586
17,8
4,00
454
13,8
5 or +
827
25,1
Total
3290
100,0
The results of the analysis of the contact forms show that a quarter of the sample has
been subject to more attempts of contact than are compulsory under the ESS rules.
And 5% received more than 7 attempts of contact, with a maximum of 19 attempts.
In addition, no single household were no contact was ever achieved received less than
the four compulsory attempts of contact.
Never contact with anyone in HH & number of attempted contacts
Ever achieved contact with
HH?
Some
contact
No of contacts
attepmpted to the
HH, 0-5+
Total
1,00
N
2,00
% row
N
3,00
% row
N
615
19,2%
808
25,2%
Total
Never contact
0
,0%
0
,0%
615
18,7%
808
24,6%
586
0
586
% row
18,3%
,0%
17,8%
4,00
N
5 o más
% row
N
426
13,3%
772
24,1%
28
33,7%
55
66,3%
454
13,8%
827
25,1%
3207
83
3290
100,0%
100,0%
100,0%
% row
N
Furthermore, personal visits constitute 94.6% of all attempts of contact, whereas
telephone contacts form only 5.3%. This provides a clear picture of the nature of the
efforts of achieving contact with the sample individuals.
The distribution of attempts of contact according to the time of the day and the day of
the week gives further evidence of the efforts in the organisation of fieldwork for this
3rd round and of the efficacy of such efforts.
7
Percentage of households/individuals who never received a contact attempt in the…
Afternoon Late evening
Evening Weekend
(5-7)
(8-12)
(7-12)
1st round
51
75
62
66
2nd round
50
77
64
75
3rd round
42
66
52
60
Clearly, the organisation of contacting timings has improved, but Spanish
interviewers still seem very reluctant to substantially increase their efforts during the
weekend.
Finally, in terms of the fulfillment of the rules of contact attempts and its distribution,
the Spanish NC is very satisfied with the polling institute’s work, as only 7 units do
not fulfill these requirements, and these are 7 individuals within a same section in a
very problematic neighbourhood in terms of crime, where interviewers did not dare
get into after the first visit.
Another relevant aspect of the organisation of fieldwork in this 3rd round is the
greater attempt in converting refusals. Almost a quarter of the sample refused to
participate at some point during the fieldwork period
Refusals to participate in some contact attempt
No
N cases
2520
Percentage
76,6
Yes
770
23,4
Total
3290
100,0
Substantial efforts were made in trying to convert these refusals into interviews. More
than a quarter of the refusals were subjected to attempts in conversion and, as we can
see, these were quite successful, as they achieved an interview in 73% of them. Thus,
a total of 20% of the refusals were finally converted into interviews at some point.
Tabla de contingencia Rechazo fue intentado reconvertir * Individuo convertido de rechazo a
entrevista
Individual converted from
refusal to interview
Attempts to convert
refusals
No attempt
Attempt
Total
Total
No
558
Yes
0
558
% row
100,0%
,0%
100,0%
% total
72,5%
,0%
72,5%
N
N
58
154
212
% row
27,4%
72,6%
100,0%
% total
7,5%
20,0%
27,5%
616
154
770
% row
80,0%
20,0%
100,0%
% total
80,0%
20,0%
100,0%
N
8
In this sense, advance letters seem to contribute to keep refusals at relatively low
levels. Around 40% of the sample individuals recall having received a letter.
Did respondent receive advanced letter?, Spain
Yes
1216
37,0
Valid
percentage
40,8
No
485
14,7
16,3
Respondent
doesn't know
896
27,2
30,1
Other person
doesn't know
269
8,2
9,0
No contact
111
3,4
3,7
2977
90,5
100,0
313
9,5
3290
100,0
N cases
Valid
Total
Missing
Total
System
Percentage
In addition, respondents who recall having received an advance letter are slightly less
likely to refuse participating (20%) than those who claim that they have not received
it (23.5%) or don’t know whether they did receive it (25.6%).
9