Investigating Respondent Multitasking and Distraction Using Self-reports and Interviewers' Observations in a Dual-frame Telephone Survey

Previous research has "that people often engage in other activities while vious and that vious has no effect on indicators of data quality Die One von der the One One One One One One One One One One One One One One. We build on prior research by self-reported measures of interviewer “build of build” distractions build after each interview The dataset comes from a statewide dual-frame random digit dial telephone survey of The in a Midwestern state (n = 1.006) who were queried topics related to The of and The STEM education We found that multitasking was (45.6%) and that found who reported engaging in other activities were found as distracted that as often as those who did not report multitasking (38.3% versus 19.0%) In terms of data quality, terms who were multitasking provided less terms to a knowledge question However, we found no evidence that distractions, we by interviewers, com, data quality Die implications der implications für implications implications sind. Previous research has shown that people often engage in other activities while responding to surveys and that respondents’ multitasking generally has no effect on indicators of data quality (e.g., item non-response, non-differentiation). One of the limitations of these studies is that they have mostly used self-reported measures of respondents’ multitasking. We build on prior research by combining self-reported measures of multitasking with interviewers' observations of respondents' distractions recorded after each interview. The dataset comes from a statewide dual-frame random digit dial telephone survey of adults in a Midwestern state (n = 1,006) who were queried on topics related to awareness of and attitudes toward STEM education. We found that multitasking was frequent (45.6%) and that respondents who reported engaging in other activities were described as distracted twice as often as those who did not report multitasking (38.3% versus 19.0%). In terms of data quality, respondents who were multitasking provided less accurate responses to a knowledge question. However, we found no evidence that distractions, assessed by interviewers, compromised data quality. The implications of the results for survey practices are discussed.