QUALITY ISSUES IN TELEPHONE SURVEYS: COVERAGE, NON-RESPONSE and QUOTA SAMPLING

The quality of a telephone survey is affected by several factors: telephone coverage, non-response, the methods used to select households and persons, and the quality of responses obtained from respondents. Data are provided which show that a large proportion of Australian households have telephone connections. However, telephone coverage is not uniform and some subgroups of the population have much lower connection rates. This paper reviews evidence of the effect of non-response and the effectiveness of repeated call backs, and reports the results of a new study. The use of quota sampling to select respondents from randomly selected households is also examined. The results suggest that telephone surveys under-represent older persons and the unemployed, and over-represent middle-aged persons. It is shown that while call backs can increase the response rate, the effect on the composition of the sample and resulting estimates is minimal. The main effects are due to refusals and variation in coverage rates.     

Tail-weighted measures of dependence

Multivariate copula models are commonly used in place of Gaussian dependence models when plots of the data suggest tail dependence and tail asymmetry. In these cases, it is useful to have simple statistics to summarize the strength of dependence in different joint tails. Measures of monotone association such as Kendall's tau and Spearman's rho are insufficient to distinguish commonly used parametric bivariate families with different tail properties. We propose lower and upper tail-weighted bivariate measures of dependence as additional scalar measures to distinguish bivariate copulas with roughly the same overall monotone dependence. These measures allow the efficient estimation of strength of dependence in the joint tails and can be used as a guide for selection of bivariate linking copulas in vine and factor models as well as for assessing the adequacy of fit of multivariate copula models. We apply the tail-weighted measures of dependence to a financial data set and show that the measures better discriminate models with different tail properties compared to commonly used risk measures – the portfolio value-at-risk and conditional tail expectation.     

Household Saving in the United States: Measurement and Behavior

Official measures of U.S. personal saving incorporate conceptual errors relating to the measurement of both income and consumption. This article identifies the errors, computes an adjusted personal saving rate to correct the errors, and estimates equations explaining personal saving. The estimates support the adjustments, and the adjusted series has more pronounced movements than the official series, the movements being largely related to changes in income and wealth.     

Stress and Performance Standards: A Dynamic Approach to Time Spent in Housework

Daily logs collected over a 10‐week period from a small, nonrepresentative sample of young, childless married couples were examined. Housework was conceptualized as a daily decision predicated upon personal standards, social rhythms, and stress variables that shape the perception of need for housework. Findings indicate that home‐based stress, stress from outside the home, and standards are independent, additive predictors of housework time. In addition, stress and standards interact in ways suggesting that stress modifies the meaning of performance. High home‐based stress and low imported stress lead to more critical evaluations of ones' own performance and more monitoring of one's spouse's contributions. Husbands do more when wives do more, but only when wives import little stress from outside the home or perceive high demand for housework. Results are interpreted in terms of patterns of meaning and obligation.     

The emergence of social assistance in China

This article outlines the development of China's social assistance programme, including its design, implementation and trends. The Chinese government has given high priority to the establishment and institutionalisation of this programme. To have an effective social assistance programme in the context of an increasingly pluralistic society, China is facing the profoundly challenging task of designing a coherent and over-arching social protection system that would cover retirement, medical care, unemployment and poverty alleviation.     

Assessing perceived value: moderating effects of susceptibility to brand prestige and susceptibility to normative influence

Concerns about individuals’ susceptibility to brand prestige and their social implications of consumption often affect consumer behavior. To clarify such concerns in depth, this study assesses the relationship between brand credibility and perceived value by simultaneously examining the main effects and moderating effects of both susceptibility to brand prestige and susceptibility to normative influence. Empirical testing using a survey of 336 smartphone users from the high-tech and banking industries confirms most of the hypothesized effects in this study. Finally, based on its findings, this study discusses managerial implications as well as research limitations.     

Parenting Together: Evaluation of a Parenting Program for Never-Married Parents

The number of children raised by never-married parents has increased in recent years. Although these children are at risk for the same types of negative outcomes after relationship dissolution as children of divorced parents, few resources exist for never-married parents who are facing coparenting challenges. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Parenting Together, a 9-hr (3 session) coparenting course designed exclusively for never-married parents. Results indicated positive changes in participant knowledge, coparenting attitude, child triangulation behavior, and coparenting teamwork behavior. Additionally, changes in coparenting attitude predicted both decreased child triangulation and increased coparenting teamwork behavior.