Reasons for unit non-response in household Surveys in the Arab Gulf Countries

Abstract

For in-person household surveys, it is fundamental to consider societal customs when choosing appropriate times and interviewer gender. However, even after all these procedures were taken into consideration with an eye to improving or maintaining our Qatari survey response rates, our recorded cases of refusal to participate in polls increased significantly in a relatively short time frame. From early 2011, when the percentage of refusal cases reported at only 3.7% in the Social & Economic Survey Research Institute’s (SESRI) Social Capital survey, to the end of 2012, this proportion jumped to 14.6% in our Health and Expenditure survey. In this paper we will try to assess the drivers of non-response in SESRI’s 2012-2013 surveys, to better understand the reasons for non-response , by focused on refusal causes among survey participants without regard to other disposition statuses in the surveys. Our refusals numbered 1,263 representing 14% of the total number of selected respondents participating in our surveys (9062), and exactly (376) of the refusals (30%) also refused to disclose any reasons for their decision. In all, 887 of our refusal cases agreed to provide a reason for their non-participation.