Dealing with non-response in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE)

Dealing with non-response in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) Arne Bethmann Tackling and overcoming non-response in cohort and survey studies –a national symposium for researchers and stakeholders Stockholm, 26 Nov 2025 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17736733 – License: CC-BY-SA SHARE in a Nutshell Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe ▪Biennial representative cross-national household panel survey of 50+ population in 27 European countries & Israel ▪Started in 2004, Wave 10 fieldwork started in 2024 (face-to-face) ▪Around 616.000 face-to-face interviews with over 160.000 respondents ▪Two additional SHARE Corona Surveys (2020 and 2021) by phone ▪Ex-ante harmonisation –centralised procurement, questionnaire development, sampling, data collection instrument, and database management ▪Broad range of topics (e.g., health, economic and living conditions, social relationships) and (objective physical) measures ▪Free data access for researchers: http://www.share-eric.eu ▪Measures to reduce non-response: advance letters, contact strategies, panel care (address search, flyers, brochures, holiday cards), incentives (respondents/interviewers) Response rates - Recruitment Samples Arne Bethmann No country with 50% or more (Luxembourg was pre-screened) Why are response rates so low? Attempted HHs - Recruitment Samples Arne Bethmann For some countries attempts are an issue, but for many that is not the problem Contacted HHs - Recruitment Samples Arne Bethmann Contact rates are slightly lower than attempts in most countries Sweden has a contacting problem Refusal rates - Recruitment Samples Arne Bethmann Refusal rates – given contact – vary substanially Germany has a refusal problem •Experimental interventions to improve fieldwork outcomes •Sweden and Germany for cross-country comparisons Respondent Driven Contact Arne Bethmann Contact card Prepaid incentive Joint work with Michael Bergmann, Alexander Schumacher (both SHARE-DE), Filip Fors Connolly, Jenny Olofsson, Gunnar Malmberg (all SHARE-SE) Preliminary Results Arne Bethmann Includes only interviews and refusals! •Understand the whole fieldwork process! •Qualitatively: Talk regularly to all involved - at least the survey agency •Quantitatively: Get detailed, timely monitoring data •Find specific solutions for your country/study! •Response issues are heterogeneous •Interventions work differently in different settings → More comparative research is needed Take-home messages Arne Bethmann