How Training Affects Interviewer Performance Over Time: A Field Experiment with a Large-scale National Representative Survey

Abstract

There is abundant literature about interviewer effects on the survey process, but studies of interviewer training are quite limited. Previous research has produced mixed findings on how training affects interviewer performance. Trainings are often conducted in person despite the mixed findings. There has been no research that examines the use of videoconferencing as a medium for training field survey interviewers. We conducted an interviewer training experiment with the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). We randomly assigned 242 field interviewers into three training modes: in person, videoconference (i.e., WebEx), and self-administered training. Each interviewer’s performance was observed before and after the training. As post-hoc analysis, we observed improvement for higher performed interviewers trained in videoconference. Interviewers trained in videoconference rated their experiences similar to their counterparts trained in person.