Abstract
Abstract
Background
Previous studies suggest that refusals form the largest proportion of nonresponse for household surveys. As face-to-face household health surveys are uncommon in several countries, it might be advantageous for prospective surveys to preemptively tackle respondents’ refusal to survey participation.
Methods
Using contact history data from the Saudi National Mental Health Survey, we examined the relationship between social environmental factors, respondent characteristics, survey request concerns recorded by interviewers, and respondents’ propensity to refuse to participate in the survey. Content analysis and logistic regressions were conducted.
Results
Our findings suggest that urbanicity, region, socioeconomic status, age, and gender are associated with refusal. Patriarchal gatekeepers and specific survey-related concerns are more likely to lead to temporary refusals compared to final refusals.
Conclusions
These results have implications for survey researchers employing similar recruitment and data collection methods, for example in tailoring refusal conversion strategies for interviewers to address concerns expressed by Saudi and/or culturally similar respondents.
Key messages
Results might benefit studies considering similar methods and investigating sensitive issues, improve response rates, and combat the declining trend that potentially jeopardizes the quality of survey data collected.