The Effect of Rapport on Data Quality in Face-to-Face Interviews: Beneficial or Detrimental?

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Stasja Draisma¹  Johannes H. Smit¹  Melany Horsfall¹  Merijn Eikelenboom¹ 

[1] Department of Research and Innovation, GGZ inGeest, Specialized Mental Health Care, 1081 HJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands;

关键词: rapport;    data quality;    missing responses;    socially desirable;    consistency;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph182010858

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The benefits of rapport between interviewers and respondents, in terms of recruiting the latter and motiving them to participate in research, have been generally endorsed. However, there has been less clarity with regard to the association between rapport and data quality. In theory, rapport could be beneficial if it motivates people to give complete and honest responses. On the other hand, efforts to maintain rapport by exhibiting pleasing and socially desirable behaviour could well be detrimental to data quality. In a large longitudinal epidemiological sample, generalized estimating equations (GEE) analyses were used to examine the association between rapport and the following three quality indicators: missing responses, responses to sensitive questions, and consistency of responses. The results of these analyses indicate an association between a high level of rapport and fewer missing responses. In contrast, we found more socially desirable responses for the high-rapport group. Finally, the high-rapport group did not differ from the low-rapport group in terms of the consistency of their responses.

【 授权许可】

Unknown