Workshop description: In-person survey data collection is facing increasing challenges including declining response rates and rising fieldwork costs. These challenges were further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted a rapid shift towards remote modes of data collection. As a result, many large-scale studies are increasingly exploring alternative and complementary modes of data collection.
At the same time, technological change has made video communication more accessible than ever. The widespread adoption of the internet, the proliferation of camera-enabled devices, and the growth of online video platforms – now commonplace in everyday social and professional life – have fuelled interest in video interviewing as a survey mode. Video interviewing, in which interviewer-administered surveys are conducted via video call, offers the potential to retaining key interpersonal features of face-to-face interactions while benefiting from the flexibility, convenience, and efficiency of remote data collection. However, important questions remain about its practical implementation and future role, including low take-up rates for some surveys, (lack of) suitability for different types of studies, comparability with other modes, and how it could best be integrated into mixed-mode designs.
This workshop brings together UK and international speakers to present emerging evidence and practical lessons from implementing video interviewing in major survey contexts. The workshop will conclude with a focused discussion on the future prospects of video interviewing. It is aimed at researchers and practitioners interested in understanding the opportunities, limitations, and best practices for using video interviews in large-scale studies.
Programme:
3:00–3:10 – Matt Brown and Gabriele Durrant: Introduction
3:10–4:00 – Evidence from the UK
Matt Brown: Measurement Mode Effects in Live Video Interviewing: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study
Marc Asensio Manjon: Assessing the impact of video interviewing on measurement quality: Evidence from an experimental study on mode effects
Helena Koerber: Video Interviewing in the European Social Survey: A Post-Pandemic View
4:00–4:05 – Break
4:05–4:40 – International Evidence
Andrew Hupp: Effort and Costs of Conducting Video Interviews in a Large-Scale, Mixed-Mode Design
Julia Witton: Video-Interviews in Mixed-Mode Panel Surveys: Selective Feasibility and Data Quality Trade-offs
4:40–5:00 – Tim Hanson: Future prospects of video interviewing (Discussion)
Links
Downloads
- Video Interviewing Workshop (pptx)
- Video Interviewing in the European Social Survey: A Post-Pandemic View (pptx)
- Effort and Costs of Conducting Video Interviews in a Large-Scale Mixed-Mode Design (pdf)
- Measurement Mode Effects in Live Video Interviewing: Evidence from BCS70 (pptx)
- Assessing the impact of video interviewing on measurement quality: Evidence from an experimental study on mode effects (pptx)
- Video-Interviews in Mixed-Mode Panel Surveys: Selective Feasibility and Data Quality Trade-offs (pdf)