Annelies G. Blom

Bio: Annelies G. Blom is an academic researcher from University of Mannheim. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Interviewer Effect. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 75 publications receiving 951 citations. Previous affiliations of Annelies G. Blom include University of Essex & Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subjective well-being: longitudinal evidence on satisfaction with work and family

Abstract: This paper provides a timely evaluation of whether the main COVID-19 lockdown policies – remote work, short-time work and closure of schools and childcare – have an immediate effect on the German p...

Explaining Interviewer Effects: A Research Synthesis

Abstract: A rich and diverse literature exists on the effects that human interviewers can have on different aspects of the survey data collection process. This research synthesis uses the Total Survey Error (TSE) framework to highlight important historical developments and advances in the study of interviewer effects on a variety of important survey process outcomes, including sample frame coverage, contact and recruitment of potential respondents, survey measurement, and data processing. Included in the scope of the synthesis is research literature that has focused on explaining variability among interviewers in these effects and the different types of variable errors that they can introduce, which can ultimately affect the efficiency of survey estimates. We first consider common tasks with which human interviewers are often charged and then use the TSE framework to organize and synthesize the literature discussing the variable errors that interviewers can introduce when attempting to execute each task. Based on our synthesis, we identify key gaps in knowledge and then use these gaps to motivate an organizing model for future research investigating explanations for interviewer effects on different aspects of the survey data collection process.

Setting Up an Online Panel Representative of the General Population: The German Internet Panel

Abstract: This article looks into the processes and outcomes of setting up and maintaining a probability-based longitudinal online survey, which is recruited face-to-face and representative of both the online and the offline population aged 16–75 in Germany. This German Internet Panel studies political and economic attitudes and reform preferences through bimonthly longitudinal online interviews of individuals. The results presented here demonstrate that a carefully designed and implemented online panel can produce highquality data at lower marginal costs than existing panels that operate solely in a face-to-face mode. Analyses into the representativeness of the online sample showed no major coverage or nonresponse biases. Finally, including offline households in the panel is important as it improves the representation of the older and female segments of the population.

A review of conceptual approaches and empirical evidence on probability and nonprobability sample survey research

Abstract: There is an ongoing debate in the survey research literature about whether and when probability and nonprobability sample surveys produce accurate estimates of a larger population. Statistical theory provides a justification for confidence in probability sampling as a function of the survey design, whereas inferences based on nonprobability sampling are entirely dependent on models for validity. This article reviews the current debate about probability and nonprobability sample surveys. We describe the conditions under which nonprobability sample surveys may provide accurate results in theory and discuss empirical evidence on which types of samples produce the highest accuracy in practice. From these theoretical and empirical considerations, we derive best-practice recommendations and outline paths for future research.

COVID-19 policies in Germany and their social, political, and psychological consequences

Abstract: Many policy analyses on COVID-19 have been focusing on what kind of policies are implemented to contain the spread of COVID-19 What seems equally important to explore are the social and political consequences of the confinement policies Does the public support strict confinement policies? What are the social, political, and psychological consequences of the confinement policies? The question of how legitimate a policy is among the public is at the core of democratic theory Its relevance also stems from the expected consequences of public support on behavior: The more someone supports a policy, the more someone is likely to follow the policy even if the policy is not strictly enforced In this paper, we will focus on Germany, briefly summarize the main policies during the first 6 weeks of confinement and then explore political attitudes, risk perceptions, and the social consequences of the lockdown

Of Theory and Practice

Abstract: Much has been written about theory and practice in the law, and the tension between practitioners and theorists. Judges do not cite theoretical articles often; they rarely "apply" theories to particular cases. These arguments are not revisited. Instead the Essay explores the working and interaction of theory and practice, practitioners and theorists. The Essay starts with a story about solving a legal issue using our intellectual tools - theory, practice, and their progenies: experience and "gut." Next the Essay elaborates on the nature of theory, practice, experience and "gut." The third part of the Essay discusses theories that are helpful to practitioners and those that are less helpful. The Essay concludes that practitioners theorize, and theorists practice. They use these intellectual tools differently because the goals and orientations of theorists and practitioners, and the constraints under which they act, differ. Theory, practice, experience and "gut" help us think, remember, decide and create. They complement each other like the two sides of the same coin: distinct but inseparable.

Internet, phone, mail and mixed-mode surveys: the tailored design method: reseña

Abstract: Resena de la obra de Don A. Dillman, Jolene D. Smyth y Leah Melani Christian: Internet, Phone, Mail and Mixed-Mode Surveys. The Tailored Design Method. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons

Data Resource Profile: The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Abstract: SHARE is a unique panel database of micro data on health, socio-economic status and social and family networks covering most of the European Union and Israel. To date, SHARE has collected three panel waves (2004, 2006, 2010) of current living circumstances and retrospective life histories (2008, SHARELIFE); 6 additional waves are planned until 2024. The more than 150 000 interviews give a broad picture of life after the age of 50 years, measuring physical and mental health, economic and non-economic activities, income and wealth, transfers of time and money within and outside the family as well as life satisfaction and well-being. The data are available to the scientific community free of charge at www.share-project.org after registration. SHARE is harmonized with the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and has become a role model for several ageing surveys worldwide. SHARE's scientific power is based on its panel design that grasps the dynamic character of the ageing process, its multidisciplinary approach that delivers the full picture of individual and societal ageing, and its cross-nationally ex-ante harmonized design that permits international comparisons of health, economic and social outcomes in Europe and the USA.

Collider bias undermines our understanding of COVID-19 disease risk and severity

Abstract: Numerous observational studies have attempted to identify risk factors for infection with SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 disease outcomes. Studies have used datasets sampled from patients admitted to hospital, people tested for active infection, or people who volunteered to participate. Here, we highlight the challenge of interpreting observational evidence from such non-representative samples. Collider bias can induce associations between two or more variables which affect the likelihood of an individual being sampled, distorting associations between these variables in the sample. Analysing UK Biobank data, compared to the wider cohort the participants tested for COVID-19 were highly selected for a range of genetic, behavioural, cardiovascular, demographic, and anthropometric traits. We discuss the mechanisms inducing these problems, and approaches that could help mitigate them. While collider bias should be explored in existing studies, the optimal way to mitigate the problem is to use appropriate sampling strategies at the study design stage. Many published studies of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have analysed data from non-representative samples from populations. Here, using UK BioBank samples, Gibran Hemani and colleagues discuss the potential for such studies to suffer from collider bias, and provide suggestions for optimising study design to account for this.