No. 1032

Title:

(originally in Japanese)
An Arbitrary Convenience Respondent Selection Method Applied to Households by using Self-Administered Questionnaires Dropped into Mailboxes

Author(s):

Tsuchiya, Takahiro (The Institute of Statistical Mathematics);
Maeda, Tadahiko (The Institute of Statistical Mathematics);
Nakamura, Takashi (The Institute of Statistical Mathematics);
Sakamoto, Yoshiyuki (Hitotsubashi University)

Key words:

Survey on Japanese national character; basic resident register; area sampling.

Abstract:

    The resident registration law was revised in 2006 to limit public access to the Basic Resident Register. It is believed that following this revision, it has become difficult to use the register as a sampling frame for social surveys. Thus, there is a need to develop new register-free sampling schemes. This paper conducts a small experimental survey, in which the sample is selected by the area sampling methodology instead of by using the resident register. In other words, dwellings are randomly selected on the basis of a city map. The questionnaires are delivered by dropping them directly into the mailboxes of the sample dwellings. In the selected households, the respondents are selected arbitrarily. The response rate was 21 percent. The result revealed that males and the heads of households tended to be selected as respondents.