The relationship between interviewer-respondent familiarity and family planning outcomes in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a repeat cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

ObjectivesThe typical approach of survey data collection is to use interviewers who are not from the study site and do not know the participants, yet the implications of this approach on data quality have seldom been investigated. We examine the relationship between interviewer–respondent familiarity and selected family planning outcomes, and whether this relationship changes over time between 2015 and 2016.SettingWe use data from the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 Project in Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.ParticipantsParticipants include representative samples of women of reproductive ages (15 to 49), 1565 interviewed in 2015 and 1668 in 2016. The study used a two-stage cluster design: first randomly selecting enumeration areas (EAs), then randomly selecting households within each EA.DesignWe first identify individual characteristics associated with familiarity between RE and respondent. Next, we examine the relationship between RE–respondent acquaintance and family planning outcomes. Finally, we use two waves of data to examine whether this relationship changes over time between 2015 and 2016.ResultsIn multivariate analysis, interviewer–respondent acquaintance is significantly associated with last birth unintended (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.17 to 3.13) and reported infertility in 2015 (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.03 to 4.95); and any contraceptive use (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.28), traditional contraceptive use (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.89), reported infidelity (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.02 to 3.49) and age at first sex (coefficient −0.48, 95% CI −0.96 to −0.01) in 2016. The impact of acquaintance on survey responses changed over time for any contraceptive use (OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.33 to 3.30).ConclusionsThe standard in many large-scale surveys is to use interviewers from outside the community. Our results show that interviewer–respondent acquaintance is associated with a range of family planning outcomes; therefore, we recommend that the approach to hiring interviewers be examined and reconsidered in survey data collection efforts.

Characteristics Associated with Reliability in Reporting of Contraceptive Use: Assessing the Reliability of the Contraceptive Calendar in Seven Countries

“…Analysis suggests that this approach yields better data quality than interviewers who are not from the study area (Anglewicz et al. 2019; Safi 2019). Each RE is assigned to an EA of approximately 200 households.…”

Interviewer effects on abortion reporting: a multilevel analysis of household survey responses in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Rajasthan, India

“…Explanatory variables were selected based on previous literature about factors associated with abortion reporting, 17 19 38 39 82 contraceptive use reporting [63][64][65] and abortion incidence 10 17 19 as well as the researchers' hypotheses about the potential impacts of interviewer and interview characteristics on abortion reporting. Explanatory variables included respondent, community, interview and interviewer characteristics (see online supplemental appendix 1 for further detail).…”

“…48 63 93 The impact of interviewer-respondent familiarity will likely vary over time, and with the level of familiarity. 63 In these PMA surveys, it seems that a loose tie between the interviewer and respondent may not be conducive to abortion reporting, which may relate to concerns about confidentiality and trust, compared with a stranger or a close acquaintance. This finding may support future use of stranger interviewers, as it is difficult to systematically ensure that acquainted interviewers are closely acquainted, rather than slightly acquainted, with all respondents.…”

Interviewing the Interviewers: Perceptions of Interviewer–Respondent Familiarity on Survey Process and Error in Burkina Faso

“…The PMA2020 platform uses local female interviewers to collect data related to reproductive health outcomes in their communities every 6–12 months, providing an opportunity to refine our understanding of insider–interviewer effects according to the nature and degrees of familiarity and the topic of inquiry. A PMA2020 analysis in the Democratic Republic of Congo found an increase in reporting of modern contraceptive use (a non-normative behavior in this context) with greater interviewer–respondent acquaintance (Anglewicz et al 2019). An extension of this work across other PMA2020 countries and across several rounds of data collection in the same locations found a similar pattern in Burkina Faso; but interviewer–respondent acquaintance had no systematic effects in other geographies (Safi et al 2017).…”