Composition and response

When a new household enters the panel, the contact person of that household fills in a household questionnaire. The table below shows the number of households registered as panel members and the number of households with a completed household questionnaire in February 2008.

The third row of the table shows the total number of persons eligible for individual questionnaires, where eligible is defined as aged 16 or older and capable of filling in the questionnaires (a detailed description is offered in paragraph 6 of Sample and Recruitment, p. 8). All households in which at least one eligible person participates are included in the panel. The next line of the table shows the actively participating panel members, defined as eligible persons who have actually started to answer questionnaires.

The last row of the table shows the monthly response of the eligible, active persons to the individual questionnaires, averaged over 12 months. 
 

The strict demands applied to sampling, coverage and response rates should ultimately result in a panel that is truly representative of the target population. A study of the representativeness of the LISS panel by De Vos and Knoef (view study) shows that some special groups, for example elderly women and non-western first generation immigrants, are at present somewhat underrepresented in the LISS panel, when compared to national demographics. The bias in ethnicity is very similar to the bias found in traditional surveys in the Netherlands and is thus not specific for the online panel.

A refreshment sample will be drawn and recruited in 2009, in which specific groups will be oversampled.