Panel attrition: How important is it to keep the same interviewer?

We assess whether the probability of a sample member participating at a particular wave of a panel survey is greater if the same interviewer is deployed as at the previous wave. Previous research on this topic mainly uses non-experimental data. Consequently, a) interviewer change is generally non-random, and b) continuing interviewers are more experienced by the time of the next wave. We designed a balanced experiment in which both interviewer continuity and experience are controlled. Multilevel multiple membership models are used to explore the effects of interviewer continuity on refusal rate and response rate as well as interactions of interviewer continuity with other variables.