Live Video Interviewing: Empirical Evidence of Opportunities and Challenges Across Seven Major Social Surveys

Abstract

This paper evaluates the use of video interview (VI) for collecting survey data across seven major UK social surveys that have implemented this mode of data collection, including both cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys. The paper collates rich comparative evidence, on which to evaluate the advancements, opportunities and barriers relating to current and future use of VI in the UK (and elsewhere). The specific aims of the paper are to investigate (a) uptake of, and response rates to, VI compared to other modes; (b) the characteristics of VI respondents to understand representation; and (c) the feasibility of administering particular survey questions and (complex) tasks via VI, such as requesting consent for administrative data linkage and cognitive assessments. Ultimately, the paper aims to evaluate VI’s long-term feasibility as a survey data collection mode post-pandemic. The results suggest that, if VI were the only or primary data collection mode, response rates would be notably lower than surveys conducted in person and that this could lead to an increase in sample composition issues and representation bias. There are also encouraging findings. This mode proves to be a suitable approach for obtaining consent for data linkage and conducting cognitive assessments – a key finding because previous research has identified limitations of other remote methods for collecting this kind of data. Overall, the evidence from this study suggests that VI can be a suitable complementary data collection mode in a mixed-mode survey design, offering potentially more cost-efficient fieldwork. We identify particular feasibility advantages for longitudinal surveys.