TAILORING DATA COLLECTION METHODS TO HARD-TOEXAMINE POPULATIONS: THE USE OF LIFE EVENTS AS RECALL AIDS IN SURVEY RESEARCH

Abstract

Collecting retrospective survey data is known to be error prone and gets even more challenging when it has to be done among populations, like elderly or refugees, for whom recalling life histories entails a difficult task. Concerns about this problem have led to aided recall instruments among which the calendar method is the most encompassing one. This paper examines a central characteristic the calendar method: the use of landmark life events that aim to facilitate recall. Using data from the Event History Calendar as embedded in the PSID-survey (USA) in 1998, we explore what types of landmarks respondents generated and whether the use of landmarks is related to recall accuracy