Correlates of obtaining informed consent to data linkage: respondent, interview and interviewer characteristics

Abstract

In the UK, in order to link individual-level administrative records to survey responses, a respondent needs to give their written consent. Respondents’ propensity to consent has been shown to be associated with respondent characteristics and survey design features. This paper explores whether characteristics of the interviewer or the interview process itself also influence consent. We use the BHPS combined with a survey of interviewers to model the probability that respondents consent to adding health and social security records to their survey responses. We find that interviewer characteristics, including personality and attitudes to persuading respondents, are not associated with consent. By contrast, some respondent characteristics and characteristics of the interview process within the household seem to matter.