Swiss Household Panel - Living in Switzerland

Ref. 6097

Methods

Method description

At present, the SHP comprises three samples: the SHP_I (5,074 households and 7,799 individuals interviewed first in 1999), the SHP_II (2,538 households and 3,654 individuals interviewed first 2004) and the SHP_III (3,989 households and 6,090 individuals interviewed first in 2013). There are three types of questionnaires in the SHP: a household grid questionnaire to assess household composition, a household questionnaire, and an individual questionnaire. All household members aged 14 or older are eligible to answer the individual questionnaire. Each household has a reference person who completes the household grid and the household questionnaire. The household questionnaire includes in addition a proxy questionnaire on household members younger than 14 years, who are absent for the time of the field work, or who are unable to respond themselves due to illness or disability. The panel survey is conducted annually from September to February by the institute M.I.S. Trend in Lausanne and Bern. Interviews are conducted in (Swiss) German, French, and Italian. The main mode of interviewing is computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Alternative modes were offered only in the first wave of the SHP_III sample; if no telephone number was available, respondents completed the household questionnaire by computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). The biographical questionnaire in the first wave of the SHP_III was self-administered or administered with an interviewer present. In addition to the alternative modes in the SHP_III, since 2010 (wave 12), CAPI and computer assisted web interview (CAWI) have been offered as alternative survey modes to those who initially refused to participate. The interviews require around 15 minutes to administer the grid and the household questionnaire and around 35 minutes to complete the individual questionnaires.

Method (instruments)