Heffetz Ori, Rabin Matthew
S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, 324 Sage Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.
Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, 508-1 Evans Hall #3880, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Am Econ Rev. 2013 Dec;103(7):3001-3021. doi: 10.1257/aer.103.7.3001.
A growing literature explores differences in subjective well-being across demographic groups, often relying on surveys with high nonresponse rates. By using the reported number of call attempts made to participants in the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers, we show that comparisons among easy-to-reach respondents differ from comparisons among hard-to-reach ones. Notably, easy-to-reach women are happier than easy-to-reach men, but hard-to-reach men are happier than hard-to-reach women, and conclusions of a survey could reverse with more attempted calls. Better alternatives to comparing group sample averages might include putting greater weight on hard-to-reach respondents or even extrapolating trends in responses.
越来越多的文献探讨了不同人口群体在主观幸福感方面的差异，这些研究通常依赖于无回应率很高的调查。通过使用密歇根大学消费者调查中报告的联系参与者的尝试通话次数，我们发现，容易联系到的受访者之间的比较与难以联系到的受访者之间的比较有所不同。值得注意的是，容易联系到的女性比容易联系到的男性更幸福，但难以联系到的男性比难以联系到的女性更幸福，而且随着尝试通话次数的增加，调查结论可能会颠倒。比较群体样本平均值的更好替代方法可能包括更重视难以联系到的受访者，甚至推断回应趋势。
