Advances in Longitudinal Survey Methodology

12Panel Conditioning: Types, Causes, and Empirical Evidence of What We Know So Far

Bella Struminskaya¹ and Michael Bosnjak²

¹Department of Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

²Leibniz‐Institute for Psychology and Department of Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

12.1 Introduction

Panel surveys offer several important advantages over cross‐sectional surveys, such as measuring gross‐level and individual‐level change as well as providing measures of stability and instability (Lynn 2009, p. 5; Lynn and Lugtig 2017, p. 280). These advantages can be endangered by measurement error due to panel effects: systematic panel attrition and specific types of panel conditioning. This chapter focuses on the latter.

Panel conditioning is an umbrella term summarising learning effects that can occur due to the participation in surveys, resulting in different answers given by respondents who have already taken part in a survey from the answers that these respondents would have given if they were participating for the first time (Kalton et al. 1989; Lynn 2009; Struminskaya 2020; Waterton and Lievesley 1989).

Panel conditioning has been a concern since the recognition of the advantages offered by panel surveys over cross‐sectional surveys. For instance, Lazarsfeld (1940) noted that repeated interviewing can affect respondents' opinions and behaviour distinguishing between the issues with which a respondent is already concerned and those on which he ...