Axenfeld, J. B., Bruch, C., & Wolf, C. (2025). Composition of core modules and item allocation in split questionnaire designs: impact on estimates from imputed data. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 1–24.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2025.2561653
Long surveys might have negative effects on respondent behaviour. Split questionnaire designs can be an instrument to shorten questionnaires. Within these designs, each participant only answers a subset of questions. As a result, large amounts of planned missing data might result that require imputation. In previous research it was shown that mixed-topic modules perform well for imputation but from a questionnaire design perspective, single-topic modules can be rather advantageous.
Thus, in this study it is examined whether an extended core module that is answered by all respondents combined with single-topic modules can increase estimation quality after imputation compared with mixed-topic ones. The evaluation is done by using a Monte Carlo simulation study and data from the German Internet Panel.