Answering it or skipping it: predicting item nonresponse in school self-evaluation questionnaires

ABSTRACT

In the process of school self-evaluation (SSE), teachers are often asked to provide information on the school’s functioning by completing questionnaires. However, respondents can leave one item or a series of items unanswered, after which they continue completing the questionnaire. This phenomenon of item nonresponse is not necessarily problematic if it occurs randomly. This study examines to what extent item nonresponse depends on respondents’ motivation to fill in the SSE questionnaire, their tendency towards socially desirable responses, the evaluation perspective on the SSE, the item design, and the construct that the item aims to shed light on. This study reports on an experimental study with 376 respondents who completed a questionnaire in an authentic SSE setting. Cross-classified multilevel modelling identified that respondents’ autonomous motivation predicts item nonresponse. Also, the evaluation perspective on SSE, item design, and the construct the item tends to capture all affect the probability of item nonresponse.

KEYWORDS:

• School self-evaluation
• questionnaire
• item nonresponse
• validity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Special Research Fund University of Antwerp [PS-ID: 28254].

Notes on contributors

J. Faddar

Jerich Faddar is an assistant professor at the Department of Educational Sciences (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB – Free University of Brussels). His current work focuses on educational effectiveness, improvement and quality assurance.

S. De Maeyer

Sven De Maeyer is professor at the Department of Training and Education Sciences of the University of Antwerp. He is a member of the Edubron research unit. His research focuses on educational measurement and methodological issues in educational sciences.

J. Vanhoof

Jan Vanhoof is professor on the staff of the Department of Training and Education Sciences of the University of Antwerp. He is a member of Edubron research unit. His current research activities focus on school policy and quality care in general and on school self-evaluation and data-driven school policy in particular.