Interviewers occupy a key position in face-to-face interviews. Their behavior decisively contributes to the quality of surveys. However, monitoring interviewers in face-to-face surveys is much more challenging than in telephone surveys. It is often up to the interviewer when they conduct the interviews and which addresses they work on first. Nevertheless, homogeneous fieldwork, i.e. that which has a geographically similar processing status, is particularly essential for time- and event-dependent studies such as election studies. Irregular fieldwork combined with geographical differences can have substantial impacts on data quality. Using the example of the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES), we propose and …

This study provides a synopsis of the current fieldwork monitoring practices of large-scale surveys in Germany. Based on the results of a standardized questionnaire, the study summarizes fieldwork monitoring indicators used and fieldwork measures carried out by 17 large-scale social sciences surveys in Germany. Our descriptive results reveal that a common set of fieldwork indicators and measures exist on which the studied surveys rely. However, it also uncovers the need for additional design-specific indicators. Finally, it underlines the importance of a close cooperation between survey representatives and fieldwork agencies to optimize processes in fieldwork monitoring in the German survey context. …