英文摘要 |
The purpose of this study was to examine nonresponse bias in a large-scale survey, the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study, which interviewed special needs children's parents, teachers and school administrators. Data analyses included a comparison between the originally selected sample and the follow-up survey for unit-nonresponses on the demographic characteristics and variables related to learning outcomes. The results revealed that except for the 5-year-old sample, there was no significant difference between these two groups on demographic variables for the 3-year-old, the first-grade, and the third-grade samples; on the contrary, the variables related to learning outcomes were the main causes accounting for the nonresponses. Multivariate logistic regression models were applied to estimate the odds of correlates of nonresponse, including demographic characteristics and variables related to learning outcomes. Again, the results demonstrated that parental involvement, a variable related to learning outcomes, was a significant predictor of nonresponse bias across 3-year-olds to 3rd graders. None of the demographic characteristics was statistically significant. For the pre-school stage, except for parental involvement, influence of disabilities was another index to predict nonresponse. For the elementary stage, learning progress was an additional key variable to portend nonresponse. The findings suggest that the variables related to learning outcomes, rather than demographic characteristics, may be the important sources of nonresponse bias in the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study. |