Can biographical calendars enhance recall in retrospective life history surveys?
In the panel study, numerous contradictions and inconsistencies were found between participants’ new responses and the life history data they had reported in the previous wave of the study. As such, this follow-up study also served as a methodological experiment, in which the attempt was made to use the life history data already collected as the basis for the follow-up. Rather than using particular historical events as “anchors” to enhance respondent recall (e.g., December 1989 in the LV-Ost panel survey), we referred to events in the individual respondent’s own life course, as reported in the previous wave of the study. This required a survey instrument that lightens the cognitive load on the respondents, and helps the interviewer to identify and clear up any inconsistencies promptly. Biographical calendars and timelines that put insights from cognitive psychology into practice lend themselves to the assessment of event data. Compelling evidence from comparative studies has shown that
