The Prevalence of Missing Data in Survey Research

Abstract

The credibility of surveys relies significantly on the completeness of the data collected from representative samples. Missing data is a serious problem in survey research. The existence of variables with missing information negatively affects the research results and findings. This study examines the prevalence of missing data in surveys, and additionally compares its incidence between genders. A total of 119 relevant surveys from different countries represented the sample of this study. Results indicated that, on average, 38% of data was lost in the surveys analyzed. Males and females were very similar with respect to the extent of missing data, with an average of 37% and 38% respectively. Overall, results show that only 62% of the initial sample size was available at the end of the data collection stage.