Workshop Synthesis: Dealing with immobility and survey non-response

This paper discusses the related issues associated with dealing with immobility and survey non-response within survey design, sampling protocols and for different survey instruments and methodological approaches. How to develop new tools and methods to capture the travel under-surveyed, ‘hard to reach’ and ‘survey shy’ populations was discussed. Also, how to adapt standard survey designs and sampling approaches to include overlooked population sectors, such as young people, non-travellers and the residents of informal settlements in developing countries. The paper recommends that best known practice in this area is a long way from common practices, and that the academic, commercial consultancy and policy worlds are very different places. This raises the need to develop some minimum standards/checklists of survey inclusion protocols, together with basic training on sample composition, screening and proxy data recording.