Data, Sampling, and Variation in Data and Sampling · Exercise 60

A scholarly article about response rates begins with the following quote:
“Declining contact and cooperation rates in random digit dial (RDD) national telephone surveys raise serious concerns about the validity of estimates drawn from such research.”(Scott Keeter et al., “Gauging the Impact of Growing Nonresponse on Estimates from a National RDD Telephone Survey,” Public Opinion Quarterly 70 no. 5 (2006), http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/70/5/759.full (accessed May 1, 2013).)
The Pew Research Center for People and the Press admits:
“The percentage of people we interview – out of all we try to interview – has been declining over the past decade or more.” (Frequently Asked Questions, Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, http://www.people-press.org/methodology/frequently-asked-questions/#dont-you-have-trouble-getting-people-to-answer-your-polls (accessed May 1, 2013).)

(a) What are some reasons for the decline in response rate over the past decade?
(b) Explain why researchers are concerned with the impact of the declining response rate on public opinion polls.

OpenStax, Introductory Statistics 2e · §1.2 Data, Sampling, and Variation in Data and Sampling · Exercise 60