Self-reported Retrospective Housing Biographies: A Modified Life History Calendar Approach

Sara Ström, Stockholm University
Maria Brandén, Stockholm University
Elizabeth Thomson, University of Wisconsin at Madison

Several attempts have been made to improve quality of self-reported retrospective data through life-history calendars. Calendars are often used as memory aids in face-to-face or telephone interviews. They are believed to improve retrospective data quality and thus avoid higher costs of continuing panel studies. Calendars have rarely been used in mailed questionnaires or validated with administrative records. A pioneer data collection in Sweden (n 2,242) used a modified life-history calendar in mailed questionnaires to collect housing biographies. In this study, we present the results of that effort, including a comparison of reported housing moves with Swedish residential registers.