• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.73-87
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• 2017

The Korean Academic Multimode Open Survey (KAMOS) is a national survey first conducted in 2016. Stratified cluster random sampling was used in an initial face-to-face survey during which panel members were recruited. The second survey allowed invited panel members to answer online or by phone. KAMOS includes both longitudinal items and omnibus items, i.e., researchers can propose questions to include on KAMOS. This paper seeks to establish that KAMOS is representative of the South Korean adult population. The demographic variables from the first survey were comparable to demographic variables from two well-respected surveys in South Korea: the KOSTAT Social Survey and the Gallup Korea Omnibus Survey. To ensure that there was no substantial difference between those who answered the first survey and those who answered the second survey, we compared the results of 22 items from the first survey. The 2,000 panel members who were invited to participate in the second survey had similar responses to the 1,008 of those who responded to the second survey. Based on our findings, KAMOS can be considered a representative sample.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.156-175
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• 2016

This paper considers whether random sampling always produces more accurate survey results in the case of South Korea. We compare information from the 2010 census to the demographic variables of three public opinion surveys from South Korea: Gallup Korea's Omnibus Survey (Survey A) is conducted every two months by Gallup Korea; the annual Social Survey (Survey B) is conducted by Statistics Korea (KOSTAT); the Korean General Social Survey (KGSS or Survey C) is conducted annually by the Survey Research Center (SRC) at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU). Survey A uses quota sampling after randomly selecting the neighborhood and initial addresses; Survey B uses random sampling, but allows replacements in some situations; Survey C uses simple random sampling. Data from more than one year was used for each survey. Our analysis suggests that Survey B is the most representative in most respects, and, in some respects, Survey A may be more representative than Survey C. Data from Survey C was the least stable in terms of representativeness by geographical area and age. Single-person households were underrepresented in both Surveys A and C, but the problem was more severe in Survey A. Four-person households and married persons were both over-represented in Survey A. Less educated people were under-represented in both Survey A and Survey C. There were differences in income level between Survey A and Survey C, but income data was not available for Survey B or the census, so it is difficult to ascertain which survey was more representative in this case.