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27/04/2018

______________________________________________________________________________

Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe - European Research Infrastructure Consortium

(SHARE-ERIC)

Clarifications Tender SHARE Wave 8

BG, CY, DE, EE, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IT, LT, LV, MT, RO, PL, SK, NL

2018-2019

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Table of Contents 1 CLARIFICATIONS RELEVANT FOR ALL COUNTRIES ............................................... 3

1.1 Tender documents and price quotation .................................................................. 3 1.2 Timeline, TTTs and interview length ....................................................................... 6 1.3 Software and use of tablets .................................................................................... 7 1.4 Calculation of unit price and fixed/ variable costs ................................................... 9 1.5 Sampling and definition of retention and response rates ...................................... 10 1.6 Drop-off questionnaire .......................................................................................... 11 1.7 Eligibility and partner interviews ............................................................................ 12 1.8 Tracking procedures, stable addresses and address lists .................................... 16 1.9 Final refusals ........................................................................................................ 17 1.10 Agencies that are new to SHARE ........................................................................ 17

2 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR COUNTRIES DOING AN ACCELEROMETER DATA COLLECTION .................................................................. 19

3 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR BULGARIA ............................................. 23 4 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR FINLAND ............................................... 25 5 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR LITHUANIA ............................................ 26 6 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR MALTA ................................................... 27 7 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR HUNGARY ............................................. 28 8 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR ITALY ..................................................... 29 9 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR GERMANY ............................................. 30 10 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR FRANCE ................................................ 30 11 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR CROATIA ............................................... 30 12 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR LATVIA .................................................. 31 13 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR SPAIN .................................................... 33 14 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR POLAND ................................................ 34 15 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR ESTONIA ............................................... 34 16 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR SLOVAKIA ............................................. 35 17 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR THE NETHERLANDS ............................ 37 The following document comprises clarifications to all questions posed to SHARE-ERIC concerning the tender for SHARE Wave 8 in the following countries: Bulgaria Italy Estonia Cyprus Germany Slovakia Finland France The Netherlands Hungary Latvia Lithuania Croatia Malta Spain Romania Poland

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1 CLARIFICATIONS RELEVANT FOR ALL COUNTRIES

1.1 Tender documents and price quotation • Do we need to provide descriptions, mentioned in point 3.1 of Invitation to Tender in the

single document or separate? Should this document be signed?

The tenderer shall submit a comprehensive tender (one single document), which comprises the components as stated in section 3.1 in the invitation to tender document (items regarding the implementation of the survey as well as items regarding the security of data processing).

The tender does not necessarily need to be signed. What must be signed are all forms that are part of the invitation (i.e. self-declaration, tenderer identification form and price specification form).

• Please confirm that we are not required to submit any declarations from external organisations (e.g. financial statement) together with the Tender.

That is correct. We do not require any declarations from external organisations.

• Do you want us to send over a financial and technical offer?

The tenderer shall submit a comprehensive tender (one document), which comprises the components as stated in section 3.1 in the invitation to tender document (items regarding the implementation of the survey as well as items regarding the security of data processing). The tenderer shall also fill in and sign all forms that are part of the invitation (self-declaration, tenderer identification form and price specification form). Thus, prices indicated in the signed price specification form will be considered the financial offer.

• Please confirm that we are not required to submit any information about our employees who will undertake this project (including CVs) together with the Tender.

We do not ask for information of the interviewers as part of the tender process. The winning bidder, however, will be required to complete some documentation about the demographics of the interviewers that work for SHARE: e.g. age. Education, years of CAPI experience etc. This is a separate deliverable "Main_IWRoster_compl", see Appendix 1.

• Please confirm that the requirement to include in our proposal “an estimation of retention rates which the tenderer considers achievable in respondents who participated in any previous SHARE wave but not in the last SHARE wave” (SHARE_w8_Invitation_To_Tender_CY, page5, point 3.1.1), is not valid for Cyprus where only a single wave has previously been conducted.

That is correct. As wave 8 will be the second wave for Cyprus, this won't be applicable. The same is true for every other country where only a single wave has previously been conducted.

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• Do we need to include in our offer the travel/accommodation costs to Munich?

Yes, travel costs for attending trainings in Munich should be part of the proposal to us. • Do we need to provide separate costs for each item (numbered 1 to 27) in the Price

specification form? E.g. cost for “Travel expenses”?

Yes, this is correct.

Costs should be indicated separately for each item (numbered 1 to 21) in the price specification form. “Travel expenses” for example shall include travel costs for attending trainings in Munich. Should there be no costs incurred, please indicate that with inserting 0 for the respective item.

Also note that items numbered 22 to 27 in the price specification form shall be left empty as they are NOT applicable for those countries that have been invited to tender in November 2017. This is because there will be no accelerometer data collection in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, Hungary, Cyprus and Malta.

• We use in our CAPI work tablets with Android OS. As far as we understand, that we

can’t use our tablets in this study and we should rent laptops. Can we add price for rent of laptops as fixed price, or we should include price for laptop rent in IT infrastructure (that is variable cost in your price list)? And what could be solution if fixed price in our quotation exceed 25% of total costs? Yes, include the amount for renting laptops under IT infrastructure. Fixed costs should not exceed 25% of the total costs.

• Do we need to provide costs with VAT included or VAT excluded in the Price

specification form? As stated under section 4 in the model contract, the contract sum (expected total costs, TC) should be indicated excluding VAT. Therefore please provide all costs without VAT in the Price specification form.

• Can you give us an indication of the budget? (main part versus collection of accelerometer in-or excluded VAT)

No. We do not provide this kind of information to the agencies.

• Can you please elaborate on the tendering procedure? For example, how many survey agencies in the Netherlands have been asked to tender?

All necessary information about the tendering procedure is compiled in the invitation to tender document as well as these clarifications. We do not provide further information (e.g. about budget or the number and names of survey agencies invited to tender) to any of the tendering survey agencies.

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• Invitation to Tender does not mention any rules related to subcontracting of services. Are there any requirements regarding subcontracting of services, e.g. to provide subcontractor specific documentation?

Any subcontracting by SURVEY AGENCY requires explicit and written approval by SHARE-ERIC, as stated in section 1 on page 2 of the model contract.

• Finally, do you mind sending us the .xls version of the Price Specification Form? (Only

to help in the calculation, we will send you the required signed .pdf version). The price specification form in pdf format has been implemented to avoid calculation errors. Therefore no other versions will be provided. In case of technical problems, contact procurement@share-eric.eu. (This is not true for survey agencies in Spain, as they use a different price specification form in a different format.)

• Please refer to Checklist “II. Integrity [Article 32 (1) (b) EU-GDPR] 5. Disclosure/transmission control The article in the checklist states: “How is ensured that personal data cannot be read, copied, altered or removed without authorisation during electronic transfer or physical transport or while storage on data storage media? And how is ensured that it is possible to check and determine the destination to which personal data are sent via data transfer systems?” The transmission of the collected data is realized by means of the program implemented by Centerdata. We will simply use the method indicated by Share Eric, on which the SA does not have the control. Our concerns are related to the new norms and the system of data transfer used to deliver data to Centerdata, that is not under our control. We do not have enough elements to verify if this system guarantees full compliance with the new regulation. Therefore our question is: regarding the data transmission from the interviewers to the SA we use our proper protocols which guarantee the safety of data, but do we need to answer for the system used by Centerdata, too?

You do not need to answer the questions with regard to the software provided by CentERdata / SHARE-ERIC. However, please answer the questions with regard transmissions of personal data for which you use your own protocols, such as transmissions between interviewers and the Survey Agency.

• Are we expected to answer all 8 questions and all related sub-questions stated in the

materiel "Checklist - Technical and organisational measures" as a part of our proposal? If yes how detailed should be the answers? Yes. As mentioned in the invitation to tender document, the tender should include a description of the technical and organisational measures. So please answer all of the questions and all related sub-questions stated in the "Checklist - Technical and organisational measures" as a part of your proposal. Please be as precise as possible.

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1.2 Timeline, TTTs and interview length • I would like to know the exact timetable. When the data collection, interviews are

supposed to be conducted? When the data should be ready to deliver to you? And all that kind of deadlines.

At this point in time (Nov. 2017) not all deadlines have been fixed for Wave 8. We can only give a rough outline at this point in time:

First test run: "Pretest" data collection (about 100 completed interviews), including training of interviewers: ~5 weeks in June/July 2018

Second test run "Field Rehearsal" data collection (about 100 completed interviews), including training of interviewers: ~ 5 weeks in Jan./Feb. 2019

Main data collection of SHARE Wave 8: ~ 5 months for all panel & refreshment interviews (if applicable) June-Dec. 2019

Data is being delivered on a constant basis through our IT infrastructure. Dates to export data to us through the Sample Distributor technology will be announced at the centralized training sessions in Munich, to be attended by the lead trainers of all countries.

• We have understood that the test and the rehearsal are carried out in 2018, and the

main survey in 2019. Can you give more information, for instance, the beginning and the end months of each step? Pretest is planned for June/July 2018, Field rehearsal for Jan/Feb. 2019. Both dates are not 100% certain at this point in time (Feb. 2018).

• Is it possible to receive a more detailed planning of different fieldwork stages? When does the pretest take place, when the fieldwork rehearsal, and when main data collection? At this point in time (April. 2017) the rough timeline looks as follows:

First test run: "Pretest" data collection (about 100 completed interviews), including training of interviewers: ~5 weeks in June/July 2018

Second test run "Field Rehearsal" data collection (about 100 completed interviews), including training of interviewers: ~ 5 weeks in Jan./Feb. 2019

Main data collection of SHARE Wave 8: ~ 5 months for all panel & refreshment interviews (if applicable) June-Dec. 2019

• Is it possible to combine the TTT-sessions of the Pretest and the Field rehearsal?

No. As stated in Annex 1, the selected survey agency is expected to attend separate TTT-sessions for the pretest, the field rehearsal and the main data collection.

• How many TTT sessions do representatives of the survey agency need to attend? One

session for pretest, one for rehearsal, and one for main (so three in total)? That is correct. As stated in Annex 1, the selected survey agency is expected to attend separate TTT-sessions for the pretest, the field rehearsal and the main data collection.

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• Is 70-85 minutes an estimate of median length of both: the longitudinal interviews and baseline interviews?

Yes, it is the range of medians for any type of interview except the end-of-life interview which is much shorter.

• Is the baseline and SHARE-life interview similar in length to wave 7?

The exact length of the interview is not known at the time of tender. Our goal is not exceeding the duration of wave 7. Annex 1 of the tender documents clearly state (page 5):

"The CAPI interview length of a single interview, as defined above, is estimated to take between 70 and 85 minutes. No country-specific adaptation to this overall estimate will be permissible."

• About the length of the interview, in annex 1, chapter 1.3, says that estimated single interview length could be between 70 and 85 minutes. We would like to know if this estimated length includes the drop off questionnaire or if it’s just the CAPI-questionnaire length. In my previous experience in Share, regular lenght was a bit shorter.

As stated in Annex 1, section 1.3: “The CAPI interview length of a single interview, as defined above, is estimated to take between 70 and 85 minutes.” This refers only to the CAPI interview, not to the drop-off. This is not a country-specific measure, but an overall estimate. The standard of how to calculate this overall estimate can be found in the Method Volume of wave 5, which is available on the SHARE homepage:

http://www.share-project.org/fileadmin/pdf_documentation/Method_vol5_31March2015.pdf

• End of life Interview, What is the length of the interview and what actions has to be

done by the Survey Agency to find them/ the proxy?

Interviewers have to look for a proxy, e.g. the partner or a child or any other person that knew the deceased respondent well enough to answer the EOL interview. The agency/interviewer can use information from previous interviews, e.g. proxies registered at that time, persons living at the stable addresses, but also ask e.g. neighbours about potential proxies. The EOL interview is significantly shorter than the regular CAPI interview. Detailed or country-specific interview lengths will not be provided.

1.3 Software and use of tablets • Is it possible to replace the laptops with tablets? Does the questionnaire design allow

this?

The software development of SHARE Wave 8 is not finished at the time of tendering. There are no guarantees for tablet support as of now.

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However, we plan on supporting Microsoft Windows -operated tablets. There will ALMOST certainly be NO support for Android-based tablets. We will NOT AT ALL support Apple operating systems (iOS etc.).

• Can the SMS application be used on tablet with android system?

No, not yet.

• Is there an opportunity for an interviewer to use his own laptop to work?

No. The use of private laptops is not permitted.

• Could we expect that the same software for CAPI interviewing would be used in Wave 8

as in Wave 7? If there will be different software, please, provide more details about the new one.

We are currently in the middle of updating our IT infrastructure. All software used in wave 8 will closely resemble that of Wave 7, however there are some major changes in the underlying programming: We will revamp the Sample Management System to be interoperable with a range of

devices. However, no definitive list of endorsed hardware is available before the end of the tender process.

The new CAPI will be built on Blaise 5 but this will have no implications on Windows-supported services. In other words, computers that could run Wave 7 software should be able to run the Wave 8 Software.

All details will be released after the tender process is complete to the winning companies. • Wat software does the coverscreen and questionnaire use. Is it the same as in wave 5?

Can we run the software on a tablet?

Please look at our answers to the question above. Additionally we can provide the following information:

• We stick to Blaise 5 • Adjust TMT to Blaise 5 • Adjust all other tools to also communicate with Blaise 5 • CentERdata investigates Blaise 5 tablet use, but it won't be implemented for wave 8 • Web solutation for Case and Sample Control

− Case Control: HTML Javascript − Sample Control: PHP − Link between Case and Sample Control: JSON HTTPS

As stated in the model contract: "The laptops and PCs used must accommodate the executable survey instrument code in a WindowsTM 10, WindowsTM 8 or WindowsTM 7 environment. No Linux, Macintosh or other WindowsTM operating systems can be supported. Laptops and PCs need a 32-bit or 64-bit

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operating system, 2 GB RAM, 1 GB free disk space (15 GB for the server) and a screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels."

• Should we include in our quotation Blaise software licensing costs (for SD installation

at SURVEY AGENCY and SMS/CAPI programs running on the interviewers’ laptops)? No. SHARE-ERIC will cover the Blaise software licensing costs.

• Do we deliver only SPSS/ EXCEL tables without report?

We are not sure what this question refers to. The SHARE data delivery during fieldwork is managed completely through our IT infrastructure that will be provided to the successful bidder. There is no actual data delivered outside of your IT infrastructure.

1.4 Calculation of unit price and fixed/ variable costs

• How is the unit price of “End-of-life” interviews calculated? There is no separate unit price for end of life interviews but as stated on page 3 of the model contract, end of life interviews with respondents from subsamples A1 and A2 will be counted as full interviews in the calculation of the retention rate.

• Are Fixed costs (FC) calculated as sum of all costs marked as “Fixed” type in the Price specification form, and are variable costs (VC) calculated as sum of all costs marked as “Variable” in the form? If not, how are FC and VC calculated? Yes, fixed costs are calculated as sum of all costs marked as "fixed" type in the price specification form. The sum of total fixed costs will be indicated automatically after completion of the price specification form. Note that fixed costs may not exceed 25% of the total costs, which are also calculated automatically and displayed in the form.

Variable costs will be calculated as laid out in section 4.1 on page 4 of the model contract (Total costs TC - total fixed costs FC) which is equal to the sum of all costs marked as "variable" in the price specification form. As stated in the contract, these variable costs are needed to calculate the Reference Unit Price (see page 4 of the model contract). Actual payments will be determined after the fieldwork has ended depending on fieldwork success (see page 5 of the model contract)

• How are the variable costs calculated?

Variable costs will be calculated as laid out in section 4.1 on page 4 of the model contract (Total costs TC - total fixed costs FC) which is equal to the sum of all costs marked as "variable" in the price specification form.

As stated in the contract, these variable costs are needed to calculate the reference unit price (see page 4 of the model contract).

Actual payments will be determined after the fieldwork has ended depending on fieldwork success (see page 5 of the model contract). They consist of the fixed costs plus the variable

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payments in each of the five subsamples in Table 1 i.e. the actually achieved net number of interviews times the actual unit price. The actual unit price is the reference unit price plus a bonus or minus a malus depending on fieldwork success. A table with bonus/malus payments can be found on page 14 of the model contract.

1.5 Sampling and definition of retention and response rates • Refreshment sample: we have not understood who builds the refreshment sample.

Does share coordination provide the addresses? Or does it only provide the completed sample design form and does the agency draw the sample on the basis of this sample design form? Normally, the refreshment sample has to be ordered from the responsible authority (most frequently the country's statistical office). Only if there is no statistical office, the agencies have to draw the sample by themselves. The Sample Design Form is an online survey that will be send around in time by SHARE Central to collect all relevant information concerning the sampling procedure, such as sampling frame, sampling design etc. Normally, the agency together with the country team decides about the sampling procedure and fills in the Sampling Design Form. The procedure will then be checked by SHARE Central. In case of approval you can then order the gross sample from the statistical office based on the proposed sampling procedure. Once you have received the gross sample from the statistical office, you have to copy the households (not the addresses!) in an Excel template that also will be sent around in time.

• 2.2.2.1 Panel sample of field rehearsal “The field rehearsal should be based on all panel respondents of the field rehearsal of any previous SHARE wave.” – Please, confirm that we should use the same respondents that have participated in rehearsal phase of any previous waves?

Yes, that is correct.

• Please specify the formula of actual retention rate calculation. Will actual retention rate be calculated based on reference number of eligible individuals given in Table 1 of SHARE Model contract or actual number of eligible users which will change during fieldwork? E.g. actual number of eligible respondents Gact in practice will be lower than reference number G (some individuals move abroad, are incarcerated etc.). Thus actual retention rate Ract can be calculated as Ract=NN/G or as Ract=NN/ Gact

All details regarding the calculation of response and retention rates have been documented in great detail in the methodology volume of SHARE Wave 5 (pages 101-107): http://www.share-project.org/fileadmin/pdf_documentation/Method_vol5_31March2015.pdf

• We did not found a clear definition how to calculate the response rate of the

refreshment sample (reference response rate is 43%). The numerator has to be the

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number of valid interviews (interviewed target persons of the gross sample and interviewed partners). We suppose the denominator has to be calculated regarding the number of addresses in the gross sample, the ineligibles and the identified partners. But what is the exact definition? The formula to calculate the reference response rate includes partial interviews (RR4) and is based on the AAPOR guidelines (http://www.aapor.org/AAPOR_Main/media/publications/Standard-Definitions20169theditionfinal.pdf). Please also have a look at the FAQ section on the SHARE website: http://www.share-project.org/data-documentation/faqs.html#3.5 RR4 = (I+P) / (I+P)+(R+NC+O)+e(UH+UO), where I: number of completed interviews P: number of partial interviews R: number of refusals and break-offs NC: number of non-contacts O: number of other non-interviews UH: number of cases with unknown eligibility (unknown if housing unit exists) UO: number of cases with unknown eligibility (unknown, other) e: fraction of eligible units among the cases with known eligibility

1.6 Drop-off questionnaire • Could you clarify the reason behind separate drop-off questionnaire? Why this

questionnaire cannot be integrated into the main questionnaire? What are its contents?

The drop-off questionnaire allows countries to field questions to SHARE respondents that are not included in the SHARE questionnaire. Many university teams use the drop-off questionnaire to solicit funds from sponsors, e.g. by offering them data from country-specific drop-off items in return for financial support to get SHARE funded in that given country. The content of the drop-off is usually proposed by the Country Team Leader at the national university. There is a review process by SHARE Central and after approval, the paper-pencil questionnaire is given to the SHARE respondents by the interviewer of the survey agency. The survey agencies usually have no input into the items but their interviewers collect the data by giving the drop-off to respondents. A few examples from previous SHARE waves may serve to give an idea about possible topics, but again, the actual questions are proposed by the national university teams:

- Keeping pets such as cats, dogs etc. - Time use after retirement - Sexuality - Long-term care insurance

• How many drop-off questionnaires must be collected? Is there a threshold already defined? If yes, in case this threshold in not reached there will be penalties? In which measure?

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As laid down in Annex 3 of the contract, all interview eligible SHARE respondents are also eligible to complete a drop-off if they participate in a main interview. Conducting a country-specific drop-off expands the definition of “complete interview” (as laid down in Annex 1 of the generic SHARE Data Collection Contract). If drop-off data cannot be matched to a complete CAPI interview, the actual unit price for these interviews will be lowered as specified in Annex3.

• The drop-off questionnaire can be submitted by CAWI or is it mandatory to use the P&P method? The drop-off can be in a different mode than paper pencil if there are no extra costs for this implementation to SHARE-ERIC.

• The drop-off questionnaire refers to episodes occurred in the past only or it will include

episodes in the future? This is because our intention is to allow respondents to fill the questionnaire just after the main interview, so that the interviewer can collect directly the questionnaire without necessity to send back it by mail. The drop-off is supposed to be filled in by the respondent directly after the SHARE- interview, so the interviewer can take it with him/her. But in addition to that, respondents should have the possibility to send the drop-off back in an envelope that the Survey Agency prepares for the respondent. This could increase response rates.

• Will the delivery of the “drop-off” data follow the same timing of the standard

synchronization (i.e. every two weeks) or it will be done at the end of the data collection period? Synchronization will take place after fieldwork is complete.

1.7 Eligibility and partner interviews • Will individuals, who meet eligibility criteria, but cannot be tracked (e.g. neighbour

informs that an individual has moved to an unknown place), be counted as eligible or ineligible?

Eligible individuals who moved to an unknown place ("Code 407: Moved - new address unknown") will become ineligible only in the refreshment sample, BUT NOT in the longitudinal sample.

• Will individuals, whose present status is unknown (e.g. no contact after a number of

attempts and no information collected), be counted as eligible or ineligible?

Those individuals have the status "unknown eligibility". For the calculation of response rates the share of eligibles of all persons with unknown eligibility is estimated based on the ratio between known eligible and ineligible persons in the sample.

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• We understand that the main respondent who participated in Wave 7 is eligible to

participate in Wave 8.

Kindly advice on the eligibility of the partners of the main respondents in the case of split households (where a household has divorced or under separation procedures) for the below scenarios:

a. Partner did not participate in Wave 7 and is no longer living with the main respondent b. Partner did not participate in Wave 7 and is still living with the main respondent c. Partner participated in Wave 7 and is no longer living with the main respondent d. Partner participated in Wave 7 and is still living with main respondent. e. Main respondent in Wave 7 is deceased and spouse/partner is interested to participate. For Respondents in longitudinal households we do NOT differentiate between a main respondent or a partner. Both are eligible in wave 8.

Eligibility Rules for Longitudinal Households

Eligible for an interview are all respondents that - participated in any wave before AND - were living in the household at time of sampling AND - were age 50 plus at time of sampling.

In addition all current partners of eligible respondents, that are living in the same household are eligible for an interview irrespective of their age and if they lived in the household at time of sampling.

Respondents are only not followed (not eligible for an interview nor an end of life interview) if a couple splits or one of both dies AND they were not living in the household or not age 50 plus at time of sampling.

In general eligibility is defined by the SMS, the result can be seen after the Coverscreen is done.

For your scenarios this means:

a. Partner did not participate in Wave 7 and is no longer living with the main respondent => Partner is not eligible, because did not participate AND does no longer live with the respondent who participated

b. Partner did not participate in Wave 7 and is still living with the main respondent => Partner is eligible, even if she or he did not participate, but it's a current partner

c. Partner participated in Wave 7 and is no longer living with the main respondent => Partner is eligible if she or he was age 50 plus in wave 7 (e.g. the wave the household was sampled)

d. Partner participated in Wave 7 and is still living with main respondent => Partner is eligible (it's a current partner)

e. Main respondent in Wave 7 is deceased and spouse/partner is interested to participate. => Depends:

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Former Partner of deceased respondent is eligible if he or she participated before AND was 50 plus AND living in the household in wave 7.

Former Partner of deceased respondent is not eligible if she or he did not participate before or was younger than 50 or not living in the household in wave 7.

• 1.4.1 Longitudinal sample

Exclusions: “Eligibility is determined by the SHARE SMS during fieldwork and can change after the coverscreen is done” Some more clarification about these possible changes:

Also in Wave 7 we came across rejecters (unwilling to participate) or partners that were abroad during the fieldwork period. Should we consider these persons as eligible for interviewing in Wave 8? If they are eligible, what would be the questionnaire content – will be asked the questions included in previous (Wave 7) or they will be asked only current wave questions? “Eligibility is determined by the SHARE SMS during fieldwork and can change after the coverscreen is done”

Some scenarios, examples (please also check the eligibility rules specified in the contract):

2. Not participated before

Two eligible respondents (couple) in one household preloaded, one of them has not participated in wave 7:

a) if this respondent is no longer living in the household (information entered in CV), this respondent becomes ineligible

b) if the interviewer enters in CV that this respondent is deceased, this person also is not eligible for an EOL

c) if the interviewer enters in CV that the partner (who participated in w7) has been deceased, the other respondent (who has not participated in w7) is also no longer eligible

3. "younger partners"

Two eligible respondents (couple) in one household preloaded, one of them has not been age-eligible (50+) at time of sampling:

a) Interviewer enters in CV that the younger partner moved out, this results in an ineligible split

b) Interviewer enters in CV that the younger partner has been deceased, not eligible for an EOL

c) if the age-eligible partner has been deceased, the younger partner is not eligible for an interview anymore

Also in Wave 7 we came across rejecters (unwilling to participate) or partners that were abroad during the fieldwork period. Should we consider these persons as eligible for interviewing in Wave 8? 1) Refusals

Imagine the following scenario: In a household, one age-eligible respondent participated, did give consent (ex123_) but the partner refused to participate.

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Yes, this rejecter will be eligible for an interview in wave 8 if there are no changes in the household composition.

If the respondent who participated did not give consent, and the partner refused to participate in wave7, the household won't be included in wave 8 preload.

2) Abroad during fieldwork period

If this person who has been abroad lives in the household, and the partner participated in w7, did give consent and is age-eligible, and there are no changes in household composition this person will be eligible for an interview in w8.

The eligibility programming is included in the preload procedures and the SHARE SMS will use this information together with information collected in w8 to define the eligibility. Interviewers can just rely on the SMS.

Concerning the question: “If they are eligible, what would be the questionnaire content – will be asked the questions included in previous (Wave 7) or they will be asked only current wave questions?”

They will receive the w8 baseline questionnaire.

• Can you give a description of what you call “difficult households” and “most difficult to

reach or to convince respondents groups”? Household that are either difficult to reach, e.g. rarely at home and or hesitant to participate in surveys at all.

• How should we deal the cases in which a couple which have been interviewed in W7

has separated and the respondents don’t live anymore in the same household? Can we interview both? And if they have new spouses who are willing to be interviewed: can they be included in the baseline sample?

In general eligibility is defined by the SMS, the result can be seen after the Coverscreen is done. New partners that are living in the household are eligible for an interview. In case of a split, e.g. a couple divorces the SMS creates a new split household automatically.

For Respondents in longitudinal households we do NOT differentiate between a main respondent or a partner. Both are eligible in wave 8 according to the following rules.

Eligibility Rules for Longitudinal Households

Eligible for an interview are all respondents that - participated in any wave before AND - were living in the household at time of sampling AND - were age 50 plus at time of sampling.

In addition all current partners of eligible respondents, that are living in the same household are eligible for an interview irrespective of their age and if they lived in the household at time of sampling.

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Respondents are only not followed (not eligible for an interview nor an end of life interview) if a couple splits or one of both dies AND they were not living in the household or not age 50 plus at time of sampling.

• We also have some questions on the partners of the respondents:

Should they also be interviewed (CAPI) by our interviewers? If so, how long does this interview take to complete? Or is this an integral part of the main questionnaire? Or will they for example fill in an online questionnaire? If so, how long does it take to complete this questionnaire?

Partners living in the same household are treated in the same way as respondents. They get the same CAPI questionnaire. However, some modules/questions are only to be answered by one of the partners (e.g. on children, assets). Depending on who answers these modules one interview is shorter.

1.8 Tracking procedures, stable addresses and address lists • 1.6.4 Respondent contact information and stable addresses

“SURVEY AGENCY and CTL shall agree upon required minimum tracking procedures.”

Could you, please, provide examples of this type of tracking procedures? For example if the respondent has moved into another region within the country? Examples of tracking procedures to detect persons who have moved house: collecting additional or new contact information (new address, telephone number, email address), e.g. by examining a register of inhabitants, investigations in the neighbourhood by the interviewer etc.

Panel care measures are also part of the tracking strategy. Reply cards which respondents or new inhabitants of the address can use to indicate their new address should be included with panel care brochures and Christmas cards. In addition, the above mentioned register search must be done for panel care brochures, Christmas cards, and advance letters that are returned to sender due to an incorrect address.

• Annex 1 states that „SURVEY AGENCY and CTL shall agree upon required minimum

tracking procedures“. Tracking may involve a wide range of activities. Please clarify and specify what effort will be required from survey agency while attempting to track down an individual. Could you provide an example procedure or rules? Examples of tracking procedures to detect persons who have moved house: collecting additional or new contact information (new address, telephone number, email address), e.g. by examining a register of inhabitants, investigations in the neighbourhood by the interviewer etc.

Panel care measures are also part of the tracking strategy. Reply cards which respondents or new inhabitants of the address can use to indicate their new address should be included with panel care brochures and Christmas cards. In addition, the above mentioned register search must be done for panel care brochures, Christmas cards, and advance letters that are returned to sender due to an incorrect address.

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• As we were not the Survey agency of wave 7, could you please specify under which terms and format we are going to receive the panel of respondents, including respondent’s information, the address list, list of deceased respondents, etc.? The SHARE standard procedure is as follows:

The preload (longitudinal sample) including information on all households/respondents that should be contacted and interviewed will be prepared by SHARE Central. It will also include deceased respondents for which we want to conduct an end of life interview. The preload data will be delivered to CentERdata who will set up the SHARE Sample Distributor (SD) and deliver the SD to the survey agencies.

In addition to the preload the addresses are transferred in a separate file to the new agency following European and national data protection rules. The addresses are uploaded to the SD at the agency and combined with the preload information on households and respondents within this tool.

1.9 Final refusals

• According to Annex 1 „initial contact with sample person can be made by telephone“. Can the refusal to participate made by telephone be treated as final refusal? No, telephone refusals cannot be accepted. The telephone contact is only allowed as to make the appointment for the interview. It must always be followed by an in person face-to-face contact, also in case the household/person cannot be reached by telephone or expresses unwillingness to participate. A disposition code of "refusal" can only be set after at least one face-to-face visit has been done by an interviewer and, in the case of refusal to cooperate, various attempts of refusal conversion have failed.

1.10 Agencies that are new to SHARE

• Are you interested in our offer even if we did not participate in the previous waves?

The answer is definitely yes, we explicitly solicit tenders from other/new bidders irrespective of any previous involvement with SHARE.

The assessment of all tenders will follow the selection criteria as stated in the invitation to tender document. The contract shall be awarded to the tenderer who has submitted the tender representing the best-value-for-money according to these criteria. Therefore we are looking forward to receiving your tender.

• Will research agencies which have undertaken the project in the past have an advantage in being awarded the project?

No. The assessment of all tenders will follow the selection criteria as stated in the invitation to tender document. The contract shall be awarded to the tenderer who has submitted the tender representing the best-value-for-money according to these criteria. Therefore we are looking forward to receiving your tender.

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• The following deliverables/ tasks are only requested of agencies that have been

entrusted with the previous wave of SHARE: Pre_AIF_compl, Pre_Dead, FiRe_AIF_compl, FiRe_Dead, Main_AIF_compl. Can you please clarify the following:

Will the inability of bidders that have not been awarded the project in the past to provide these deliverables count against them? No, of course this will have no impact on the evaluation of any submitted proposals. These are deliverables due AFTER the fieldwork of SHARE has been terminated, i.e. a long time after the tender process has been terminated.

• Can you confirm that panel maintenance procedures have been implemented locally by

the previous agency that was entrusted with fieldwork collection? This could impact response rates. According to Annex 1 of the model contract, all agencies are obliged to carry out panel care measures of the wave they were contracted for. This means, that panel care of wave 7 is carried out by the survey agency which conducted fieldwork of SHARE wave 7.

• Could you please specify about payment system for longitudinal sample – as we were

not survey agency for previous wave, does bonus/malus will be applied to us as well? Because we can’t take responsibility about quality of respondent’s panel care, work of previous interviewers etc.

The longitudinal payment scheme is applicable to all countries. The Bonus/Malus system therefore applies to all agencies, including those that are new to SHARE.

• Pretest and field rehearsal need to be based on panel respondents of pretest and rehearsal of any previous SHARE wave. To do so, does the agency receive previous samples and/or contact information? The former agency has the addresses, more general contact information (addresses of respondents, possibly "stable addresses" or proxy addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and last names). This information has to be uploaded to the Sample Control by the agency. The longitudinal preload file/sample is provided by the Database Management Team.

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2 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR COUNTRIES DOING AN ACCELEROMETER DATA COLLECTION

• If the SURVEY AGENCY should decide to buy some of the accelerometers, in addition

to the 50 provided by SHARE-ERIC, please confirm that this cost is not to be indicated in the Price Specification Form (not refunded by SHARE-ERIC). We confirm that those accelerometers which SURVEY AGENCY will buy should not be included in the Price Specification Form.

• Concerning the alternative accelerometer procedure described, who makes the

decision to choose it, is it SHARE-ERIC, Share coordination or the Agency? Does it due to a particular field situation? The decision about the procedure is made by SHARE-ERIC in coordination with the Country Team. The costs of the back-and-forth sending of the 50 accelerometers provided by SHARE Central can vary across different countries.

• Why in this procedure Agency has to buy 150 Axivity AX3 accelerometers while in the

11 steps procedure, the 200 accelerometers are provided by SHARE ERIC?

This is not correct. SHARE-ERIC will initially provide the Survey Agency only with 50 accelerometers for 200 net participants. Each of the 50 accelerometers must be used for four participants consecutively. As laid down in Annex 4, after eight days of wearing, the respondent removes the accelerometer and sends back the accelerometer to the Survey Agency. Survey Agency refurbishes the accelerometer, prepares a new patch and sends it out to the next respondent on the list provided by SHARE-ERIC. SA has the option to replace steps 5 to 8 of the 11 step procedure, in case SA will buy the 150 accelerometers that are needed for such procedure, in addition to the 50 accelerometers provided by SHARE-ERIC.

• In step 7, a box is mentioned. Is it the same box originally containing the material or does Agency have to provide one? The Survey Agency has to provide the box

• In the annex 4, is indicated that SHARE-ERIC will draw a subsample of people selected to receive the accelerometer. It is possible to receive in advance this subsample to manage and organise deliveries of the medical devices? Alternatively, would be possible at least to know in advance the geographical distribution to understand if the

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selected people will be spread in the whole country or regrouped in some specific territories? The sample will be spread across the country; it is not centered in certain regions. The sample is stratified according to age, gender and activity level as indicated in the last (W7) interview. In principle, we could deliver the selected sample when the preload is prepared but that is only the large gross sample: we will not know who of the selected persons will consent (and hence who needs to get an accelerometer or not). That is known only after the CAPI interview, hence during field work.

• For selected people, would be possible to mention in the advance letter the experiment with the accelerometer? No, we advise to not mention it in the advance letter.

• Is the test of the accelerometer planned for the main phase only or for all the phases? And, if it is planned in all the phases, how prices can be counted in the scheme for the pretest and the field rehearsal? Yes. Pretest and field rehearsal are done including (a small amount of) accelerometry. Please include those costs in the fieldwork management of the accelerometer study (item no. 27).

• Annex 4 states: “SHARE-ERIC fortnightly provides to SURVEY AGENCY a list of selected respondents who have given consent, after each export of interview data through the Sample Distributor (Deliverable AX_CONS, table 1). “ It is possible to shorten the time of this procedure? Our concern is referred to the fact that since the moment interviewer obtains consent for the accelerometer data collection and the moment respondents receive the material, people can change mind or not being available anymore for that test. This may affect costs, willingness of cooperation and increase the risk of loss (because the selected respondent won’t send back the material). SHARE Central receives the updated CAPI data only fortnightly, and can hence not provide consent lists more frequently. If you estimate this is too long and will increase non-participation or costs, it can be considered to make a telephone call to the respondent BEFORE sending the accelerometer rather than after it has been sent.

• In the CAPI questionnaire which kind of information are registered with reference to the

accelerometer? The consent to participate only or any other info for example, when the respondent is available (or absent, for example for vacation?), the address to which the material has to be sent, etc. Only the consent is asked in the CAPI. Other information, such as sending to another address than where the interview takes place, must be noted by the interviewer. An information leaflet

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to inform the respondents and show how the accelerometer measurement is done will be provided to the interviewers.

• In case of consent to participate the test of the accelerometer, is the visit of the SA interviewers to place the device mandatory or can this procedure be done by phone by SA representatives? As described in Section 3 of Annex 4, the respondent is asked to place the accelerometer him/herself, after it is send to him/her. A detailed instruction leaflet will be prepared and provided by SHARE ERIC for that. Only if the respondent is not able to place the accelerometer him/herself, the interviewer is required to do it.

• Which would be the supplement for each interview with completed Accelerometer data collection?

All costs for the accelerometer Data collection will be paid after validation of the data as specified in annex 4. Payment of the regular CAPI interview is independent of the accelerometer data collection.

• What if one respondent who gave his consent to the accelerometer, then will change mind? The interview is still valid? At the same price or, as in the case of the drop off, its unit price will be decreased? Independent of the accelerometer data collection, the CAPI interview can still be considered valid according to the criteria described in the model contract for normal CAPI interviews. The unit price for the CAPI interview is not affected by the accelerometer data collection. Payments for the accelerometer data collection as specified in Annex 4 will be made only if the device has been actually worn and data were registered.

• What if the respondent does not wear (at all or in the proper way) the device, affecting the data collection? Is the interview considered valid or it will be not considered in the total amount?

If the respondent did not wear the device at all, the accelerometer measure will not be considered as complete and not be counted. The device must have been worn and data must have been registered on a minimum of 3 days.

Independent of the accelerometer data collection, the CAPI interview can still be considered valid according to the criteria described in the model contract for normal CAPI interviews.

• At the price sheet you ask accelerometer data from 200 persons in main wave. In tender documents you mention, that accelerometer will be tested during pre-test and field rehearsal also. So, I have to calculate all accelerometer expenses for pre-test and field rehearsal also. How much devices will be at these stages of the Project? I think during 6 weeks we can’t test rotation, so we can test 1 round of accelerometer process.

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For the pretest, we will have available 5 accelerometers per country. The rotation should be tested as much as is possible with these 5 devices, within the fieldwork weeks available. Please include those costs in the fieldwork management of the accelerometer study (item no. 27).

• Can I offer in proposal other method for accelerometer delivery to respondent, which will be more cost effective? You can include an alternative way of delivery if you estimate that to be more efficient and give the same results. However, please include a cost-estimation for two scenarios in that case: 1) costs of the delivery as it is described in the call for tender document and 2) costs of your alternative (including a detailed description of this alternative procedure). Please indicate details for scenario 1 in the price file and details for Scenario 2 in your tender.

• Do we have written consent form for accelerometer? So, printing costs?

As mentioned on page 2 of Annex 4, "SHARE-ERIC programs the informed consent question for the accelerometer data collection in the CAPI instrument". Therefore, there will be no additional printing costs.

• What is the content of the patch material we have to buy locally?

It is a standard medical style adhesive tape which can be bought in normal pharmacies. See picture. We will specify the size and brand to use at the start of the study.

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3 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR BULGARIA • Could you please confirm that n=1593 were the valid interviews from wave 7 in Bulgaria

and n=1195 is the estimated number of valid interviews that is expected in wave 8, based on the response rate from wave 7?

There a more valid interviews in w7. N=1593 is the estimated number of eligible individuals in longitudinal sample in subsample A2 (G2). N=15 is the estimated number of eligible individuals in longitudinal sample in subsample D (G5).

This means we expect to preload (G=G1+G2+G3+G4+G5) 1608 eligible individuals in w8.

Yes, N=1195 is the expected net number of interviews in w8 in subsample A2 (reference retention rate specified in model contract: R2 = 75%).

Additionally: The expected net number of interviews in w8 in subsample D: N5exp = R5*G5 = 4 (reference retention rate specified in the model contract: R5 = 25%).

Total: Nexp = N1exp+N2exp+N3exp+N4exp+N5exp Nexp =0 +1195 +0 +0 +4 = 1199

• Please confirm that we should send calculation only for Scenario 1 – No. Panel 1199 (N=1199 interviews) in Bulgaria That is correct.

There is only one scenario for Bulgaria with an expected net sample size of 1199 Interviews for the longitudinal sample (no refreshment sample). Scenarios 2 and 3 are not applicable for Bulgaria. Tenderers are asked to send calculations based only on scenario 1.

• Baseline sample for Bulgaria (Wave 7) has finished with n=2025 individual interviews.

Please, provide more clarification on how did you get the G2 = 1593 for Bulgaria? Also should we consider this sample size as final baseline sample for Bulgaria?

The size of subsamples has been calculated based on partially corrected SMS data (as of 26th Oct), but this data was still preliminary.

Without taking "no consent cases" into account the result was as follows:

A2: 2034 D: 27

453 respondents have been subtracted from subsample A2 and D due to no consent (based on ex123_). The result:

A2: 1593 D: 15

This means respondents who answered "5. no consent to recontact" to question ex123_ were taken into account.

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If there is only 1 interview in a household and this respondent did not give consent, this household won't be preloaded for w8. If there are 2 interviews in a household and both respondents did not give consent, this household won't also be included in w8 preload.

Yes, this is more or less the final longitudinal sample size. But we will make some more corrections and the eligibility is not defined properly yet, this will only be done in preload procedures. So probably there will be slight changes.

• “As in previous waves the questionnaire includes mainly closed questions as well as physical and mental health tests.”

We would need more information about the physical tests in Wave 8 (which is second for Bulgaria). For example what test would be done with accelerometer, additional specifications? Is it similar to dynamometer?

In general: The physical measures in Wave 8 include only hand grip strength for all countries. No chair stand, peak volume or other. For a selection of 10 countries, it will in addition include accelerometry: The countries which were selected for that have been notified and the description of the accelerometer is part of the procurement documents for those countries. If the model contract for you country does not mention the accelerometry, and no Annex 4 "Accelerometry" is included with the procurement documents, than your country will not have the accelerometer measurement.

Bulgaria: Not selected for accelerometry. Hand grip strength is the only physical measure.

• In case N=1195 valid effective interviews could not be achieved due to reasons, accepted by SHARE or the Coordinator for the country, is there a chance to recruit/replace new eligible participants in the panel or is this sample size merely a predicted number? And what would the procedure for recruiting new eligible respondents be?

Selected households or persons (sample units) can absolutely not be replaced during the field work. The number of interviews given is therefore indeed an expected number. If the panel sample is too small (the number of interviews achieved in the previous wave), a refreshment sample can be drawn to enlarge it but a refreshment gross sample must be drawn and delivered to SHARE ERIC before the start of the fieldwork (see description of refreshment samples in the model contract and in Annex 1).

In general, we advise to draw a full refreshment sample (and/or an oversample of the youngest missing cohorts) every 2-3 waves as this is much more efficient in terms of costs and workload. However, there might be good reasons (e.g. own funding, promises towards the funder, severe problems with the representativeness of the sample/specific subgroups, political considerations etc.) to draw refreshment samples more often and we then offer, of course, our full support.

• Could you please also confirm that 37 is the exact number of interviewers to participate in the training sessions and conduct the field work afterwards?

The formula gives the lower boundary of necessary interviewers and is based on optimistic assumptions (e.g. 24 full weeks of fieldwork). Rounding up would be better. Hence, the ideal number for Bulgaria would be between 40 and 50 interviewers.

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4 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR FINLAND • How is the net sample of longitudinal interviews calculated? Are the “End-of-life”

interviews counted to the figure or are they eliminated from the sample?

The expected number of eligible individuals in the longitudinal sample has been calculated with a "subsample program". The program reflects the subsample definitions specified in the contract. "No consent cases" has been taken into account. The analyses are based on SMS data. This data is still preliminary, more corrections will be done. Also the eligibility is not defined properly yet, this will only be done in the preload procedures.

A2/G2: 1970 D/G5: 260

Expected number of net interviews: N2exp = R2*G2 (R2=75% reference retention rate) N2exp=1478 N5exp = R5*G5 (R5=25% reference retention rate) N5exp= 65 Since wave 7 was your first wave deceased respondents (wave 7) are not included in the longitudinal sample.

This means all preloaded respondents are alive. If you find out in wave 8 that an eligible respondent has been deceased, the respondent is eligible for an EOL interview if he/she… 1. …has participated in a previous SHARE wave 2. …has been age-eligible at the time the household was sampled ("younger partners") 3. …lived in the household at time of sampling ("new partners")

• What different subsamples apply to Finland?

For the longitudinal Sample, subsamples A2 and Subsample D are applicable for Finland (as laid out in table 1 on page 4 of the model contract).

A2: 1970 D: 260

Please note that the size of subsamples is based on partially corrected SMS data, but this data is still preliminary. We will make some more corrections and the eligibility of respondents has not been defined properly yet, this will only be done in the preload procedures. "No consent cases" are already taken into account.

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5 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR LITHUANIA • Price specification form lists “Accelerometer Data Collection”. Is this part applicable for

Lithuania, or not? If yes, please specify how and when these devices will be used to collect data, are this collection separate from main data collection, how many individuals will have to participate. No, this part is not applicable.

The accelerometer data collection will only be conducted in a few selected countries in SHARE. None of the countries invited to tender in November 2017 will participate in this accelerometer data collection. Therefore everything concerning the accelerometer data collection (including items 22-27 in the price specification form) will not be applicable for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta and Romania.

• How were numbers of eligible individuals G1-G5 (provided in Table 1 of SHARE Model

contract) derived? Do they reflect the actual Lithuanian panel composition? Is it a final composition of Lithuanian sample that will be preloaded? A program which reflects the subsample definitions given in the model contract has been run over partially corrected SMS data. The program includes the same syntax that will be used in the SD.

Yes, this is the longitudinal sample that will be preloaded. But as already mentioned, the data is still preliminary, more corrections will be done and the eligibility of respondents has not been defined properly yet, this will only be done in the preload procedures. So there might be slight changes in the numbers.

• Do we understand correctly, that no refreshment sample will be used for SHARE wave 8

in Lithuania?

Yes, this is correct. There will be no refreshment sample in Lithuania for wave 8.

• Points 2.1.2 and 2.2.2 of Annex 1 states that „Pretest/Field Rehearsal should be based

on all panel respondents of the Pretest/Field Rehearsal of any previous SHARE wave“. Data collection target is „about 100 interviews“. Target of 100 interviews (100% retention rate in Lithuania) is achievable only in theory due to respondent fall off. Will there be a required minimum number of completed interviews? The indicated target of about 100 interviews is the required minimum number. This should include all panel respondents of the Pretest/Field rehearsal of any previous SHARE wave, and be supplemented with a refreshment sample necessary if the number of interviews in the panel sample is expected to be lower than this minimum due to the expected nonresponse.

• Pretest and Field Rehearsal costs in the Price specification form are not split in

Scenario 1 and Scenario 2. Which scenario should we assume when calculating Pretest and FiRe costs? We will provide all Lithuanian Agencies with an updated Price specification form containing two scenarios for the pretest and the field rehearsal. Please use the updated form to indicate prices with and without drop-off.

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6 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR MALTA • Paragraph 2.1.2.1 of the Annex 1 specifies that “The pretest [of Wave 8] should be

based on all panel respondents of the pretest of any previous SHARE wave”. With regards to Malta for the pretest of Wave 7 we were given the option of carry out interviews with people we know (who meet certain criteria) and that the information collection is not to form part of the panel sample. Thus, the respondents who participated in the pre-test were not informed about any future contact regarding the survey. Thus, according to the national legislation, these respondents cannot be contacted again. Could you kindly advice on an alternative approach for the conduct of the pre-test?

Although we allowed the option to draw a convenience sample for the pretest in wave 7, it is essential to re-interview these persons in wave 8. Otherwise, there is no opportunity to test the longitudinal version of the wave 8 questionnaire. During the training sessions in wave 7 we thus pointed out that it is important to save the addresses of the pretest respondents - even if it is a convenient sample. If there is no possibility to contact the wave 7-pretest persons again, we have to consider alternatives, e.g. invent test cases that mimic panel respondents. However, this is not the same as conducting an interview with real persons and therefore clearly less recommendable. In addition we need refreshment samples for the pretest and the field rehearsal and you need to make sure that we will be able to interview these respondents in the pretest and field rehearsal of the next waves.

• Kindly confirm that the minimum number of interviews to be conducted is 934 (total interviews from panel and refreshment sample). The expected net sample size is 934 interviews. It is computed as follows:

For the longitudinal Sample, subsamples A2 and Subsample D are applicable for Malta (as laid out in table 1 on page 4 of the model contract).

A2: 1220 D: 75

Expected number of net interviews:

N2exp = R2*G2 (R2=75% reference retention rate) N2exp= 915 N5exp = R5*G5 (R5=25% reference retention rate) N5exp= 19

Total: Nexp = N1exp+N2exp+N3exp+N4exp+N5exp Nexp =0 +915 +0 +0 +719 = 943

In the tender, please base your offer on a net sample size of 934 interviews.

Please note: the size of subsamples is based on partially corrected SMS data, but this data is still preliminary. We will make some more corrections and the eligibility of respondents has not been defined properly yet, this will only be done in the preload procedures. The numbers will also slightly change after the coverscreens are done, e.g. since we also want interview new partners that we don't know in advance.

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7 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR HUNGARY • The reference retention rate of 43% for the refreshment sample seems ambitious,

especially given the consequences of the bonus/malus system.

Based on past experiences 40% would be more realistic. Similar sampling procedures and data collections, i.e. the latest wave of European Social Survey in 2017 ended up with 41%, Household Monitor (stratified random sampling representative of the country) reached a 39% retention rate. Do you consider updating the retention rate or is this fix and binding? In SHARE wave 7, nearly all countries that recruited a baseline or refreshment sample surpassed the contracted 40% target rate. Therefore 43% should be achievable in general and is the fix target for wave 8. The European Social Survey has a different target population (including the young and the working) than SHARE and response rates are therefore not completely comparable. You can propose in your tender the target response rate which you consider feasible in your country, supported by an explanation why the situation in your country is different from other SHARE countries and by empirical evidence. Alternatively, you can adhere to the general SHARE target of 43% and incorporate the expected risk of a malus payment into your price offer.

• The minimum number of interviewers (88) calculated seems a bit high.

The productivity of interviewers, 1.5 interviews per week is lower than expected based on previous data collections in Hungary. According to past experiences approximately 70 interviewers should be enough for the fieldwork of SHARE wave 8 (that would mean calculating with an average productivity of 2 interviews per interviewer per week). Is the minimum number of 88 trained interviewers fix and binding? The formula used to compute the number of interviewers needed is based experience from several SARE waves. It is carefully crafted and based on a short field period of about 6 months. We do not accept more optimistic scenarios, i.e. higher interviewer productivity, unless solid evidence over several previous SHARE waves is presented that documents a consistently higher productivity of interviewers in all these waves.

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8 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR ITALY • In Annex 3, Table 1 foresees that – if Drop-off scenario will be chosen – drop-off data

file of Pre-test and Field Rehearsal should be delivered; nonetheless the Price Specification Form doesn’t distinguish With Drop-off and Without Drop-off scenarios for Pre-test and Field Rehearsal; which of the two scenarios should be considered in the Price Specification Form for Pre-test and Field Rehearsal? We have already provided all Italian agencies with an updated price specification form containing two scenarios for the pretest and the field rehearsal. Please use the updated form to indicate prices with and without drop-off.

• In which phase of the research the country-specific paper and pencil questionnaire (“drop-off”) will be planned? And, if it is planned in all the phases, how prices can be counted in the scheme for the pretest and the field rehearsal? Drop-off will be conducted in all three stages of the survey. We have already provided all Italian agencies with an updated price specification form containing two scenarios for the pretest and the field rehearsal. Please use the updated form to indicate prices with and without drop-off (see answer to the question above).

• Which are the Gross Sample numbers (individuals and households) for the Pre-test and Field Rehearsal? (in order, for example, to correctly calculate the advance letters mailing costs) The estimated minimum number of households to address in the pretest and the field rehearsal together is 230 (115 in each test run). This corresponds to 350 individuals for both and thus about 175 individuals per test run. These numbers are calculated based on the assumption of a retention as well as a response rate of 60% and 1,5 eligibles per household. Both gross samples include panel members from previous test runs of SHARE as well as refreshment cases.

• We read that both pre-test and rehearsal gross samples will include panel members from previous test runs of SHARE as well as refreshment cases. As refresh component is not foreseen for wave8 in Italy, we assume pre-test and rehearsal refresh interviews will test the questionnaire and procedures for specific and limited sb-samples (for example new partners). Nonetheless, should we foresee names and addresses drawing from the electoral registries? And then, data-entry for the pre-load file? Which are the assumptions about the amount of names/addresses to be drawn, if needed? Independent from drawing a refreshment sample in the main data collection, all questionnaire versions and procedures have to be tested in pretest and field rehearsal. In order to do that you do not need to draw a full probability sample for pretest and field rehearsal. Instead, we advise to use a random sample (preferably stratified on age groups, gender, working status,

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and language if applicable) from an access panel, a proprietary panel or something similar for these two test runs (i.e. an existing pool of respondents who have expressed their willingness to participate in surveys). As all countries have too few panel cases left to reach the advised 100 net interviews in pretest and field rehearsal, you have to draw refreshment samples in both test runs. Concerning the size of these two samples, we would assume the following as a rule of thumb: 100 (net size of interviews) x 0.6 (expected response rate) x 1.5 (assumed number of interviews per household).

9 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR GERMANY

• There are some documents we received in wave 7 in a final version in German (e. g. show cards, data protection statement for the respondents, letter in advance). Can we expect to get those materials in German in wave 8 too?

Yes, the same documents will be provided again in German.

10 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR FRANCE • Will there be a drop off questionnaire in France? If yes: is the questionnaire addressed

to the household or to each person answering in the household? Yes. The drop-off is an individual-level paper-pencil questionnaire: It must thus be answered by each person in the household.

11 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR CROATIA • We will have certain data of the potential respondents. How to use this data with regard

to GDPR before the respondent agrees? Are there any possible problems? We are not sure what data you refer to exactly; we assume that your question concerns the baseline/refreshment sample. The address data is necessary to contact the potential respondents. We do not foresee any problems with this usage if the sampling has been done in accordance with the applicable laws. Panel respondents have been asked for consent in their previous wave of participation as part of the interview.

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12 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR LATVIA • Could you please specify, what is planned budget for survey agency in SHARE 8 in

Latvia? This information will not be provided.

• Could you please specify number of completed interviews in Latvia in previous? And is there any update in data base about previous wave’s respondents (decease, moved to other city etc.)?

All 1437 individuals in the panel subsample A2 completed an interview in wave 7. Updates on deceased respondents or moves are available as far as they are known and provided to SHARE ERIC by the previous agency.

• Could you please share information about average response rate in previous wave?

The individual response rate at the end of w7 was 44%.

• What is planned size for SHARE 8 wave in Latvia in longitudinal sample? What is planned size for refreshment sample? Provided that relevant funding will be available, the number of net expected panel interviews in Latvia is 1.099, as indicated in table 1 in the updated version of the Model Contract. The net expected number of refreshment interviews is 901 as indicated in the updated Annex 1. This leads to a total expected sample size of 2.000 interviews. Please note that subsample sizes are based on partially corrected w7 SMS data, this data is still preliminary. We will make some more corrections and the eligibility of respondents has not been defined properly yet, this will only be done in the preload procedures.

• Do Pre-test interviews (n=100) and Field Rehearsal interviews (n=100) included also in

total sample? No. The total sample as mentioned in Annex 1 and as calculated in table 1 of the Model Contract does not include the 200 interviews for Pretest and Field rehearsal.

• What are the Gross Sample numbers (individuals and households) for Main sample,

Pre-test and Field Rehearsal?

Main: Panel: A2 sample size 1437 + 82 in D = 1519 individuals in 1041 household, numbers in the panel gross sample are estimated and can change e.g. after the coverscreen is done

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Pretest: Panel 125 individuals in about 75 HHs, Refreshment sample about 75 individuals in 83 HHs

Field Rehearsal: Panel 116 individuals/ about 70 HHs, Refreshment sample about 80 individuals in 89 HHs

• Should we use respondent data base from previous wave also for Pre-test and field Rehearsal interviews? If yes, what could be proportion of longitudinal sample and refreshment sample?

Yes. Assuming a response rate of 60% and an interview ratio of 1.5 persons per household, we expect about 75 net interviews from the old panel respondents for the pretest and 70 net interviews for the field rehearsal. Thus, we suggest to have a pretest refreshment sample of 83 households to have enough variation to properly test the instrument with 2 languages. For the field rehearsal we suggest to have a refreshment sample of about 89 households.

• Will there be a drop off questionnaire in Latvia?

No. There will be no drop-off in Latvia.

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13 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR SPAIN • Concerning the Unit Price, in the Excel file, where we have to detail our quotation, it

seems that there is not a place to provide a different price for longitudinal and baseline interviews. We will provide all Spanish Agencies with an updated Price Specification Form, containing separate columns for the longitudinal and the refreshment interviews. Please use the updated form to indicate fixed costs and reference unit prices for the respective longitudinal and refreshment samples separately.

• Going on with the Excel file, could you please detail us the information we have to include in column C (total cost for main)?

We will provide all Spanish Agencies with an updated Price specification form containing separate columns for the longitudinal and the refreshment interviews. “Total Costs for the Respective Scenario” should include all costs for the conduction of the respective number of longitudinal and/ or refreshment interviews for the main data collection according to the different scenarios. Items to be included are: • Interviewer training (attending the TTT and national training session, excl. project

management) • Interviewer payment • Travel expenses • Incentives for respondents • Distribution of sample to interviewers & address validation • Survey material (printing & mailing) • IT infrastructure • Back-checking of conducted interviews ("verification") • Report & debriefing • Panel care (keeping in touch with panel respondents after main data collection) • Project management for the main data collection

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14 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR POLAND • Could you please confirm that 183 is the exact number of interviewers to participate in

the training sessions and conduct the fieldwork? According to formula on page 20 of Annex 1 and taking into account requirement to complete 6000 net interviews in Poland. Assumed number of interviewers seems to be very high and this requirement is quite demanding This number is correct. Given a target interview number of 6000 and a comparably short fieldwork period of 6 months, 183 interviewers are needed to complete the main data collection on time.

• Refreshment sample of main data collection – it’s supposed to be a representative sample for people aged 50+? Yes, the main refreshment sample (in contrast to the pretest and the field rehearsal) has to be a full probability sample and hence representative of the 50+ population in your country.

15 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR ESTONIA • As questionnaire translation is this time agency task, I will calculate it and were in price

sheet I have to put it? Questionnaire translation is not an agency task and therefore not part of the ongoing procurement in Estonia. There are no extra costs to be considered in the price file.

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16 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR SLOVAKIA • In your email you stated that all information regarding size of the sample and eligibility

is not defined in sent material properly yet. When we could expect final figures - for final target sample size in all segments? We cannot submit a binding proposal without knowing how big the sample size is and more details about eligibility. So far we don't understand why the target sample is set to 1 219 panelists and why there is only 1615 eligible individuals in the longitudinal sample. And how they were chosen out of 2080 completed interviews from the initial wave. Shall we expect more details on sample size to receive soon in order to prepare the proposal? The final sample size can only be calculated using the final preload file. We will prepare this file for w8 main fieldwork; it will be ready for your main w8 NTS. The numbers we have provided are the best guess right now, and we assume that the numbers won't change much. So for the proposal, please work with these numbers. Basically all respondents who participated in w7 (A2) have been counted plus their eligible partners who have not participated in w7 (D). Then 489 respondents have been subtracted due to no consent (variable ex123_). This means, a household was dropped if both eligible respondents have participated and did not give consent. If we only have one interview and one no consent in a household, we dropped it. This could be the case: If one respondent participated in a one eligible respondent household and did not give consent or if one respondent participated and did not give consent and the partner has not participated. This is what we normally do in countries in which we ask this question, we are not allowed to contact those respondents again by law.

• There is sentence written bellow the "cost grid" table "Based on former SHARE waves we expected the interview numbers to correspond app. 25% of the respective total costs). Could you please explain the meaning of the sentence?

There are two sentences below the cost grid. The first sentence gives the maximal amount of fixed costs: “The total amount of fixed costs for Scenario 1 may not exceed 0,00€ ( 25% of the respective total costs”. The pdf form is designed to calculate the maximal amount of fixed costs (25% of the total costs) and display them in that sentence.

The second sentence below the cost grid is meant to inform you about the corresponding number of households: “Based on former SHARE waves we expect the interview numbers to correspond to approx. 813 households.” As we calculate with 1,5 interviews per household, we expect the 1219 net expected panel interviews to correspond to approx. 813 households.

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• Are we expected to answer all 8 questions and all related sub-questions stated in the materiel "Checklist - Technical and organisational measures" as a part of our proposal by April 23? If yes how detailed should be the answers?

Yes. As mentioned in the invitation to tender document, the tender should include a description of the technical and organisational measures. So please answer all of the questions and all related sub-questions stated in the "Checklist - Technical and organisational measures" as a part of your proposal. Please be as precise as possible.

• We plan to submit our proposal as a consortium of 2 companies. Are there any specific instructions for such a case? Should we submit something more or something different than stated in the deck you sent us?

There is no precedent of a consortium of two companies in SHARE so far. Therefore, we do not have any specific instructions. However, please specify in your submission in what way you plan to share the work.

• How many people will be part of the consortium? • Who will be in charge of which tasks? • Who will be sent to the TTTs? Representatives from both companies? • How will communication between the two companies work and how will they be

represented? As one unit?

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17 CLARIFICATIONS ONLY RELEVANT FOR THE NETHERLANDS

• In The Netherlands data collection of wave 6 and 7 was by CAWI and/or CATI:

o What were the reasons to make this exception for The Netherlands in the two former waves?

o How did this change affect the response rates in waves 6 and 7? o What are the reasons to switch back to CAPI in wave 8?

The main reason to switch to CAWI/CATI in w6+w7 as well as back to CAPI in w8 was the financial situation in NL (no funding). CAWI was done because of the close connection of the country team with the LISS panel that is an online panel. Information on the CAWI experiment can be found in the Methods Volume w6, p.151ff. Information about response/retention rates in the SHARE as well as in the LISS sample for wave 6 can be found in the Methods Volume w6, p.151ff. http://www.share-project.org/fileadmin/pdf_documentation/MFRB_SHARE_Wave_6_Panel_innovation/2017-01-17_SHARE-WAVE-6_E-Vers.pdf As NL was excluded from the analyses in wave 7, we don’t provide response/retention rates for that wave.

• Could you give us information on the gross sample? How many respondents

participated in wave 7, and how many of them were newly recruited in wave 7? How many of the participants of wave 7 also participated in:

• Wave 6 • Wave 5 • Wave 4 • Etc.

How many respondents contains the refreshment sample of wave 8? And where do they come from? These are the estimated subsample sizes: Subsample sizes are based on w7 SMS and xt data. A1 2048 B 279 C 2957 D 487 Total = 5771 This is the number of eligible individuals in the longitudinal sample. 2048 respondents (subsample A1) have participated in SHARE wave 7. Definition of A1: All respondents who participated in the last SHARE wave and live in a household that was not in a baseline/refreshment sample in the last wave (see Annex 1).

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487 respondents have never participated in SHARE (subsample D). Newly recruited? There has been no refreshment sample in wave 7 (A2 subsample = no value). But there are 9 eligible new respondents, who moved in in w7 or became eligible in w7. How many of the participants of wave 7 also participated in previous waves? Please have in mind that not all households have been included in every wave. In wave 2, 4 and 5 a refreshment sample has been added. This also applies to respondents: Some respondents only moved in into a household later. E.g. A respondent has been drawn in 5 (w5 refreshment sample), this respondent could not have participated in wave 4 and so on.

1514 of wave 7 participants (A1: N=2048) have participated in wave 6, 1756 in w5, 1093 in w4, 814 in w3, 819 in w2 and 698 in w1.

• What is the target for the overall net sample size?

The number of expected net interviews is 2.672 for the main data collection as laid out in the model contract on page 4 and Annex 1 on page 18. The target for the pretest and the field rehearsal are about 100 net interviews in each stage.

• Can you describe the panel management/care activities that have been conducted ever since wave 7 in the Netherlands?

Panel care included: - tailored advance letter for panel respondents - tracking of respondents (prospective/retrospective: update address & contact information

using various databases and/or neighbors) - flyer - panel care brochure with results - special incentive (e.g. magnifier in w7) in addition to financial incentives - Christmas cards - respondent website, hotline - letter/information for gatekeeper - thank you letter

• Interviewer observation: Can you explain what this means and how it is conducted?

We suppose this refers to a question that is asked about the area a respondent lives in. Then, the interviewer has to provide an answer based on his/her observations in an open field or complete a dropdown menu.

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• Do we need any licenses for the executable? You probably mean the .exe file = setup file for the Case Control. There is no license.

• What was the incentive used in the previous waves? The incentive used in previous CAPI waves was usually a gift-voucher of 15 euros (per interview).

• In the Netherlands wave 6 was done mixed mode (CATI/CAWI) and wave 7 only CAWI. Both waves were executed by CentERdata. In the documents about wave 8 we only read about CAPI….. Is it a real option that wave 8 is executed CAPI only? Is there a chance that it will be only CAWI again? If so, can we also make a proposal?

Indeed, the tender for wave 8 is only CAPI. Please concentrate your offer on CAPI only.

• What is the size of the target group in the Netherlands? How many people participated

in wave 7 and how many in wave 1 to 6? What will be the target on a new refreshment sample?

These are the estimated subsample sizes: Subsample sizes are based on w7 SMS and xt data. A1 2048 B 279 C 2957 D 487

Total = 5771 This is the number of eligible individuals in the longitudinal sample. The expected net number of interviews = 2672.

2048 respondents (subsample A1) have participated in SHARE wave 7. Definition of A1: All respondents who participated in the last SHARE wave and live in a household that was not in a baseline/refreshment sample in the last wave (see Annex 1). 487 respondents have never participated in SHARE (subsample D).

2057 respondents of them (N=5771) participated in wave 6, 4126 in w5, 2695 in w4, 2116 in w3, 2068 in w2 and 1846 in w1. Please have in mind that not all households have been included in every wave. In wave 2, 4 and 5 a refreshment sample has been added. This also applies to respondents: Some respondents only moved in into a household later.

For the main data collection, there will be no refreshment sample in wave 8. • The 6th wave (2015) in the Netherlands was performed using a CAWI-CATI design, the

7th wave (2017) online. In the 8th wave SHARE is back in a CAPI modus. What are your expectations on how panel respondents will respond to this method change? For example, what are your thoughts on respondents that were not able to participate in wave 6 and 7, because they were not able to participate online?

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It is very difficult to make predictions about how panel respondents will respond to the mode change in wave 8. The main reason for the mode switch to CAWI/CATI in wave 6 was the lack of funding in the Netherlands at that time. There simply was no alternative to this apart from aborting the whole study. However, it was, e.g., tried to correct for selectivity of the oldest old that are less likely to use the internet by adding a refreshment sample from the LISS panel, which includes elderly without Internet access and who have been provided access. You can find a lot more information on conducting SHARE in the Netherlands in wave 6 in the Methods Volume, pp.151ff. http://www.share-project.org/fileadmin/pdf_documentation/MFRB_SHARE_Wave_6_Panel_innovation/2017-01-17_SHARE-WAVE-6_E-Vers.pdf

• Is it correct that for main data collection only respondents to earlier waves (panelists)

need to be interviewed? In other words, there is no refreshment sample in this stage? That is correct. There will be no refreshment sample for the main data collection in the Netherlands. However, there will be a small refreshment sample for pretest and field rehearsal.

• How are addresses in the Netherlands distributed? Is it a random sample or are addresses clustered within certain municipalities?

(Refreshment) Samples in SHARE are full probability samples to achieve representativeness of the 50+ population. Usually, a multi-stage stratified sampling design is applied. The last refreshment sample in NL was conducted in wave 5, where the following 35 municipalities have been randomly selected: Slochteren Tytsjerksteradiel Leeuwarden Den Haag Rotterdam Hilversum Beemster Den Helder Alkmaar Leidschendam Alphen Midden delftland Dordrecht Utrecht Amersfoort Nijkerk Goes Bergen op Zoom Tilburg Bernheze Venlo Kerkrade Enschede Steenwijkerland

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Zwolle Lelystad Kampen Winterswijk Berkelland Drechterland Vlaardingen Zwijndrecht Noordwijk Oss Veldhoven

Based on this, simple random sampling of individuals was applied. For the panel sample the above mentioned also hold, although there might be unevenly distributed panel attrition.