ESRA 2027 sessions by theme
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Understanding and Mitigating Attrition in Longitudinal Ageing Studies |
| Coordinator 1 | Mr Giuliano Pigazzini (Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), University of Lausanne, Switzerland) |
| Coordinator 2 | Professor Jürgen Maurer (Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), University of Lausanne, Switzerland) |
| Coordinator 3 | Professor Michael Bergmann (HTW Saar University of Applied Sciences, Saarbrücken, Germany; SHARE Berlin Institute GmbH, Germany) |
| Coordinator 4 | Mr Alessio Lucchini (Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), University of Lausanne, Switzerland) |
| Coordinator 5 | Dr Carmen Borrat-Besson (Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS)) |
| Coordinator 6 | Dr Robert Reinecke (Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS)) |
| Coordinator 7 | Dr Clément Meier (Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), University of Lausanne, and Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS)) |
| Coordinator 8 | Ms Paola Sillitti (Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), University of Lausanne, Switzerland) |
Session Details
Participant attrition remains one of the most pressing challenges facing longitudinal ageing studies. As respondents are followed over years or decades, some become unreachable, others withdraw, and others experience health decline, cognitive impairment, or institutionalisation that prevents continued participation. When attrition is selective rather than random, it threatens both the representativeness and internal validity of research findings. This risk is especially acute in ageing research, since the characteristics most associated with dropout are often central to the phenomena under study.
This session invites contributions examining attrition in longitudinal ageing surveys through complementary methodological and operational lenses with a special emphasis on strategies for retaining participants with health and/or cognitive decline. We particularly welcome papers that: (1) differentiate sources of attrition in ageing studies and match them to targeted preventive or corrective strategies; (2) identify which respondents are most likely to attrite, why they disengage, and how attrition affects sample representativeness and key survey estimates; (3) evaluate post-survey adjustment procedures, including weighting, calibration, and multiple imputation, for correcting residual attrition bias; (4) present design-based retention strategies such as panel care, incentives, mixed-mode and adaptive designs, tracking and tracing procedures, and proxy-respondent protocols for participants with declining health or cognitive capacity; and (5) develop experimental and evidence-based approaches to testing retention strategies more systematically.
The session builds on discussions from a recent international workshop on panel retention held during the SHARE Spring Meeting 2026 and further collaboration with a NIMLAS research group involving several major longitudinal ageing studies. We aim to extend this exchange to researchers and practitioners from SHARE, HRS, ELSA, and other ageing panels, as well as the broader ESRA/WAPOR community, fostering dialogue on how to preserve the scientific value of longitudinal ageing research in the face of increasing attrition pressures.
