Virtually, all large-scale family surveys in the United States and Europe have yielded a positive view of family ties in contemporary societies. The present study examines whether surveys like these are affected by selective nonresponse. Are people with negative family ties less likely to participate in surveys, and if so, to what extent does this yield a biased descriptive view of family solidarity? Using a novel multiactor design with matched register data, we examine the determinants of nonresponse of the parents of adult children aged 25–45 in the Netherlands. Our analysis reveals significant effects of the strength of parent–child ties on parental nonresponse, especially for fathers. Moreover, we find negative effects of divorce on father’s participation and this effect is stronger when family ties are weak. While these findings support the hypothesis of selective nonresponse, the magnitude of the effects is small and descriptive findings on family ties change only modestly when correcting for selective nonresponse.

事实上，美国和欧洲的所有大规模家庭调查都对当代社会的家庭关系产生了积极的看法。本研究考察了此类调查是否受到选择性不答复的影响。是否有负面家庭关系的人不太可能参与调查，如果是，这在多大程度上产生了对家庭团结的有偏见的描述？使用具有匹配注册数据的新型多参与者设计，我们检查了荷兰 25-45 岁成年儿童父母无反应的决定因素。我们的分析揭示了亲子关系的强度对父母无反应的显着影响，尤其是对父亲而言。此外，我们发现离婚对父亲参与的负面影响，当家庭关系较弱时，这种影响会更强。