Transcript Dependent Interviewing in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program

Dependent Interviewing
in the
U.S. Census Bureau’s
Survey of Income and Program
Participation (SIPP)
Joanne Pascale and Nancy Bates
DI Seminar, University of Essex
September 17, 2004
SIPP Overview
• Multi-panel survey begun in 1983
• 4 month reference period; 9-12 waves per panel
• Measures dynamics of economic well-being among
U.S. households
• Core topics each wave: demographics, work,
government assistance, assets, health insurance
• Topical modules vary by wave
• Complex CAPI instrument
• 2004 Panel Wave 1: Sample size: 62,000; Response
rate: 85.1%
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SIPP Methods Panel
• 4-year comprehensive research vehicle
separate from but parallel to production SIPP
survey
• General goal: reduce burden, improve
response
• Dependent interviewing objectives:
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Improve interview process, flow
Reduce attrition
Reduce item nonresponse
Reduce “seam” bias
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SIPP interview months and their
associated reference period months
(example):
OCT NOV DEC
M1
M2
M3
JAN
FEB
MAR APR
M4
M5
 Wave 1
M1
M2
M3
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
M4
M5
 Wave 2
M1
M2
[etc.
]
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Methods Panel Design
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Expert review, analysis of existing SIPP data
Literature review
Qualitative research (cognitive testing, debriefing)
3 split-ballot field tests over 3 years
1st test = Wave 1; 2nd, 3rd tests = Waves 1 and 2
2 treatments: control and test
Interviewers administered both treatments
Interviewer surveys, assessments
~1,000 households per treatment
Response rate = ~86%
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Dependent Interviewing
Research
• Paucity of evidence in literature
• Research steps:
– Commissioned formal literature review
(Mathiowetz & McGonagle, 2000)
– Conducted qualitative research (Pascale & Mayer,
2003)
– Developed dependent interview methods for
MPSIPP 2001 and 2002 quantitative field tests
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Types of Income Data in SIPP
• Sources of income
– Jobs & businesses
– Unearned income, e.g.:
• Government assistance (e.g.: food stamps, welfare)
• Government entitlements (e.g.: social security)
• Other (e.g.: child support, alimony)
– Ownership of income-producing assets, e.g.:
• Stocks & bonds
• Savings accounts
• Interest-earning checking accounts
• Amount of income received from each source
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Dependent Interviewing (DI)
Techniques
• Proactive:
Remind and ask:
‘Last time you said you received X. Do you
still receive X?”
• Reactive:
Ask ‘from scratch,’ offer data from prior wave
if nonresponse, or to detect/resolve
discrepancies
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Control DI Techniques
Remind & Re-ask W1 Q:
• If reported X in W1:
‘Last time I recorded that you received/owned
X. Did you receive/own X at any time between
[Month 1] and today?’
• If not reported in W1: simply re-ask W1 Q
Used for unearned income and asset sources
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Control DI Techniques
Burden reduction
If R reported a job/biz in W1 ask if anything
about R’s duties has changed.
If no, skip detailed questions about R’s duties
and characteristics of the job/biz.
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Control DI Techniques
None
• Unearned income amounts (except 2 items)
• Asset amounts
• Job earnings
• School enrollment
• Health insurance
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Control vs. Test
• DI used only for sources in control; used for
both sources and amounts in test
• For sources
– Control uses DI if ownership/receipt was reported
at any time during Wave 1
– Test only uses DI if ownership/receipt was
reported in Month4/5 of Wave 1
• Month 5: Control does not collect ‘Month 5’
data in Wave 1; Test does
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Test DI Techniques
Remind & ask ‘still?’:
‘Last time I recorded you received X. Do
you still receive X?’
Used for asset sources, health insurance
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Test DI Techniques
If source reported in M4 but not M5 of W1:
Remind & ask ‘continue?’:
‘Last time I recorded you received X. Did you
continue to receive X after M1 1st [of W2]?’
– If yes, ask which months received
– If no, probe to verify receipt really ended in M4 of
W1:
• “I’m sorry to bother you about this, but it’s important for
me to get the dates just right. Are you sure X didn’t
continue into [M1 of W2]?”
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Test DI Techniques
If source reported in M5:
Remind & ask ‘correct?’:
‘Last time I recorded you received X. Is that
correct?’
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if yes: ‘What months received in W2?’
if no: ‘Did you receive X since [M2 of W2] 1st?’
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If yes: ‘What months received in W2?’
If no: Probe to verify receipt really ended in M4 of W1
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Test DI Techniques
Ask W1 Q ‘from scratch’
If D/R:
• Bring back amount provided in W1 and ask
“still sound about right?”
Used for unearned income, asset, job earnings
amounts
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Test DI Techniques
Ask W1 Q ‘from scratch’
If ‘Whatever I said last time’:
• Bring back amount provided in W1 and ask
‘still sound about right?’
Used for unearned income, asset, job earnings
amounts
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Test DI Techniques
Corrective (mainly to catch keying errors)
• If reported in W1 re-ask W1 Q ‘from scratch’:
– If new amount varies by +/-10% from W1
(unearned income amounts) or
– If new amount varies by 10 fold from W1 (assets
amounts)
==> probe with interviewer note to confirm change
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Summary of DI Techniques
Topic
CONTROL
TEST
Jobs
Burden reduction
Burden reduction
Unearned
income
sources
Remind, re-ask W1 Depends on W1:
Remind, continue
Remind, confirm
Asset
sources
Remind, re-ask W1 Remind, still
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Summary of DI Techniques
Topic
Job earnings
CONTROL
None
TEST
Nonresponse followup
Corrective
Unearned
None*
income amounts
Nonresponse followup
Corrective
Asset amounts
None
Nonresponse followup
Corrective
Health
None
Remind, still
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Next Steps
• Examine 2004 production data and compare
to test results
• Assess feasibility of dependent interviewing
under new windows system (vs. current DOS)
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