Christine E. Peterson

The Quality of Retrospective Data An Examination of Long-Term Recall in a Developing Country

The literature on reporting error provides insights into the quality of retrospective reports, particularly as it pertains to short-term recall. Less is understood about the generalizability of these findings to longer-term retrospective reports. We review studies analyzing the quality of retrospective reports in the Malaysian Family Life Surveys (MFLS), fielded in Peninsular Malaysia in 1976 and 1988, and conclude that many of the data quality problems found previously are present in the MFLS. We summarize this literature, place studies based on the MFLS within the context of the reporting error literature, and discuss implications for the design of future surveys.

Why are Teenagers in the United States Less Likely to Breast-Feed than Older Women?*

Teenage mothers are much less likely than older mothers to breastfeed their infants. The lower breastfeeding rate among teenagers aged 16–19, compared with women aged 20–29, is due almost entirely to the fact that teenage mothers tend to have characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of breastfeeding among all women, such as lower educational level, lower income, and being unmarried. Even so, nearly 40% of the difference between teenage mothers aged 15 or less and mothers aged 20–29 remains unexplained by these factors and may be due to developmental aspects of adolescence, such as greater egocentricity and greater concern about body image.

Who Stays Who Leaves? Attrition Among First-Term Enlistees

Typically, 30 percent of an enlisting cohort leave before completing the first term, and attrition rates remain near this level even though over 90 percent of recent cohorts are high school graduates. This paper uses individual-level data to analyze attrition among high school graduates who enlisted in spring 1979. To control for selectivity bias, enlistment is analyzed jointly with attrition. Three variables observable at the time of enlistment are found to have a strong negative effect on attrition: positive expectations of further education, months in the Delayed Entry Program, and employment stability. As a set, these variables discriminate a wide range of attrition likelihood. No evidence of selectivity bias is found for this cohort; hence, results are applicable not only to enlistees but also to prospects. Policy implications are discussed.

Reversal of the decline in breastfeeding in Peninsular Malaysia? Ethnic and educational differentials and data quality issues

Data from the First and Second Malaysian Family Life Surveys in 1976 and 1988, respectively, are analyzed to examine long-term trends in breastfeeding in Peninsular Malaysia, educational and ethnic differences therein, and the quality of retrospective data on infant feeding. The steady decrease between the mid-1950s and mid-1970s in breastfeeding was reversed to become a nearly monotonic increase since 1975. Part of the change is attributable to the changing composition of the Malaysian population. Over time, the percentages of births to subgroups with higher rates of breastfeeding--particularly Malays and more highly educated women--have increased. However, there is also evidence of changes in rates of breastfeeding within these subgroups. Many Malaysian infants have a total duration of breastfeeding (including with supplementation) considerably shorter than WHOs recommended four months of exclusive (unsupplemented) breastfeeding. Moreover, nearly all breastfed infants are first given supplementary food or beverage shortly after birth. Breastfeeding promotion efforts in Malaysia need to emphasize the appropriate timing of and types of supplementary feeding.

Evaluating Linearly Interpolated Intercensal Estimates of Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of U.S. Counties and Census Tracts 2001-2009

AbstractThe American Community Survey (ACS) multiyear estimation program has greatly advanced opportunities for studying change in the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of U.S. communities. Challenges remain, however, for researchers studying years prior to the full implementation of the ACS or areas smaller than the thresholds for ACS annual estimates (i.e., small counties and census tracts). We evaluate intercensal estimates of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of U.S. counties and census tracts produced via linear interpolation between the 2000 census and both the 2010 census and 2005–2009 ACS. Discrepancies between interpolated estimates and reference estimates from the Population Estimates Program, the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, and ACS are calculated using several measures of error. Findings are discussed in relation to the potential for measurement error to bias longitudinal estimates of linearly interpolated neighborhood change, and alternative intercensal estimation models are discussed, including those that may better capture non-linear trends in economic conditions over the 21st century.

The Hispanic Paradox: Race/Ethnicity and Nativity, Immigrant Enclave Residence and Cognitive Impairment Among Older US Adults

Hispanics, and particularly foreign‐born Mexican Americans, have been shown to fare better across a range of health outcomes than might be expected given the generally higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage in this population, a phenomena termed the “Hispanic Paradox”. Previous research on social disparities in cognitive aging, however, has been unable to address both race/ethnicity and nativity (REN) in a nationally‐representative sample of US adults leaving unanswered questions about potentially “paradoxical” advantages of Mexican ethnic‐origins and the role of nativity, socioeconomic status (SES), and enclave residence. We employ biennial assessments of cognitive functioning to study prevalent and incident cognitive impairment (CI) within the three largest US REN groups: US‐born non‐Hispanic whites (US‐NHW), US‐born non‐Hispanic blacks (US‐NHB), US‐born Mexican Americans (US‐MA), and foreign‐born Mexican Americans (FB‐MA). Data come from a nationally‐representative sample of community‐dwelling older adults in the Health and Retirement Study linked with the 2000 Census and followed over 10 years (N = 8,433). Large disadvantages in prevalent and incident CI were observed for all REN minorities respective to US‐born non‐Hispanic whites. Individual and neighborhood SES accounted substantially for these disadvantages and revealed an immigrant advantage: FB‐MA odds of prevalent CI were about half those of US‐NHW and hazards of incident CI were about half those of US‐MA. Residence in an immigrant enclave was protective of prevalent CI among FB‐MA. The findings illuminate important directions for research into the sources of cognitive risk and resilience and provide guidance about CI screening within the increasingly diverse aging US population.

The Displaced New Orleans Residents Survey: Overview, User's Guide, and Codebook

The Displaced New Orleans Residents Survey (DNORS) is a study of individuals and families who resided in New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina. DNORS assessed the medium-term social, demographic, health, and economic outcomes of this population in the fifth year after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, which occurred on 29 August 2005. Fieldwork for DNORS was conducted in 2009 and 2010. This document provides an overview of DNORS, and serves as a users’ guide and codebook for researchers interested in the public use or restricted versions of the DNORS data.