Jill Montaquila

Statistical and Practical Issues in the Design of a National Probability Sample of Births for the Vanguard Study of the National Children's Study

The National Childrens Study is a national household probability sample designed to identify 100,000 children at birth and follow the sampled children for 21 years. Data from the study will support examining numerous hypotheses concerning genetic and environmental effects on the health and development of children. The goals of the study present substantial challenges. For example, the need for preconception, prenatal, and postnatal data requires identifying women in the early stages of pregnancy, the collection of many types of data, and the retention of the children over time. In this paper, we give an overview of the sample design used in a pilot study called the Vanguard Study, and highlight the approaches used to address these challenges. We will also describe the rationale for the sampling choices made at each stage, the unique organizational structure of the NCS and issues we expect to face during implementation.

Estimating Residency Rates for Undetermined Telephone Numbers

The method for estimating residency rates in random digit dial (RDD) telephone surveys is important for computing response rates. This article reviews existing methods of estimating residency rates and introduces a new survival method that takes advantage of more information to provide improved estimates. Examples of applying this to large RDD samples are given along with suggestions for use of the method in other surveys

Chapter 8 - Nonresponse and Weighting

Publisher Summary Nonresponse is the failure to obtain a valid response from a sampled unit. It is of concern to survey methodologists and practitioners because complete response is assumed by the randomization or design-based theory that allows inference from a sample to the target population. Nonresponse has the potential to introduce bias into survey estimates and reduce the precision of survey estimates. As a result, survey practitioners make efforts to minimize nonresponse and its effects on inferences from sample surveys. However, even with the best efforts, there will be nonresponse; hence, it is essential to understand its potential effects and methods that can be used for limiting these effects. This chapter discusses nonresponse in surveys, the reasons for nonresponse, and the methods used for increasing response rates in surveys. Response rates and review methods of computing response rates are defined, and the trends in response rates over time are examined.

Effects of screening questionnaires on response in a two-phase postal survey

For surveys targeting specific population groups, the two-phase postal approach (screener followed by a topical survey sent to eligible households) has been demonstrated to be more effective at identifying population domains of interest than random digit dial telephone methods considering cost, coverage, and response. An important question is how best to motivate screener response from eligible households. In 2011, we conducted a large-scale field test to empirically test a number of methods for motivating response. We fielded screening surveys that varied content-influencing relevance, and also switched screener questionnaires for following up nonrespondents to the initial postal survey – an approach we have labeled responsive tailoring. In another experiment, we tested the effect of asking for first names in the screener questionnaire. In this article, we describe the effects of these experimental treatments on response to both the screener and the topical survey.