Survey Methodology #2006-02 - Use Of Dependent Interviewing Procedures To Improve Data Quality In The Measurement Of Change - U.s. Census Bureau Page 15

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seam. We recommended that such procedures be developed and tested. Their general form
seems fairly straightforward. When a respondent reports that a new spell of some characteristic
has started – that is, reports a “yes” for a characteristic that was not a “yes” at the end of the
previous wave’s reference period – then questioning about the start of that spell should refer to
what is known from the previous wave, e.g.: “When we interviewed you back in early March you
weren’t receiving Food Stamps. When did you start to receive them?” Addressing, in this or
some similar manner, the continuation of the absence of some characteristic across the seam is
likely to produce additional gains in the overall quality of transition data.
Acknowledgments
Many people provided assistance with various aspects of the work presented in this chapter. At
the risk of inadvertently omitting key names, we specifically note the following: our immediate
colleagues for many years on the SIPP Methods Panel project – Anna Chan, the late, great Pat
Doyle, Tim Gilbert, Elaine Hock, Heather Holbert, and Ceci Villa; Aref Dajani, for assistance
with data file preparation; and our Census Bureau colleagues who provided many useful
comments on early drafts of this paper – John Boies, Kathy Creighton, and Chuck Nelson.
References
Brown, A., Hale, A., and Michaud, S. (1998), “Use of Computer Assisted Interviewing in
Longitudinal Surveys,” in M. Couper, R. Baker, J. Bethlehem, C. Clark, J. Martin, W.
Nicholls, and J. O'Reilly (eds.), Computer Assisted Survey Information Collection, New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 185-200.
Bruun, M. (2005), “Fifth Wave SIPP Observation,” unpublished U.S. Census Bureau
memorandum to Jeff Moore, Statistical Research Division, July 12, 2005.
Burkhead, D. and Coder, J. (1985), “Gross Changes in Income Recipiency from the Survey of
Income and Program Participation,” Proceedings of the American Statistical Association,
Social Statistics Section, 351-356.
Cantor, D. and Levin, K. (1991), “Summary of Activities to Evaluate the Dependent Interviewing
Procedure of the Current Population Survey,” Westat, Inc.: report submitted to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (Contract No. J-9-J-8-0083).
Coder, J., Burkhead, D., Feldman-Harkins, A., and McNeil, J. (1987), “Preliminary Data from the
SIPP 1983-84 Longitudinal Research File,” SIPP Working Paper No, 8702, Washington, DC:
US Census Bureau
Collins, C. (1975), “Comparison of Month-to-Month Changes in Industry and Occupation Codes
with Respondent’s Report of Change: CPS Job Mobility Study,” U.S. Census Bureau,
Response Research Staff Report No. 75-5, May 15, 1975.
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