October 197 School Enrollment Survey
General
Census Bureau staff conducted the October 1997 School Enrollment Survey as a supplement to that month's Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly labor force survey conducted in approximately 48,000 interviewed households across the Nation. Attachment 9 is a copy of the October 1997 School Enrollment questionnaire.
Attachment 2 comprises a description of the CPS entitled "Overview--Current Population Survey." A description of the October 1997 School Enrollment Survey follows.
Data Collection
Census Bureau staff conducted interviews during the period of October 19-25, 1997. We asked the school enrollment items of all persons 3 years old or over, as appropriate. Interviewers received a 1 1/2-hour home study that contained questions on the basic labor force questions, item-by-item instructions for the supplement, supplement exercises, and a practice interview.
Data Processing
The data processing involved editing the October supplement data. Below is a description of this process:
Basic School Enrollment Items - are asked each October. These items include the following variables: PESSCHOL, PEPUBLIC, PEGRADE, PEFULL, PESTYPE, PEVOCA, PELASTYR, PELASTGD, PEYRATT, PEYRDEG, PEYRDIP, PEGED asked of adults; and PESCH35, PESCH614, PECHPUB, PECHGRDE, PES56, and PES57 asked of children.
The data processing involved a consistency edit and allocation module for all school enrollment items. The consistency edit mainly ensured that the entries within an individual record followed the correct skip pattern. Items with missing values were assigned values, if appropriate. When a response is not obtained for a particular data item, or an inconsistency in reported items is detected, an "imputed" response is entered in the field. Imputation is performed using a "hot deck" method, whereby a response from another sample person with similar demographic and economic characteristics is used for the nonresponse. The imputation procedure is performed one item at a time. In October 1997, the imputation rate for supplement items ranged from 7-8 percent.
Non-Basic Items - In October 1997, we asked additional items on computer usage by adults and children at home, at work, and at school, as appropriate. These included Items PESCU1-PESCU14 for adults, and PESCHCU1-PESCCU8 for children. The universe for these items was children ages 3-14 and adults 15 and over. Items PENOTENR and PECNOTEN were included in 1997 to offer reasons why children 3-14 and adults 15 to 17 years of age were not currently enrolled in school.
In October 1997, questions about Private Schools and Private School tuition were included in the Non-Basic School Enrollment items. The questions consisted of the following variables:
PECHRCH, PECATH, PEAMOUNT, PEAMTPER for adults; PECHCHRC, PECHCATH, PECHAMNT, and PECHAMPR for children.
The data processing of these items involved a consistency edit and allocation module.
The values and universes for each variable are defined in the supplement record layout found in Attachment 8.
October 1997 CPS/School Enrollment Computer File
CPS Labor Force Data. The October 1997 CPS file contains 135,599 records. The first 814 characters contain the labor force data for each record. Attachment 7 contains the CPS Basic Items Record Layout, which includes the variable name, character size, location on the record, universe, and the possible values of each basic CPS variable included on the file.
The variable PRPERTYP (located in positions 161-162 on the CPS Basic Items Record Layout) determines the type of person as follows:
PRPERTYP
1 = Child household member (0-14 years old)
2 = Adult civilian household member (15+ years old)
3 = Adult Armed Forces household member (15+ years old)
The variable HRINTSTA (located in positions 57-58 on the CPS Basic Items Record Layout) determines the interview status of the household:
HRINTSTA
1 = Interview
2 = Type A Noninterview (These records represent households that were eligible for the October 1997 CPS interview, but were not interviewed because no one was home, household members were temporarily absent, etc.)
3 = Type B Noninterview (These records represent sample addresses determined to be ineligible for the CPS by virtue of being vacant, demolished, nonresidential, etc.)
4 = Type C Noninterview (See explanation for Type B above.)
By combining the values of PRPERTYP (1-3) and HRINTSTA (2-4), the number of records can be determined.
The values of PRPERTYP are:
| Unweighted Counts | |
| 1 = Child | 27,755 |
| 2 = Adult civilian, 15+ | 95,105 |
| 3 = Adult, Armed Forces | 389 |
| The values of HRINTSTA are: | |
| 2 = Type A Noninterview | 3,218 |
| 3 = Type B Noninterview | 8,753 |
| 4 = Type C Noninterview | 379 |
October 1997 School Enrollment Supplement Data. The October supplement data for adults are in locations 815-852 and 878-1005. Children's data are in locations 853-877 and 1006-1051. Allocation flags for supplement variables are in locations 1052-1137. (See Attachment 8)
Tallying the October 1997 School Enrollment Supplement File. The October 1997 supplement universe includes the full CPS sample comprised of all persons 3 years old or over.
Weighting. There is no supplement weight associated with the October 1997 School Enrollment Supplement. Use the basic CPS weight (PWSSWGT in location 613-622) for tallying individuals on the file.
Attachment 14 is a tally listing of unweighted counts from selected supplement items. Use these totals to ensure that the file is being accessed properly.
Data Contact. For questions regarding the October 1997 School Enrollment data, call Wendy Bruno on (301) 457-2464.
Source: Microdata Access Branch, Administrative and Customer Services Division
