SIPP Home > Technical Information > SIPP Sampling & Weighting > SIPP Sampling Error
This section discusses methods for obtaining the sampling error estimates derived from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) panels. The sample selected for each SIPP panel is a stratified multistage probability sample. This complex sample design needs to be taken into account when estimating the variances of SIPP estimates. The SIPP data files contain variables, related to the sample design, that are created for the purpose of variance estimation. Several software packages are now available for computing variance estimates for a wide range of statistics based on complex sample designs. Using the variables that specify the design, these programs can calculate appropriate variances of survey estimates. The Census Bureau also provides generalized variance functions (GVFs) that can be used to obtain approximate estimates of sampling variance for SIPP estimates.
A common mistake in the estimation of sampling error for survey estimates is to ignore the complex survey design and treat the sample as a simple random sample (SRS) of the population. That mistake occurs because most standard software packages for data analyses assume simple random sampling for variance estimation. When applied to SIPP estimates, SRS formulas for variances typically underestimate the true variances. This chapter describes how appropriate variance estimates, which take into account the complex sample design, can be obtained for SIPP estimates.
The topics discussed in this section are:
|
Main |
Introduction to SIPP |
SIPP Survey Content |
Technical Information |
Using & Linking Files |
SIPP Publications |
|
Access SIPP Data |
SIPP Users' Guide |
SIPP Tutorial |
User Notes/ListServe |
SIPP Help |
Page Last Modified: May 9, 2006
