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Nonresponse Research for the Survey of Income and Program Participation

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Working Paper Number: SEHSD-WP1990-18 or SIPP-WP-115

Nonresponse is particularly critical in the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) since a household is usually interviewed on eight occasions, allowing nonresponse rates to increase with the number of times households are in sample. Also, persons entering the sample after the first interview of a longitudinal reference period are not included in longitudinal estimates. These issues create concerns about the bias in cross-sectional and longitudinal estimates.

Household nonresponse rates at the first interview range from 5 to 7%. Even with considerable efforts to avoid household nonresponse (Nelson, et.al., 1987; Bryant and Lavin, 1990), the cumulative rate increases to about 20% by the last interview. (Jabine, et. al., 1990.) Nonresponse adjustments attempt to compensate for biases resulting from this nonresponse. Our exploratory work indicates that the adjustments work well for some characteristics, but not for others.

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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