This paper is released to inform interested parties of ongoing research and to encourage discussion of work in progress. All views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily those of the U.S. Census Bureau. This work has benefited greatly from the contributions of many others at the Census Bureau, including especially the members of the Re-Engineered SIPP Research Group. Several SEHSD colleagues provided key technical assistance with data analysis – in particular, I thank Bri Hillmer, Lindsay Monte, Sharon O’Donnell, and Rachael Walsh for their help. I also extend thanks to those who reviewed and commented on an earlier draft of this paper, especially Jamie Choi, Jason Fields, Matthew Marlay, Ann Marie Middleton, Lindsay Monte, and Joanne Pascale. Their comments and suggestions led to many improvements; responsibility for the paper’s flaws, however, rests solely with me.
The 2010 SIPP-EHC Field Test was the Census Bureau’s first large-scale test of event history calendar (EHC) interviewing procedures using an electronic instrument. Current plans call for the eventual use of these procedures, as refined through a series of field and other tests, in a planned new (“re-engineered”) Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) survey scheduled to go into production in 2014. In order to maximize information yield, the 2010 field test included a number of special features and activities, among which was the recording of some of the interviews. This report describes those procedures, their implementation outcomes in the 2010 field test, the methods used to analyze the recordings, and the results of those analyses. Key among the research findings are the following:
The results of the investigation point toward a number of recommendations concerning possible SIPP-EHC procedural modifications and aspects of FR training which need to be strengthened.