Retention and Reasons for Non-Interview

Retention and Reasons for Non-Interview

 

Young Women Retention and Reasons for Non-Interview

Important Information

Researchers can use the 'Reason for Noninterview' variables to identify respondents who were dropped from the eligible sample. Respondents with a code of 12 were dropped due to missing two consecutive interviews for reasons other than death or refusal. It is more difficult to determine which respondents were dropped because they refused an interview in 1982 or earlier, because they are assigned the same code as respondents refusing an interview in later years. To identify these respondents, researchers must examine the 'Reason for Noninterview' variables. Note that, because respondents are asked to report activities since the date of the last interview, most information from missed interviews was retrieved if the respondent was subsequently interviewed.

Eligible Sample and Reasons for Non-Interview

In general, respondents selected for interviewing each year were those who participated in the initial survey and who were alive, residing within the United States at the interview date, not members of the Armed Forces, and noninstitutionalized. (Exception: In 2003, an interview was conducted with an institutionalized respondent. See R65097.00-R65124.00.). However, the criteria used to select the eligible sample--respondents whom the Census Bureau attempts to interview in a given round--have varied somewhat over the years.

Beginning in 1969, any respondent who had refused to be interviewed during a previous round was dropped from the eligible sample. Beginning in 1971, respondents were also dropped from the eligible sample if they had not been interviewed in two consecutive surveys for reasons other than death or refusal (for example, respondents who could not be located or contacted during the field period--those with 'Reason for Noninterview' codes of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 11). In 1983, the Census Bureau ceased dropping individuals for these two reasons, and in 1985 attempts were made to reinterview some of the dropped individuals. The following selection criteria determined which respondents would be reinterviewed (see Table YW1 for examples of each case):

    1. If the respondent refused to be interviewed in 1972 or earlier, she was not eligible to be reinterviewed. See example respondent 1.
    2. If the respondent missed her second consecutive survey in 1972 or earlier, she was not eligible to be reinterviewed. See example respondent 2.
    3. If the respondent refused an interview in 1973 or later, survey staff attempted to reinterview her in 1985. If the respondent was interviewed in 1985, she rejoined the eligible sample for all subsequent surveys. If she was not interviewed in 1985, she remained ineligible for all subsequent surveys. See example respondent 3.
    4. If the respondent was interviewed in 1971 and subsequently dropped due to two consecutive noninterviews, she was eligible for reinterview in 1985. If the respondent was interviewed in 1985, she rejoined the eligible sample for all subsequent surveys. If she was not interviewed in 1985, she remained ineligible for all subsequent surveys. See example respondent 4.
    5. If the respondent first refused to participate in 1982, she was not eligible to participate in 1983 but rejoined the eligible sample in 1985. She remained in the eligible sample regardless of her interview status in 1985. See example respondent 5 in the table.
    6. If the respondent was not interviewed in 1981 and 1982 for reasons other than death or refusal, she was never dropped from the sample. She remained eligible for all subsequent rounds regardless of prior participation. See example respondent 6.

Table YW1.  Selection of Respondents Eligible for 1985 Survey

Example resp. Status 1972 or previous Status 1973-82 Status 1983 Status 1985 Status 1986 and subsequent
1 Refused any 1 survey (rni=9)1 Not eligible (rni=9) Not eligible (rni=9) Not eligible (rni=9) Not eligible (rni=9)
2 Missed 2 consec. surveys (rni=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11) Not eligible (rni=12) Not eligible (rni=12) Not eligible (rni=12) Not eligible (rni=12)
3 Had not refused or missed 2 consec. surveys Eligible until refused, then not eligible (rni=9) Eligible until refused, then not eligible (rni=9) Eligible; if not interviewed, then rni=applicable code Eligible if interviewed in 1985
Not eligible if not interviewed
in 1985, rni=9
4 Had not refused or missed 2 consec. surveys Eligible until missed 2 consec. surveys, then not eligible (rni=12) Eligible until missed 2 consec. surveys, then not eligible (rni=12) Eligible; if not interviewed, then rni=applicable code Eligible if interviewed in 1985
Not eligible if not interviewed
in 1985, rni=12
5 Had not refused or missed 2 consec. surveys Refused for first time in 1982 Not eligible (rni=9) Eligible; if not interviewed, then rni=applicable code Eligible regardless of participation in 1985; if not interviewed, then rni=applicable code
6 Had not refused or missed 2 consec. surveys Missed 2nd consec. survey in 1982 Eligible (never dropped) Eligible regardless of prior participation Eligible regardless
of prior participation
 
1 The reason for noninterview (RNI) codes are defined in Table YW3 below.

Table YW2 depicts reasons for exclusion from the eligible sample and the years each applied.

Table YW2. Reasons for Exclusion from the Eligible Samples

Out-of-Scope Reason Years Exclusion Reason in Effect
Institutionalized All years. Note: in 2003 interviewers made attempts to interview respondents in institutions.
In the Armed Forces All years
Residing outside the U.S. All years
Deceased All years
Refusal during any one previous interview 1968-83. Some respondents rejoined the eligible sample in 1985.
Dropped due to two consecutive noninterviews for reasons
other than refusal, death, or membership in the Armed Forces
1971-83. Some respondents rejoined the eligible sample in 1985.
Congressional Refusal1 1985-present
 
1 Congressional Refusal refers to a congressional representative requesting a respondent not be contacted again for the NLS after a respondent has completed one or more survey rounds.

Each survey year, CHRR has created a cumulative 'Reason for Noninterview' variable for the full sample of respondents. This created variable is a combination of (1) the noninterview reasons provided by Census for the subset of respondents designated as eligible for interview in that survey year and (2) the reason for noninterview assigned during a previous survey to out-of-scope respondents. In 1982, CHRR began releasing an additional variable reflecting the reasons for noninterview for only those respondents with whom interviews were attempted that year (e.g., R07564.00). The number of respondents that Census designated as eligible for interviewing fluctuated by survey year. The eligible sample can be identified by adding together the interviewed respondents and the respondents with a noninterview code in the original 'Reason for Noninterview' variables, those not marked 'Revised Deceased.'

There was concern throughout the survey years that the number of respondents marked 'deceased' might be underreported and that some of the other 'Reason for Noninterview' categories might thus be overreported. In 2003, the Census Bureau, through the cooperation of the Social Security Administration, obtained SSA records for respondents who had shared their Social Security number with Census to verify whether or not respondents were living or deceased. As was previously suspected, a comparison of the SSA data with the survey data shows a substantially higher number of deceased respondents in the more recent surveys. To correct for past survey discrepancies, a revised 'Reason for Noninterview--Revised/Deceased' variable using the SSA data was created for each survey year from 1970 on. These revised variables are R01453.20, R02525.20, R03353.20, R04171.20, R05195.20, R05483.20, R05874.30, R07099.30, R07564.70, R08032.70, R09473.40, R10628.40, R11092.40, R12327.40, R13652.40, R16014.20, R34985.20, R42671.20, R63203.30, and R76154.00. Researchers are urged to use these updated variables rather than the original 'Reason for Noninterview' variables.

Instructions to interviewers on how to code a respondent's reason for noninterview appear within the Interviewer's Reference Manuals (or Field Representative's Manuals). The set of noninterview coding categories present during the initial survey years has been supplemented over the years with additional reasons for noninterview, and the meanings of existing categories have been refined. Table YW3 presents the raw coding categories present on the public data files and specifies the survey years during which each category was utilized.

Table YW3.  Conceptual & Raw Coding Categories for the Reason for Noninterview Variables

Conceptual Category Raw Coding Category1 Code & Survey Years
CAN'T LOCATE Unable to locate [contact] R - reason not specified [1] All (1968-2003)
[Unable to locate R] - mover - no good address [4] All
INTERVIEW IMPOSSIBLE [Unable to locate R] - mover - good address given but interview impossible to obtain (e.g., "moved to Germany" or "lives too far from PSU - distance too great")2 [2] All
[Unable to locate R] - mover - good address given but unable to obtain interview after repeated attempts, etc. [3] All
[Unable to locate R] - nonmover - unable to obtain interview after repeated attempts, etc. [5] All
Temporarily absent [6] All
Other [11] All
REFUSAL Refusal [9] All
Congressional refusal3 [14] 1985-2003
OUT OF SCOPE In Armed Forces [7] All
Institutionalized [8] All4
Moved outside U.S. (other than Armed Forces) [13] 1978-2003
DECEASED Deceased [10] All
DROPPED Non-interview for two years, R dropped from sample [12] 1971-2003
 
1 Specific instructions to Census interviewers on use of these coding categories can be found in the cohort-specific Interviewer's Reference Manuals.
2 Beginning in the 1979 survey year, the separate "moved outside the U.S." coding category was added as a reason for noninterview and the "unable to locate" coding category no longer included those respondents who had moved outside the United States.
3 Congressional refusal refers to a congressional representative requesting a respondent not be contacted again for the NLS after a respondent has completed one or more survey rounds.
4 In 2003, interviewers sought out respondents in retirement communities, assisted living situations, and nursing homes.

The reason for noninterview coding categories depicted in Tables YW4 were constructed from the raw coding categories as shown in Table YW3. For example, the conceptual category "can't locate" is the sum of codes "1" and "4." Table YW4 depicts the count of non-interviewed by reason and survey year.

Table YW4. Reasons for Noninterview: 1969-2003

Survey Year Total Interviewed Total Not Interviewed Reason for Noninterview
Can't Locate Interview Impossible Refusal Out of Scope1 Deceased Dropped2
1969 4930 229 52 68 98 9 2 --
1970 4766 393 93 113 173 7 7 --
1971 4714 445 73 78 227 8 11 48
1972 4625 534 51 67 301 5 17 93
1973 4424 735 92 69 417 4 21 132
1975 4243 916 109 77 531 2 26 171
1977 4108 1051 95 61 644 2 29 220
1978 3902 1257 69 40 824 27 33 264
1980 3801 1358 45 26 910 25 41 311
1982 3650 1509 54 18 1031 28 47 331
1983 3547 1612 37 12 1153 30 49 331
1985 3720 1439 359 115 727 49 58 131
1987 3639 1520 100 47 1016 29 71 257
1988 3508 1651 111 60 1119 22 83 256
1991 3400 1759 180 39 1150 31 104 255
1993 3187 1972 215 108 1248 27 120 254
1995 3019 2140 210 170 1347 18 141 254
1997 3049 2110 274 103 1264 29 187 253
1999 2900 2259 295 89 1366 27 232 250
2001 2806 2353 295 209 1295 29 276 249
2003 2859 2300 176 131 1401 29 315 248
 
Note: This table is based on R00854.00, R01453.20, R02525.20, R03353.20, R04171.20, R05195.20, R05483.20, R05874.30, R07099.30, R07564.70, R08032.70, R09473.40, R10628.40, R11092.40, R12327.40, R13652.40, R16014.20, R34985.20, R42671.20, R63203.30, and R76154.00.
1 Beginning in 1978, "moved outside the U.S." became a separate out-of-scope coding category. Respondents who could not be interviewed during the 1969-77 interviews because their residence--either within or outside of the U.S.--was too far away were coded within the "interview impossible" category. Out-of-scope counts for pre-1978 survey years may thus be understated.
2 Respondents who had been noninterviews for two consecutive survey years due to reasons other than refusal or death were eliminated from the eligible sample beginning with the 1970 interview. After 1982, no additional respondents were dropped based on this rule; in 1985, an attempt was made to reinterview some dropped individuals. Some individuals previously coded as "dropped from sample" were coded differently in later surveys.

Sample Representativeness and Attrition

The retention rate for the Young Women at the final interview was 55.4 percent, or 2,859 of the original 5,159 respondents. Retention rate is defined as the percent of base-year respondents who were interviewed in any given survey year; included in the calculations are deceased and other out-of-scope respondents An analysis of selected characteristics of respondents interviewed in the tenth year samples of the Original Cohorts found that noninterviews had not seriously distorted the sample representativeness of any of the cohorts for the characteristics studied (Rhoton 1984). A second analysis of differential attrition among wealthy and non-wealthy subsamples of each of the four Original Cohorts found that non-wealthy respondents of each cohort showed a consistent tendency toward greater attrition (Rhoton and Nagi 1991). Among the three younger cohorts, almost all of the difference between wealthy and non-wealthy subsamples is accounted for by attrition reasons other than the death of the respondent. In a more recent analysis, Zagorsky and Rhoton (1998) concluded that respondents with lower socio-economic status attrited at a higher rate than those with higher income and educational attainment. Further, the authors found that white respondents were more likely to remain in the survey than blacks and those of other races. 

In Table YW5, the percentage of sampled respondents of each race is presented for the base survey year (1968) and for 2003, the final year the survey was fielded. This table also provides information on numbers of deceased respondents by race.

Table YW5. Sample Characteristics by Race: 1968 and 2003

Race1 Number of Interviewed Respondents Retention
(2003 as % of 1968)
Number of Deaths
as of 20032
1968 2003
Non-black 3700 (71.7 %) 2115 (74.0%) 57.16 171
Black 1459 (28.3 %) 744 (26.0%) 50.99 144
 
1 See section on Race, Ethnicity & Nationality for details on race classifications. Respondent totals in this table are based on R00032.00.
2 Numbers are derived from R76154.00, a revised created variable that reflects mortality counts based on Social Security Administration records.

References

Rhoton, Patricia. "Attrition and the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience: Avoidance, Control and Correction." Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1984.

Rhoton, Patricia and Nagi, Karima. "Attrition by Wealth in the Original NLS Cohorts." Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1991.

Zagorsky, Jay and Rhoton, Pat. "Attrition and the National Longitudinal Surveys' Mature Women Cohort." Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1998.