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Source: Bureau of the Census
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Hernandez, Donald J.
Comparing Response Rates for the Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD), Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY)
SPD Working Paper SPD99-2, Internal memorandum, U.S. Bureau of the Census, January 28, 1999.
Also: http://www.bls.census.gov/spd/workpaper/spd-comp.htm
Cohort(s): NLS General, NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Commerce
Keyword(s): Attrition; Data Quality/Consistency; Nonresponse; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD); Welfare

The usefulness of data from any longitudinal or panel study that follows and interviews the same respondents over a period of years depends on the assumption that the data represent the relevant populations. Nonresponse by members of the sample is a potential source of bias that can undermine the quality of estimates derived using longitudinal data. This memorandum compares overall response rates between the initial interview and the most recent interview for three major national surveys, the Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) conducted by the Center for Human Resource Research at Ohio State University. It also discusses major differences across the surveys in the approaches used to maximize long-run response rates, and the consequences of differential nonresponse for data quality.
Bibliography Citation
Hernandez, Donald J. "Comparing Response Rates for the Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD), Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY)." SPD Working Paper SPD99-2, Internal memorandum, U.S. Bureau of the Census, January 28, 1999.
2. Weinberg, Daniel H.
Shipp, Stephanie S.
Survey of Program Dynamics -- A Mid-Term Status Report
SPD Working Paper SAP99-10, U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Program Dynamics, February 2, 2000.
Also: http://www.bls.census.gov/spd/workpaper/summary10.htm
Cohort(s): NLS General, NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Commerce
Keyword(s): Attrition; Data Quality/Consistency; Nonresponse; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP); Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD); Welfare

Because of respondent attrition, researchers have questioned the usefulness of data from the SPD; thus, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of the SPD data. The conclusions drawn from the analysis that follows are that (1) the SPD data are representative of the population when compared with the Current Population Survey (CPS) and (2) the SPD response rates are comparable to those of two other major longitudinal household surveys--the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), conducted by the National Opinion Research Center for the Center for Human Resource Research at Ohio State University. Attrition, however, is still a problem for the SPD. An experimental study that the Census Bureau conducted in 1998 concluded that monetary incentives were successful in gaining cooperation from panel nonrespondents, a finding suggesting that SPD should adopt the use of monetary incentives to reduce attrition.

This paper addresses the following questions:
• What role does the SPD play in measuring the effects of welfare reform?
• How do the SPD's response rates compare with those of the 1968 PSID and 1979 NLSY?
• What affected SPD attrition?
• How do data from the SPD compare with data from the CPS March Demographic Supplement?
• What was learned from the SPD Exploratory Attrition Study1 and the use of incentives?
• What response rates can be expected if the Census Bureau receives funding to regain the participation of nonrespondents to the 1997 SPD and the 1992 and 1993 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)?

Bibliography Citation
Weinberg, Daniel H. and Stephanie S. Shipp. "Survey of Program Dynamics -- A Mid-Term Status Report." SPD Working Paper SAP99-10, U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Program Dynamics, February 2, 2000.