Abstract
Shail Butani, Lawrence Cahoon, Robert E. Fay, and Donna Kostanich (1994) "Measurement Of Different
Design Effects", Proceedings of the Section on Survey
Research Methods, American Statistical Association,
forthcoming.
The Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly labor force
survey that the Census Bureau conducts for the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS), uses a state based probability sample
of about 60,000 households. In January 1994, CPS interviewers
began collecting data in a completely computer-assisted
environment, using a new questionnaire. Before introducing
the new data collection method, the Census Bureau and BLS
tested it on a separate, national based probability sample of
12,000 households. The results of this parallel survey, which
ran from July 1992 through December 1993, indicated that the
CPS annual average unemployment rate would have been 0.5
percentage point higher in 1993 had the new data collection
method been used. In this paper, we discuss the measurement
of differences between the design effects of the parallel
survey in December 1993 and the CPS in January 1994 onward,
in order to better understand any transition effects. We
concentrate our analysis on the effects of 1) differences in
the proportion of households interviewed from centralized
facilities; 2) use of 1990 based population controls,
adjusted for census undercount, instead of 1980 based
controls formerly used; 3) differences in ratio adjustment
methods; 4) use of composite estimation to reduce variance;
and 5) seasonal adjustment.
Last Modified Date: July 19, 2008
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