SIPP 2004 Wave 1 Asset Income Item Nonresponse Results and Nonresponse Follow-up Outcomes
Maria S. Bruun and Jeffrey C. Moore
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ABSTRACT
In the 2004 wave 1 SIPP questionnaire, new and expanded follow-up questions were implemented in response to an initial don't know (D) or refusal (R) nonresponse to questions concerning the amount of income produced by a person's assets. These follow-ups provided initial nonrespondents with a multiple-choice range of income amounts from which to select; the goal of these follow-up questions was to try to glean some information, even if less precise, from respondents who initially nonresponded to the specific amount question. This report examines the effectiveness of these follow-up questions, focusing in particular on their differential effectiveness depending on the form of the original nonresponse, D or R. As expected, we find evidence of a substantially higher rate of follow-up success among those who reported "don't know" to the initial amount question compared to those who initially refused. However, even though it was lower, the rate of follow-up success for the refusers was still non-trivial - about one-quarter of those who refused to answer the initial exact amount question were willing to provide a range within which the exact amount resided. Ultimately, the wave 1 nonresponse follow-up procedures reduced nonresponse rates to the asset income amount items to about half or less of what they would have been in the absence of those procedures.
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