Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Printable Version

Omnibus Survey
Household Survey
Month Specific Information
June 2003

This report presents the results of the June 2003 Omnibus Household Survey. Starting in December 2002, the Omnibus Household Surveys are now fielded on a bi-monthly basis.

Each bi-monthly survey will contain a set of core questions that are based on critical information needs within DOT. In addition, supplemental questions will be included that correspond to one of the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) five strategic goals: safety, mobility, economic growth, human and natural environment, and security. Finally, specific questions posed by the various DOT modes will be included and will vary from month to month.

The June 2003 survey collected data from June 8, 2003 through June 22, 2003. Data were collected from households in the U.S. using a Random-Digit-Dialed telephone methodology. The final completed sample size is 1,029 cases, and the total number of variables in the public-use dataset is 240. The data were collected by M. Davis and Company (MDAC), under contract with the BTS.

Sample Telephone Number Selection

There were 8,200 telephone numbers for the June 2003 survey. A total of 5,115 of these numbers were identified as working residential numbers and were divided into 102 replicates. Each of the 63 fielding replicates released initially contained approximately 50 households. No additional replicates were released during Fielding. Eight (8) unused replicates from June's sample were used to conduct a pretest. Each pretest replicate had approximately 50 households. Thirty-one (31) of the 102 June replicates were not utilized in the actual interviewing, resulting in 3,124 numbers being released for use by the telephone interviewers. For this survey, the total number of telephone numbers in the sampling frame, N, is 272,979,400. The total number of telephone numbers in the sample (numbers dialed) is 3,124.

Specific Weight Adjustment for Households with Multiple Telephone Numbers

Some households have multiple telephone lines for voice communication.

The table below provides summary statistics for the number of telephone lines in the monthly sampled households.

Table 1: Number of Telephone Lines per Household

  Value
Mean 1.167
Standard deviation 0.480
Minimum     1
25th percentile     1
Median     1
75th percentile     1
Maximum     5

Specific Weight Adjustment for Number of Eligible Household Members

The probability of selecting an individual respondent depends upon the number of eligible respondents in the household.

The table below provides summary statistics for the number of eligible members in the monthly sampled households.

Table 2: Number of Eligible Household Members

  Value
Mean 1.981
Standard deviation 0.935
Minimum     1
25th percentile     1
Median     2
75th percentile     2
Maximum    12

Post-Stratification Weight Adjustments

Adjusting weighted survey counts so that they agree with population counts provided by the Census Bureau can compensate for different response rates by demographic subgroups, increase the precision of survey estimates, and reduce the bias present in the estimates resulting from the inclusion of only telephone households.

The cells, used to construct post-stratification adjustments for this month, together with the number of sample observations and the national population estimates from the Census Bureau are shown in the table below.

Table 3: Post-Stratification Cells

Cell Description Sample Size Population
1 Male - Hispanic (Any Race)    39  12,845,409
2 Male - Non-Hispanic Black    40  10,224,033
3 Male - Age 18 – 24 - Non-Hispanic White    28   8,499,919
4 Male - Age 25 – 34 - Non-Hispanic White    46  11,913,170
5 Male - Age 35 – 44 - Non-Hispanic White    74  15,039,201
6 Male - Age 45 – 54 - Non-Hispanic White    85  14,623,075
7 Male - Age 55 – 64 - Non-Hispanic White    41  10,048,666
8 Male - Age 65 or older - Non-Hispanic White    60  11,929,766
9 Male - Non-Hispanic Other    23   5,765,040
10 Female - Hispanic (Any Race)    42  12,298,055
11 Female - Age 18 – 44 - Non-Hispanic Black    26   7,460,884
12 Female - Age 45 or older - Non-Hispanic Black    40   5,469,299
13 Female - Age 18 – 24 - Non-Hispanic White    26   8,568,517
14 Female - Age 25 – 34 - Non-Hispanic White    59  12,118,904
15 Female - Age 35 – 44 - Non-Hispanic White    88  15,364,818
16 Female - Age 45 – 54 - Non-Hispanic White    81  14,962,740
17 Female - Age 55 – 64 - Non-Hispanic White    66  10,641,416
18 Female - Age 65 or older - Non-Hispanic White    88  16,115,329
19 Female - Non-Hispanic Other    20   6,464,326
N/A Missing Demographic Information    57     N/A    
TOTAL 1,029 210,352,567

Data Collection Schedule

The survey was conducted over 14 days to enable 1,000 interviews to be completed. The survey period was from June 8 through June 22.

Disposition of Sample Telephone Numbers

The table below presents the distribution of household telephone numbers by disposition categories. The number of household cases in each category was then used to calculate a CASRO response rate of 48.5 percent.

Table 4: Distribution of Household Cases by Disposition

Disposition Category Number of Households
Telephone Numbers Available 4,717
Telephone Numbers Released 3,124
Telephone Numbers Not Dialed     0
Telephone Numbers Dialed 3,124
Out-of-Scope Numbers (Ineligible)   856
BG - Business   187
CF - Computer/Fax   246
DS - Disconnected number   371
NC - Number change    18
NQ - No one 18 years old or older in household     7
UNB - Unavailable before and during study period    27
Scope Undetermined   459
NA - No answer   322
BZ - Busy     0
AM - Answering machine    81
LM - Left message     0
CCC - Cannot complete call     6
PM - Privacy manager    12
NQL - Eligibility undetermined because of language problems or deafness     6
RFI - Refused to speak with interviewer (screening incomplete)    13
HRI - Hard refusal *     4
OD - Maximum call attempts reached     0
CBU - Callback undetermined    15
CSU - Callback Spanish undetermined     0
In-Scope Numbers 1,809
Complete 1,029
DIP - Reinterview deletion, ineligible person in household interviewed     7
DDA - Reinterview deletion, discrepancy in answers during reinterview     1
CB - Callback   142
CBS - Callback Spanish     0
NAQ - No answer qualified   280
BZQ - Busy qualified     3
AMQ - Answering machine qualified   168
LMQ - Left message qualified     5
CCQ - Cannot complete call qualified     4
PMQ - Privacy manager qualified     1
DL - Deaf/Language    49
RFQ - Respondent refusal    54
UN - Unavailable    32
DR - Respondent deceased prior to completion of interview     0
AC - The area code is changed but not the number     0
HRQ - Hard refusal *    34
CASRO Response Rate 48.52%


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