Research Reports

The Respondent Identification Policy (RIP)and its Impact on Wave 2 and Wave 3 Follow-up Interviews in the 2004 SIPP Panel

Anna Y. Chan and Jeffrey C. Moore

KEY WORDS: Respondent Identification Policy, dependent interviewing, confidentiality protection, Survey of Income and Program Participation

ABSTRACT

The goal of the Respondent Identification Policy (RIP) is to extend the Census Bureau's confidentiality protections so that they apply to members of a respondent's own household. After the initial wave 1 interview, SIPP makes extensive use of dependent interviewing in subsequent interviews, in which responses from the prior wave are fed back to the respondent. With the implementation of RIP, the sharing of information reported by one member of a household with other household members cannot take place without the consent of the original respondent. If the original respondent has not consented to the information sharing request, and a new respondent is providing the next wave's interview, dependent interviewing cannot be used. This paper reports on how SIPP 2004 panel respondents responded to RIP's information sharing request, and the impact of those responses on SIPP's ability to use dependent interviewing in its follow-up interviews. We find that the vast majority (91%) of those asked say "yes" to the RIP request, and that the actual impact of RIP on the use of dependent interview procedures is minimal.

CITATION:

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Research Division

Created: August 29, 2005
Last revised: August 29, 2005