NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Technical Report July 1997

National Household Education Survey

An Overview of Response

Rates in the National

Household Education Survey:

1991, 1993, 1995, and 1996

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 97-948
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Technical Report July 1997

National Household Education Survey

An Overview of Response

Rates in the National

Household Education Survey:

1991, 1993, 1995, and1996

J. Michael Brick

Mary Collins

Westat, Inc.

Kathryn Chandler

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 97-948
U.S. Department of Education

Richard W. Riley

Secretary

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

Ramon C. Cortines

Acting Assistant Secretary

National Center for Education Statistics

Pascal D. Forgione, Jr.

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for

collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the United States and other

nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and

complete statistics on the condition of education in the United States; conduct and publish

reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; assist

state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review and

report on education activities in foreign countries.

NCES activities are designed to address high priority education data needs; provide

consistent, reliable, complete, and accurate indicators of education status and trends; and

report timely, useful, and high quality data to the U.S. Department of Education, the

Congress, the states, other education policymakers, practitioners, data users, and the

general public.

We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in language that is

appropriate to a variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judge of our

success in communicating information effectively. If you have any comments or suggestions

about this or any other NCES product or report, we would like to hear from you. Please

direct your comments to:

National Center for Education Statistics

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

U.S. Department of Education

555 New Jersey Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20208-5574

July 1997

Suggested Citation

U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. National Household Education Survey. An

Overview of Response Rates in the National Household Education Survey: 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1996. NCES 97–

948, by J. Michael Brick, Mary Collins, and Kathryn Chandler. Washington, DC: 1997.

Contact:

Kathryn Chandler

(202) 219-1767

(e-mail) nhes@ed.gov

http://www.ed.gov/NCES/NHES
iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction........................................................................................................ 1

Overview.............................................................................................................. 1

Definition of Response and Completion Rates ....................................................... 2

Screening Response in the NHES....................................................................... 3

Screening Approaches in the NHES ...................................................................... 3

Strategies to Maximize Response .......................................................................... 8

Sources of Screener Nonresponse.......................................................................... 10

Point of Refusal in the Screener ............................................................................ 11

Screener Administration Time ............................................................................... 13

NHES:96 Screening Experiment........................................................................... 15

NHES Extended Interview Completion and Response Rates............................. 17

Summary............................................................................................................. 21

References........................................................................................................... 22

For More Information ........................................................................................ 23

Appendix: NHES Screeners .............................................................................. 25

Tables

1 Number of completed Screeners and weighted completion rates

in the NHES, by survey year .................................................................... 3

2 Screening approaches in the NHES, by survey year .................................. 5

3 Special data collection activities in the NHES that varied

across time, by survey year ...................................................................... 9

4 Types of nonresponse in the NHES and percent of total nonresponse

accounted for by each type, by survey year............................................... 10

5 Location of final refusals in NHES Screeners, and percent of

refusals, by survey year............................................................................ 11

6 Location of initial and final Screener refusals in the 1996 National

Household Education Survey.................................................................... 12

7 Number of completed Screeners and mean Screener administration

time, by survey year and type of extended interviews in the household ....... 14

8 Number completed and cooperation rates for Screening experiment,

by screen-out question and advance letter ................................................. 16
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS--Continued

9 Predicted response rates in Screener experiment, by screen-out question

and advance letter .................................................................................... 17

10 Number of completed interviews and weighted completion and

response rates in the NHES, by survey year and component ...................... 19

11 Extended interview respondent participation by Screener respondent

status....................................................................................................... 20
1

Introduction

High response rates are critical to the success of

surveys because the potential for nonresponse

bias increases as the response rate decreases.

The most effective way to avoid serious

nonresponse bias is to achieve high response

rates. Some have argued that response rates have

been declining for many years (Kessler et al.

1995), but the evidence for this assertion is not

very persuasive (Shettle et al. 1994). Rather

than dealing with the more general question of

response rates over time for different surveys,

this report concentrates on the rates in one

particular survey program. Response rates in the

National Household Education Survey (NHES)

have varied from one survey administration to the

next, particularly at the household screening

level. The 1995 and 1996 surveys had much

lower household screening response rates than

the 1991 and 1993 surveys.

The purpose of this report is to present

descriptive information on response rates for the

four NHES administrations in the context of the

populations of interest and the survey procedures

used for each cycle. Some of the reasons for

changes in response rates among the surveys are

presented, including results from a 1995

experiment in household screening. 1 Following

an overview of the NHES, response rates at the

screening level are addressed, followed by a

discussion of response rates to the interviews

conducted with or about persons sampled within

households (extended interviews).

This report provides summary information

pertaining to the four NHES cycles completed to

date. More extensive information on each cycle

of the NHES is available in NCES technical

reports and working papers. See the section,

“For More Information,” at the end of this report

for a list of pertinent documents.

 

1 A full report on the experiment is available in Brick,

Collins, and Chandler (forthcoming).

Overview

The National Household Education Survey

(NHES) is a data collection system of the

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES),

which has as its legislative mission the collection

and publication of data on the condition of

education in the Nation. The NHES is

specifically designed to support this mission by

providing information on those educational issues

that are best addressed by contacting households

rather than schools or other educational

institutions. The NHES provides descriptive

data on the educational activities of the U.S.

population and offers policymakers, researchers,

and educators a variety of statistics on the

condition of education in the United States.

The NHES is a telephone survey of the

noninstitutionalized civilian population of the

U.S. Households are selected for the survey

using random digit dialing (RDD) methods, and

data are collected using computer-assisted

telephone interviewing (CATI) procedures. From

45,000 to 64,000 households are screened for

each administration, and individuals within

households who meet predetermined criteria are

sampled for more detailed or extended interviews.

The data are weighted to permit estimates of the

entire population. The NHES survey for a given

year typically consists of a set of screening

questions (Screener), which collects household

composition and demographic data, and extended

interviews on two substantive components

addressing education-related topics. In order to

assess data item reliability and inform future

NHES surveys, each administration also includes

a subsample of respondents for a reinterview.

The primary purpose of the NHES is to conduct

repeated measurements of the same phenomena

at different points in time. Throughout its
2

history, the NHES has collected data in ways that

permit estimates to be tracked across time. This

includes repeating topical components on a

rotating basis in order to provide comparative

data across survey years. In addition, each

administration of the NHES has benefited from

experiences with previous cycles, resulting in

enhancements to the survey procedures and

content. Thus, while the survey affords the

opportunity for tracking phenomena across time,

it is also dynamic in addressing new issues and

including conceptual and methodological

refinements.

A new design feature of the NHES program

implemented in the NHES:96 is the collection of

demographic and educational information on

members of all screened households, rather than

just those households potentially eligible for a

topical component. In addition, this expanded

screening feature included a brief set of questions

on an issue of interest to education program

administrators or policymakers, public library

use. The total Screener sample size was

sufficient to produce state estimates of household

characteristics for the NHES:96.

The NHES has been conducted in 1991, 1993,

1995, and 1996. Topics addressed by the

NHES:91 were early childhood education and

adult education. The NHES:93 collected

information about school readiness and school

safety and discipline. The 1991 components

were repeated for the NHES:95, addressing early

childhood program participation and adult

education. Both components underwent

substantial redesign to incorporate new issues

and develop new measurement approaches. In

the NHES:96, the topical components were

parent/family involvement in education and civic

involvement. The NHES:96 expanded screening

feature included a set of questions on public

library use.

In addition to its topical components, the NHES

system has also included a number of

methodological investigations which provide

information that can be used to improve this and

other survey programs in the future. These

investigations have resulted in technical reports

and working papers covering diverse topics such

as telephone undercoverage bias, proxy

reporting, and sampling methods. This series of

technical reports and working papers provides

valuable information on ways of improving the

NHES. Some pertinent reports and working

papers are listed in the “For More Information”

section at the end of the report.

Definition of Response and Completion

Rates

Before examining the NHES response rates, it is

useful to define what is meant by response rates.

In general, the response rate is the ratio of the

number of units with completed interviews (the

units could be telephone numbers, households, or

persons) to the number of units sampled and

eligible to complete the interview. In some cases,

these rates are easily defined and implemented,

while in other cases the numerators or

denominators of the ratio must be estimated.

When a survey includes multiple stages of

sampling, the “response rate” is the percentage of

possible interviews completed, taking into

account all survey stages (e.g., screeners and

extended interviews). The “completion rate” is

used to measure the ability to complete

interviews for a specific stage or component of

the survey. For example, in the NHES,

household members are identified and sampled

for extended interviews for the topical

components in two stages: Screener interviews

are conducted to enumerate and sample

household members, and then interviews are

conducted for the sampled members using

extended questionnaires. The completion rate for

the first stage is the percentage of sampled and

eligible households with completed Screeners.

The failure to complete the first stage Screener

means that it is not possible to enumerate and

interview any members of the household. The

completion rate for the second stage is the

percentage of sampled and eligible persons with

completed interviews. The response rate is the

product of the first- and second-stage completion

rates. As the discussion points out, the Screener

response rate is critical in the NHES because it is

a component in all the response rates.
3

Screening Response in the NHES

When response to a household Screener is

considered, the completion rate and the response

rate are the same, because this is the first stage of

the survey and its response rate is not the product

of multiple completion rates. As shown in table

1, the screener response rate in the NHES ranged

from 69.9 to 82.1 over the 1991 through 1996

surveys. A substantial difference is seen between

the 1991 and 1993 Screener response rates of

81.0 and 82.1 percent, respectively, and the 1995

and 1996 rates of 73.3 and 69.9 percent,

respectively. This difference of about 8 to 12

percent in Screener response between the first

two and next two NHES collections is of great

concern. In the next sections, the screening

approaches used for the NHES administrations

are described to help illuminate these differences.

Table 1.—Number of completed Screeners and weighted completion rates in the NHES, by survey year

Survey year

Number of completed

interviews

Weighted

completion rate

NHES:91 60,322 81.0

NHES:93 63,844 82.1

NHES:95 45,465 73.3

NHES:96 55,838 69.9

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES).

Screening Approaches in the NHES

The screening approach for an RDD telephone

survey encompasses a set of activities to inform

the household member that the household was

sampled for a survey and obtain their cooperation

and accurate responses. The specific information

requested in the screening interview depends on

the survey itself. For each NHES cycle, the

approach was customized to the needs of the

particular data collection effort. As a result,

each screening was somewhat different. In the

NHES:91, NHES:93, and NHES:95, the

screening approach was based on the needs of the

topical components. In the NHES:96, the

screening approach was largely based on the

desire to utilize the NHES to collect information

on the educational status and demographic

characteristics of all persons in all sampled

households.

Despite differences in the approaches used, the

NHES Screeners shared common elements across

the years. Interviewers gave their full names

immediately upon contact, and the sponsorship of

the study by the U.S. Department of Education

was stated in the first sentence of the

introduction. In all years except the NHES:96,

the household was told the Screener would take

“about 5 minutes” or “5 minutes or less” during

the introduction. In the NHES:96, the time

estimate was provided later and varied depending

on the characteristics of the household. Most

households (about 95 percent) were given an

estimate of “5 to 7 minutes.” All NHES

screeners included some questions about

household membership, referred to as

enumeration (rostering). In general, enumeration

involves the collection of the first name, age, and

sex of each person; some additional
4

characteristics may be collected as needed for

sampling persons within households. The type of

questions varied from survey to survey in the

NHES. In some years, only households with

children were enumerated while in others all

household members were enumerated. In one

year, only household members who were

potentially eligible to be sampled for extended

interviews were enumerated. Thus, the

percentage of households that were enumerated

and the number of persons enumerated within

households depended on the survey requirements.

The remainder of this section presents the

approaches used in each cycle; the screening

approaches are also summarized in table 2.

Copies of the NHES Screener interviews appear

in the appendix.

NHES:91 Screening

The two topical components in the NHES:91

were Early Childhood Education (ECE) and

Adult Education (AE). The population of

interest for the ECE component included all

children age 3 to age 8 and 9-year-olds who had

not yet completed second grade. At the time of

the NHES:91, this population was found in less

than one in five households, and therefore every

household in the sample was asked if children of

this age lived in the household. The population

of interest in the AE component included civilian

adults age 16 or older who were not enrolled in

elementary or secondary school. Virtually all

households contain one or more members of this

population. The sample size requirements for the

AE component could be met by sampling adults

in only about one in three households sampled for

the NHES:91.

The screening approach used in the NHES:91

was based on the above requirements, using what

is called partial and split enumeration. Partial

enumeration refers to an approach in which only

members of the population of interest are

included in the enumeration; all household

members are not enumerated unless all members

fall into that population. Split enumeration is an

approach in which the populations of interest, in

this case children and adults, are enumerated

separately at different stages of the Screener. It

is a particularly useful approach when a

population is found in only a subset of

households (e.g., children), or when one or both

populations are sampled in only a subset of

households (e.g., adults in the NHES:91).

When a household was contacted in the

NHES:91, the Screener respondent was asked if

any children age 2 to 9 normally lived in the

household2. If so, these children were

enumerated (partial enumeration) and

information on their school enrollment and grade

was collected. This stage of the Screener was

done in all households. If the household was also

subsampled for AE screening, then adults age 16

and older were enumerated and information was

collected on their current enrollment in school

and participation in adult education activities

after the child enumeration was completed (split

enumeration). About 30 percent of households

(18,463 out of 60,314 screened households) were

screened for the AE component. At the end of

the Screener, household characteristics such as

whether they owned their home were collected.

NHES:93 Screening

The topical components in the NHES:93 were

School Readiness (SR) and School Safety and

Discipline (SS&D). The population of interest

for the SR component included children age 3

through 7 plus children age 8 or 9 who had not

finished second grade. The population of interest

for the SS&D component included children and

youth in grades 3 through 12. At the time of the

survey, about one in three households included

one or more children in this population. In a

survey such as this, where the target population

is found in only a subset of households, a

preliminary question can be used to eliminate

those households without any eligible members

prior to enumerating household members; this is

called a screen-out approach.

 

2 Respondents were asked about children age 2 to 9 to

allow for some error in reporting of ages and because 9-

year-olds in second grade or below were of interest.

Based on the findings of the NHES:91, this “bracketing”

of ages was not continued in subsequent NHES cycles.
Table 2.—Screening approaches in the NHES, by survey year

NHES:91 NHES:93 NHES:95 NHES:96

* Sponsorship by U.S.

Department of Education;

time estimate of 5 minutes

* Sponsorship by U.S. Department

of Education

* Sponsorship by U.S. Department of

Education; time estimate of 5

minutes

* Sponsorship by U.S. Department of

Education

* Confirmed telephone number * Asked if telephone number for

home or business use

* Further introduction; time

estimate of 5 minutes

* Asked to speak to hh member

at least 16 years old

* Asked to speak to hh member at

least age 18 (if none, asked for

hh member age 16 or older)

* Asked to speak to hh member at

least age 18

* Asked to speak to hh member at least

age 18

* Asked if telephone number for

home or business use

* Asked if telephone number for home

or business use

* Asked if telephone number for home or

business use

* Further introduction

* Asked for children age 2-9 * Asked if any hh members age 18

or younger and then if any in

12th grade or below

* Asked if any hh members under age 21

* Gave time estimates : 10-15 mins for

random adult sample and 5-7 mins for

all others

* Library questions for random adult

sample or if no persons under age 21

* Enumerated children age 2-9 * If children in hh, enumerated all

hh members and verified entries

* Enumerated all hh members and

verified entries

* Enumerated all hh members and

verified entries

* Asked enrollment in school and

grade/equiv for each child over

age 2

* Asked enrollment in school and

grade/equiv for persons age 3-10 &

16-19

* Asked enrollment in school and

grade/equiv for all hh members over age

2

5
Table 2.—Screening approaches in the NHES, by survey year--Continued

NHES:91 NHES:93 NHES:95 NHES:96

* Asked education and AE

participation for adults age 16 or

older not in elementary or secondary

school

* Asked demographics for all hh members

* Library questions for households with

members under 21, but none sampled

for interviews

* Identified parent R for each

sampled child

* Identified parent R for each

sampled child

* Identified parent R for each sampled

child

* Identified parent R for each sampled

child

* Introduction to adult

education (30% of hhs)

* Asked age, race, Hispanic

origin for 1st adult

(respondent)

* Enumerated all adults

* Asked adult education

participation items for all

adults

* Collected contact data for

sampled out-of hh adults

* Collected contact data for sampled

out-of hh adults

* Collected contact data for sampled outof hh adults

* Collected hh characteristics * Collected hh characteristics (if no

persons sampled for interviews)

NOTES: hh = household; R = respondent

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey (NHES), various years.

6
7

In the NHES:93 Screener, the household

respondent was asked if any household members

were age 18 or younger. If not, the respondent

was asked if any household members were in

12th grade or below. If no household members

met one of these criteria, the Screener was ended

and the household was classified as ineligible for

the NHES:93. In those households with

members meeting one of these criteria, all

members of the household were enumerated.

Information on the enrollment status and grade of

each person age 3 through 20 was collected and

children and youth were sampled for the SR and

SS&D components.

Household characteristics were not collected at

the screening stage in the NHES:93 or

subsequent years. Instead, household

characteristics were collected at the end of the

first extended interview in the household.

NHES:95 Screening

In the NHES:95, the NHES:91 topics were

repeated, with some changes -- the two

components were Early Childhood Program

Participation (ECPP) and Adult Education (AE).

The target population for the ECPP component

was expanded to include children under age 3;

thus, the population of interest was children from

birth through 3rd grade, with a maximum age of

10. All households were screened for eligible

children. The population of interest for the AE

component was unchanged from the NHES:91

and included civilian adults age 16 and older not

in elementary or secondary school. However, the

sample design for this component changed

because estimates of adults without high school

diplomas were of special interest. As a result, all

households had to be screened for AE in order to

obtain a large enough sample for this special

subgroup. Thus, full enumeration of all members

of all sampled households was a feature of the

NHES:95 Screener.

The NHES:95 also included a test of an

Expanded Screener in a subsample of the

households. The purpose of this test was to

assess the feasibility of using the NHES to

collect information on the educational and

demographic characteristics of all persons in all

sampled households. In addition, the Expanded

Screener included a brief set of questions that

any adult household member could answer -- in

this case, household members’ use of public

library services. The Expanded Screener test

involved the completion of 1,478 Screeners. The

response rate for these Expanded Screeners was

virtually identical to that for the NHES:95 basic

Screener.

NHES:96 Screening

The Expanded Screener was fully implemented in

the NHES:96. To accommodate these

requirements, the screening approach included

the full enumeration of all sampled households,

the collection of demographic and educational

data on all household members, a brief set of

questions on public library use, and items on

household characteristics. The placement of the

items in the Screener varied according to the

household membership and the portion of the

sample to which the household was assigned

(described further below).

The NHES:96 topical components were

Parent/Family Involvement in Education (PFI)

and Civic Involvement (CI). Two populations

were of interest in the NHES:96 -- children age 3

through 12th grade and adults age 18 and older.

The great majority of the sample (95 percent)

was allocated to the sampling of children and

youth; 5 percent of the sample was allocated to

the sampling of adults. The library questions

were administered prior to enumerating the

household if the household was in the adult

portion of the sample or if the household was in

the portion of the sample allocated to sampling

children and youth but had no household

members under age 21. In households allocated

to parent/youth sampling in which there were

members age 20 or younger, the library questions

were asked after enumeration if no one in the

household was sampled and in the first extended

interview if someone was sampled. However, if

any household member was sampled for an

extended interview, the household characteristics

were not collected in the Screener, but were

collected in the first extended interview in the

household.
8

With this general background on the screening

approaches used in the NHES, attention can now

be focused on strategies to maximize response

and the sources of nonresponse for the Screener.

Strategies to Maximize Response

Most surveys include data collection activities

designed to maximize response rates. The NHES

program included such widely used procedures as

multiple contact attempts, refusal conversion,

and interviewing in a language other than

English. Specifically, up to seven attempts were

made to contact a household before assigning a

case to maximum call, no answer, or answering

machine status, and these attempts were

staggered over a period of at least 2 weeks. The

call attempts included daytime, evening, and

weekend calls. Refusals that were not designated

as hostile (profane or abusive) were held for a

period of time, typically about 2 weeks, and an

interviewer then attempted refusal conversion.

Finally, NHES interviews were conducted in

Spanish as well as English. In addition to these

widely used procedures, the NHES has included

additional strategies to increase response, and

these have varied somewhat over the life of the

project (table 3).

Additional Refusal Conversion Attempts. In

each NHES collection, an additional refusal

conversion attempt was made for at least of

subset of cases that had refused a second time.

This additional refusal conversion is not done in

most RDD surveys. In the NHES:91 and

NHES:93, additional conversion attempts were

made for cases that had been coded by the

interviewer3 as mild or firm on the first refusal

and mild or firm on the second refusal, but not

firm on both; cases ever coded as hostile were

excluded from conversion efforts. In the

NHES:95 and the NHES:96, the additional

refusal conversion attempt was made for all cases

that were never coded as hostile.

Additional Nonresponse Attempts.

Nonresponse cases other than refusals were also

 

3

Interviewers coded each refusal as mild, firm, or hostile.

All cases coded as hostile were reviewed by a telephone

center supervisor.

refielded for additional attempts to complete an

interview. These included cases that had met the

criteria described above for maximum call status,

no answer status, or answering machine only

status. In the NHES:91 and NHES:93,

maximum call and answering machine cases

(those telephone numbers where an answering

machine was reached but a person never

answered) were refielded. No answer and

language problem results were added to the

refielding effort in the NHES:95. Language

problem cases were not included in this effort in

the NHES:96 because of the very low yield from

this activity observed in the NHES:95. The great

majority of nonresponse cases in the NHES

(other than refusals) had at least 14 attempts

made to complete an interview.

Answering Machine Messages. Beginning with

the NHES:95, a message was left on an

answering machine the first time an answering

machine was encountered for a Screener case.

This brief message identified the purpose of the

call and sponsorship of the study and left a tollfree number for respondents to call if they wished

to make an appointment or get more information

about the study. The system did not display the

answering machine message again for a given

case once an interviewer coded that a message

was left successfully. However, during the last

month of data collection in the NHES:95 and

NHES:96, an “answering machine day” was

designated once each week, and messages were

left for all answering machine results on those

days only.

Respondent Information Letter. In each

survey year, a respondent information letter was

sent by NCES upon request from a respondent.

This letter, signed by the NCES Project Officer,

provided an overview of the survey and its

purpose and encouraged the respondent’s

participation. Requests for such letters were

provided to NCES on a flow basis throughout the

data collection period. While no specific records

were maintained on the numbers of letters sent

each year, staff observed a marked increase in

that activity in the NHES:95 and NHES:96

compared to previous years.
9

Table 3.—Special data collection activities in the NHES that varied across time, by survey year

Survey year

Special data collection activities11991 1993 1995 1996

Additional refusal conversion attempts

 All but firm/firm and hostile2

 All but hostile2

Additional nonresponse attempts

 Maximum call and answering machine results

 No answer results

 Language problem results

Message left on answering machines3

Respondent information letter upon request

Nonresponse conversion letter

Advance letter

1These are procedures undertaken in addition to the standard procedures used in most federal surveys conducted by Westat.

Standard procedures included at least 16 hours of interviewer training, refusal conversion training, English and Spanish

interviewing, a minimum seven call protocol with daytime, evening, and weekend calls, and attempting to convert refusals by

calling again after waiting about 13 days.

2Each refusal was classified by the interviewer as mild, firm, or hostile. After a conversion attempt, they could be either

mild/mild, mild/firm, firm/mild, or firm/firm, etc. Any case classified as hostile on either call was excluded from further

conversion activities.

3A message was left the first time an answering machine result was obtained at the Screener level. In addition, during the last

month of data collection, an “answering machine day” was established each week, and messages were left on answering

machines on these days only.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES).

Nonresponse Conversion Letter. When it

became apparent that the Screener cooperation

rate in the NHES:95 was below that of previous

NHES collections, the decision was made to use

a nonrespondent conversion letter to try to

increase response. While there is a long history

of using letters to respondents in list-sample

studies, the use of such letters in RDD surveys

has been limited, and the likely effects of sending

such a letter were unknown. The telephone

numbers of refusal, maximum call, and

answering machine cases were sent to a

commercial vendor for the purpose of obtaining

addresses where possible. A letter encouraging

participation in the study was sent to each

household for which a “mailable” address was

obtained from the vendor. A toll-free number
10

was provided for respondents to call for an

appointment or to get additional information.

Advance Letter. In the NHES:96, an advance

letter was mailed prior to any data collection to

all households for which a mailable address could

be obtained. This letter described the purpose of

the study and requested the household’s

participation. Again, a toll-free number was

provided for requesting appointments or

obtaining more information. The use of the

advance letter was based on the results of a

screening experiment conducted during the field

test of the NHES:96. This experiment is

described in a later section.

It is not possible to measure exactly how each of

the screening approaches or strategies described

above affected Screener response rates in the

NHES. However, these factors are important to

bear in mind in the following sections discussing

sources of nonresponse, Screener administration

time, and other factors related to response.

Sources of Screener Nonresponse

Screener nonresponse in the NHES comes from

several general sources. The greatest source of

nonresponse is the refusal of households to

participate in the study or to complete the

Screener (table 4). Other sources, each far less

common than refusals, are failure to complete the

Screener with households that have been

contacted despite many attempts to do so (called

maximum call cases); inability to complete the

Screener because no adult household member

speaks either English or Spanish or because of a

hearing or speech problem (called language

problem cases); and other nonresponse, which

includes households in which residents are ill or

incapacitated, away from home for an extended

period, or have other problems hindering

response.

While table 4 gives the category for each type of

nonresponse among contacted households, the

Screener response rate is also affected by the

subset of telephone numbers that are never

answered despite numerous telephone calls.

Since these numbers are never answered by a

household member, it is not possible to determine

whether or not the numbers are residential. The

percentage of these “no answer” telephone

numbers varied from 3.4 to 5.9 percent in the

four NHES surveys. Studies of these numbers

indicate that about 40 percent of them are

residential, and this percentage has been used to

estimate the total response rate for the NHES

surveys.

Table 4.—Types of nonresponse in the NHES and percent of total nonresponse accounted for by each

 type, by survey year

NHES:91 NHES:93 NHES:95 NHES:96

Nonresponse category Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total 11,801 100 12,249 100 14,248 100 20,420 100

Refusals/breakoffs 9,884 84 8,297 68 11,932 84 16,864 83

Maximum calls 802 7 1,790 15 1,277 9 2,037 10

Language problems 510 4 832 7 736 5 1,163 6

Other nonresponse 605 5 1,330 11 303 2 356 2

Note: Because of rounding, percents may not add to 100.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES).
11

Refusals are the largest source of Screener

nonresponse, accounting for 68 to 84 percent of

all nonresponse. Sustantially less nonresponse

results from maximum calls, language problems,

and other nonresponse. The pattern for the

NHES:93 varies somewhat from other years.

The lower rate of refusals in the NHES:93 and

the generally higher response rate meant that less

refielding of other nonresponse cases was needed

prior to ending data collection with an acceptable

screening response rate. Developing strategies to

avoid refusals or convert refusals into responses

has been a focus of substantial effort in the

NHES. The location in the interview at which

Screener refusals occur is a potentially useful

source of information in that effort. In the next

section, this topic is explored.

Point of Refusal in the Screener

Table 5 shows the screening stage at which final

refusals4 occurred in the NHES:91, NHES:95,

 

4 Refusal conversion efforts may result in more than one

refusal being received. No cases had more than three

refusals.

and NHES:96 (this information is not available

for the NHES:93). The questionnaire sections

are listed in the order in which they occur in the

Screener, with the exception of the library

questions, which had variable placement. The

Screeners for each NHES survey are provided in

the appendix.

From 68 percent to 85 percent of the final

refusals occurred at the introduction. This figure

varied somewhat by survey year, with the

percentage in 1991 being lower than in 1995 and

1996. This may reflect the fact that since

manyhouseholds were “screened out” in the

NHES:91, interviewers may have been successful

at keeping respondents on the telephone

somewhat longer by telling them that they only

had a few questions, even though the households

eventually refused.

Table 5.—Location of final refusals in NHES Screeners, and percent of refusals, by survey year

NHES:91 NHES:95 NHES:96

Questionnaire section Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total refusals 9,884 100 11,932 100 16,864 100

 Introduction 6,719 68 9,515 80 14,271 85

 Before matrix 1,525 15 576 5 1,513 9

 Enumeration matrix 1,139 12 938 8 475 3

 After enumeration 501 5 40 <1 99 <1

 Library questions*

-- -- -- -- 502 3

*Library item placement varied; this figures includes 468 breakoffs before enumeration and 34 after enumeration..

NOTE: The location of refusals is not available for the NHES:93 Screener. The numbers of cases breaking off at each Screener

stage may not sum to the total number of refusals/breakoffs and the percents may not add to 100 because the breakoff screen is

not available for all cases. The Screener breakoff location represents the final refusal for the household.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES).
12

An additional 5 to 15 percent of refusals

occurred before the enumeration matrix, in

questions that were designed to determine

whether the sampled telephone number was a

home number, whether the person on the

telephone was an adult household member, and

whether any members of the population of

interest resided in the household (if applicable).

In the NHES:96, the questions on public library

use were also asked before the enumeration in 60

percent of the households. About 3 percent of

the NHES:96 Screener refusals occurred in the

library series, and the great majority of these

breakoffs (468 out of 502) occurred when the

library items were placed prior to the matrix.

The NHES:96 affords the opportunity to look at

the locations of initial and final refusals for those

cases that received more than one refusal during

data collection.5 Table 6 shows that the majority

of both initial and final refusals occurred at the

introduction to the Screener; 70 percent of initial

refusals (11,706 of 16,811) and 85 percent of

final refusals (14,237 of 16,811) occurred at the

 

5

 The 53 cases that are initial refusals and did not receive

a second refusal are those that were coded by

interviewers as hostile and not called for refusal

conversion, those for which refusal conversion attempts

resulted on other outcomes such as maximum calls or

language problems, and those that received their first

refusals during the last few days of data collection when

there was insufficient time to attempt a refusal

conversion. A very small number of cases called NCES

or Westat after receiving the advance letter and indicated

that they did not wish to be called and would not

complete the survey.

introduction. About 61 percent of all cases with

two or more refusals (10,233 of 16,811) received

both their initial and final refusals at the

introduction. Experience monitoring NHES

interviews has shown that in many of these cases

the respondent hangs up without saying anything

during the introduction. It is unclear whether

many of these households are even aware of the

purpose of the call.

Most refusal cases that proceeded further than

the introduction prior to receiving their initial

refusals did not get past the introduction when

receiving their final refusals. In other words, the

subsequent refusals generally occurred earlier

than the initial refusals. For example, of the

2,299 cases that received their initial refusals in

questions preceding the matrix, 1,811 (79

percent) received their final refusals at the

introduction. Similarly, of the 1,281 cases in

which the Screener respondent got as far as the

enumeration matrix prior to giving the first

refusal, 987 (77 percent) gave their final refusals

at the Screener introduction.

Table 6.—Location of initial and final Screener refusals in the 1996 National Household Education Survey

Final refusal

Initial refusal Total Introduction Before

matrix

Enumeration

matrix

After

matrix

Library

questions

Total 16,811 14,237 1,493 475 105 501

Introduction 11,706 10,233 910 240 51 272

Before matrix 2,299 1,811 329 81 17 61

Enumeration matrix 1,281 987 146 109 6 33

After matrix 319 255 25 15 16 8

Library questions 1,206 951 83 30 15 127

NOTE: Includes cases with at least two refusals; total final refusal cases were 16,864.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES), spring 1996.
13

It was relatively uncommon for a refusal to occur

after the enumeration matrix. As mentioned

earlier, the great majority of breakoffs in the

library series occurred when these items were

asked prior to enumeration. Excluding the

library questions from consideration, only 16

cases out of 16,811 received both their initial and

final refusals after the enumeration matrix, and

only 105 of the final refusals (less than 1 percent)

occurred after the matrix.

Screener Administration Time

A topic of considerable interest in the survey

literature is the relationship between the length of

the interview and the response rate. This issue is

of interest in the NHES because the length of the

NHES Screeners varied considerably over the

years (table 7). In the NHES:91 and the

NHES:93, each of which used some type of

screen-out approach,6 the average administration

time was quite short for those households with no

extended interviews (1 to 2 minutes) and

somewhat longer for those households in which

persons were sampled for extended interviews (4

to 6 minutes). In the NHES:91, the household

characteristics were collected at the Screener

level for households in which persons were

 

6 A screen-out approach, as discussed earlier, is one in

which a preliminary question is used to eliminate

households that have no eligible members prior to

enumerating the household members.

sampled, resulting in a longer administration time

than in the NHES:93. In the NHES:95, all

households were fully enumerated. As a result,

the difference in the Screener administration time

for households with and without extended

interviews (2.9 minutes and 3.3 minutes) is not

very large.

In the NHES:96, all households were fully

enumerated, and information on the educational

and demographic characteristics of household

members was collected in the Screener. In

addition, a brief set household characteristics and

questions on public library use by household

members were collected in the Screener if no

child was sampled as the subject of a parent

interview. If any household member was

sampled for an extended interview, household

characteristics and questions on public library

use were collected during the first extended

interview in the household. The average

administration time for the NHES:96 Screener

ranged from 6.3 minutes for households with

extended interviews to 7.7 for households with no

extended interviews. This difference is largely

due to the collection of library items and

household characteristics at the Screener level in

households with no extended interviews.
14

Table 7.—Number of completed Screeners* and mean Screener administration time, by survey year and

 type of extended interviews in the household

Survey year and type

Number of completed

Screeners*

Mean administration

time in minutes

NHES:91

 Total

 Household with no extended interviews

 Households with extended interviews

60,322

31,219

29,103

3.2

1.0

5.7

NHES:93

 Total

 Household with no extended interviews

 Households with extended interviews

63,844

44,426

19,418

2.5

1.8

4.0

NHES:95

 Total

 Household with no extended interviews

 Households with extended interviews

43,987

13,254

30,733

3.2

2.9

3.3

NHES:96

 Total

 Household with no extended interviews

 Households with extended interviews

55,838

33,901

21,937

7.1

7.7

6.3

*Number of completed Screeners is the number for which timing data were available. For the NHES:95, the Expanded

Screener sample is excluded.

NOTE: In the NHES:91, household characteristics were collected in the Screener if a household member was sampled for an

extended interview. In the NHES:96, more information was collected in the Screener for households in which nomembers

were sampled for extended interviews.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES).

Given that the NHES:95 and the NHES:96 both

included full enumeration of all households, the

question arises as to whether the greater length of

the NHES:96 Screener contributed to the

difference of 3.4 percent in the response rates

between these two years (73.3 versus 69.9).

Some information on this can be gleaned from the

test of the Expanded Screener (the form used in

the NHES:96) during the NHES:95 data

collection. In this test, 1,478 Expanded

Screeners were conducted to assess the feasibility

of this approach. The response rates for the

basic NHES:95 Screener and the Expanded

Screener were virtually identical, and very few

Expanded Screener cases broke off after

completing the enumeration matrix (9 out of

1,363 nonresponse cases). This indicates that the

greater length of the Expanded Screener alone

probably does not account for the lower response

rate. An external factor that may have been

related to the difference between the 1995 and

1996 Screener completion rates was the second

of two highly publicized federal government shutdowns that occurred during the first few weeks of

the NHES:96 data collection period, possibly

resulting in negative attitudes toward the

government.
15

NHES:96 Screening Experiment

It is not possible to assess the impact on Screener

response of the approaches to screening and

strategies for maximizing response rates for the

NHES:91 through NHES:96 by merely

comparing the response rates across years. The

survey topics for each year, the elapsed time

between data collections, and other variable

factors make any conclusions from such

comparisons tentative at best. Nor does the

extant survey literature provide the answer.

Most of the relevant literature focuses on

differences between an enumeration approach,

often called a Kish approach (Kish 1949), a lastbirthday approach in which the person with the

most recent birthday is selected (Lavrakas et al.

1993), or an alternating selection of the oldest or

youngest male or female (Troldahr and Carter

1964). Some additional research on surveys

using enumeration focus on whether names

should be collected (Bercini and Massey 1979) or

placement of the enumeration within the survey

(Waksberg 1978). Therefore, an experiment was

conducted during the field test of the NHES:96

(in the summer of 1995) to assess the effect of

the screening approach while holding the survey

content and timing constant. This experiment is

a very valuable source of information on factors

related to response rates.

The screening experiment involved splitting the

sample into four subsamples. One split-half

condition involved the use of a preliminary

screen-out question versus full enumeration of all

households (no screen-out), and one split-half

condition involved the mailing of an advance

letter versus no letter. The two split-half designs

were “crossed” to form four equal quartersamples. The screen-out condition employed a

preliminary question about household

membership. Those households with no members

age 20 or younger were eliminated as ineligible

prior to enumeration of the household members;

in households with members age 20 or younger,

all household members were

enumerated. In the no screen-out condition, all

members of all sampled households were

enumerated. The screen-out and no screen-out

samples were assigned to different interviewing

centers in order to prevent interviewer effects

resulting from contamination. The design and

full results of the experiment are described in

Brick, Collins, and Chandler (forthcoming).

As shown in table 8, the initial cooperation rate 7

for the Screener was higher for the screen-out

condition, whether or not an advance letter was

sent. The initial cooperation rates were 74.4

percent under the screen-out condition and 62.8

percent under the no screen-out condition. Under

the no screen-out condition, the initial

cooperation rate was higher when an advance

letter was sent (65.8 percent versus 59.6

percent). No effect of mailing an advance letter

on initial cooperation rates was observed for the

screen-out condition (74.7 versus 74.1 percent).

The only significant difference in the refusal

conversion rate8 was observed between the

screen-out/no letter condition (38.1 percent) and

the no screen-out/no letter condition (25.5

percent).

Because this experiment did not involve all the

usual NHES calling procedures (such as those

described in table 3), a measure of the expected

Screener response rate under typical NHES

procedures was developed. This is called the

predicted response rate. Table 9 shows the

predicted response rate under various

experimental conditions. The predicted response

rate is the initial cooperation rate for the Screener

multiplied by 1 minus the Screener refusal

conversion rate. Let i be the initial cooperation

rate for the Screener and let r be the refusal

conversion rate for the Screener, then the

predicted response rate is 100{i+(1-r)} percent.

 

7 The initial cooperation rate is the number of interviews

completed prior to refusal conversion attempts (C)

divided by the number of interviews completed plus

initially refused (C+R).

8 The refusal conversion rate is based on cases that were

initially refused, and is the ratio of completed cases, or

converted refusals (C2) divided by the completed cases

plus the cases receiving another refusal (C2+R2).
16

The predicted response rates are higher for the

screen-out condition (82.7 to 84.0 percent) than

the no screen-out condition (69.9 to 75.5

percent), regardless of whether an advance

mailing is used. Under a no screen-out design,

the predicted rate for a design that includes an

advance mailing is higher when an advance

mailing is included in the design.

As noted above, most initial and final refusals to

the Screener occur prior to the enumeration

matrix. Therefore, the lower response rate

cannot

be attributed to respondent reaction to the

enumeration matrix. Most nonrespondents never

even reach the matrix. Given this, the effect of a

full-enumeration design on the response rate may

seem paradoxical. However, the paradox only

pertains if the respondent alone is deemed

responsible for differences in response rates. In

fact, both respondents and interviewers play

important roles in the response rates. The

interaction between the respondent and

interviewer is a very important factor in

obtaining cooperation in a survey.

Table 8.—Number completed and cooperation rates for Screening experiment, by screen-out question 1

 and advance letter

Screener2Screener refusal conversion

Experimental condition Completed Rate t-test Completed Rate t-test

(a) Screen-out/letter

(b) Screen-out/no letter

(c) No screen-out/letter

(d) No screen-out/no letter

802

769

671

572

74.7%

74.1

65.8

59.6

67

83

71

67

31.8%

38.1

28.4

25.5

 Difference (a)-(b)

 Difference (a)-(c)

 Difference (a)-(d)

 Difference (b)-(d)

 Difference (c)-(d)

0.6

8.8

15.0

14.4

6.2

0.3

4.4

7.3

6.9

2.9

-6.3

3.4

6.3

12.6

2.9

-1.4

0.8

1.5

3.0

0.7

(e) Screen-out

(f) No screen-out

74.4

62.8

35.0

26.9

 Difference (e)-(f) 11.5 8.0 8.1 2.7

(g) Letter

(h) No letter

70.4

67.2

29.9

31.2

 Difference (g)-(h) 3.2 2.2 -1.3 -0.4

1A screen-out question is an item that identifies households without any eligible members and is used to eliminate ineligible

households from the study prior to the enumeration matrix.

2Reflects initial cooperation, prior to refusal conversion efforts.

NOTE: t-values equal to or greater than 2.7, shown in bold, are significant at the 95 percent confidence level.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES), field test of the 1996 survey.
17

Table 9.—Predicted response rates in Screener experiment, by screen-out question* and advance letter

Experimental condition

Number of

telephone

number

Initial

cooperation rate

Refusal

conversion rate

Predicted

response rate

Screen-out/letter

Screen-out/no letter

No screen-out/letter

No screen-out/no letter

2,326

2,325

2,325

2,325

74.7%

74.1

65.8

59.6

31.8%

38.1

28.4

25.5

82.7%

84.0

75.5

69.9

Screen-out

No screen-out

4,651

4,650

74.4

62.8

35.0

26.9

83.3

72.8

Letter

No letter

4,651

4,650

70.4

67.2

29.9

31.2

79.2

77.4

*A screen-out question is an item that identifies households without any eligible members and is used to eliminate ineligible

households from the study prior to the enumeration matrix.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES), field test of the 1996 survey.

The interviewer-respondent interaction is heavily

influenced by the interviewer’s perception of the

task. Bercini and Massey (1979) observed

interviewer effects in a study on the placement of

a household roster. While at least half of the

refusals occurred at the introduction, asking for

names in the enumeration was associated with

lower response. Bercini and Massey concluded

that collecting the names of household members

led to a decrease in response “due to a direct

negative effect on interviewer performance.”

More recently, some investigation of interviewer

behavior has been done in relation to in-person

household interviewing. Kessler et al. (1995)

emphasized the importance of “understanding the

attitudes and expectations of both the interviewer

and the potential respondent...” They observe

that successful interviewers “work with a number

of heuristics about human nature, including

norms of helping and basic compliance

principles” (p. 194).

If the interviewer perceives obtaining cooperation

as difficult, which may be the case with a no

screen-out, full-enumeration design, the

interaction with the respondent may be adversely

affected. The interviewer may not approach the

respondent in a positive way and therefore may

fail to establish a rapport that promotes

cooperation. The interviewer’s reaction may be

related to the perceived size of the task (e.g.,

instrument length and the proportion of

households in which lengthy interviews or

multiple interviews must be done) or to the

perceived invasiveness of a full-enumeration

design. The results of the experiment are very

consistent with the hypothesis that the

interviewer-respondent interaction may be a very

important factor in determining the level of

response in an RDD survey.

NHES Extended Interview

Completion and Response Rates

Each NHES data collection included two topical

components in which interviews were conducted

with or about persons sampled within households

(called extended interviews). The completion and

response rates for the extended interviews are

also important determinants of the quality of
18

NHES data. As with the Screener, some

variability has been observed in extended

interview response across survey years. The

extended interview completion rates are generally

higher than Screener response rates in the NHES,

particularly the rates for interviews conducted

with parents of sampled children. Table 10 gives

the completion and response rates for extended

interviews in the NHES:91 through the

NHES:96.

As discussed earlier, the extended interview

response rate in the NHES is the product of the

completion rates for multiple stages of data

collection. For most extended interviews, there

are two stages: the Screener and the extended

interview. For interviews with youth conducted

in the NHES:93 and the NHES:96, there are

three stages: the Screener, the parent interview,

and the youth interview, since the study design

required that parents complete their interviews

and give permission for the youth to be

interviewed prior to conducting the youth

interview.

Interviews with parents of sampled children and

youth have uniformly high completion rates of 89

to 95 percent. Included in this group are the

NHES:91 Early Childhood Education (ECE)

interview, the NHES:93 School Readiness (SR)

interview, the NHES:93 School Safety and

Discipline (SS&D) parent interview, the

NHES:95 Early Childhood Program

Participation (ECPP) interview, and the

NHES:96 Parent/Family Involvement in

Education and Civic Involvement (PFI/CI)

interview. The completion rates for these

components vary somewhat across survey years,

and this minor variation may be associated with

the length of the interview (which is estimated for

the respondent in the introduction to the extended

interview), with differences in the population of

children, or with survey procedures for a

particular year such as the number of interviews

per household or the request to interview youth.

The response rates for the interviews with

parents vary more than completion rates because

they are the product of the Screener completion

rate and the extended

interview completion rate. As a result, the net

response rates for parent interviews in the

NHES:95 and NHES:96 are lower than in the

NHES:91 and NHES:93, reflecting the lower

Screener completion rates in those years.

Interviews with youth were conducted for the

NHES:93 SS&D component and for the

NHES:96 CI component. These interviews have

lower completion rates than the parent

interviews, reflecting the NHES requirement that

the parent interview be completed before the

youth interview is attempted. Some parent

interviews were not completed and some parents

who completed their own interviews declined to

allow an interview with their child. The youth

completion rate was higher in the NHES:93 than

in the NHES:96 (83.0 percent versus 76.4

percent), although the parent completion rates

were similar.9 A more explicit request for parent

permission was included in the NHES:96, and it

may have slightly depressed the youth completion

rate. In addition, it is possible that both parents

and youth found issues associated with school

safety and discipline more salient than civic

involvement, resulting in higher rates of parent

permission and youth cooperation.

Three NHES components involved conducting

interviews with adults about themselves. These

were the Adult Education (AE) interviews of the

NHES:91 and the NHES:95, and the Adult Civic

Involvement (ACI) interview of the NHES:96.

Completion rates for these interviews ranged

from 80.0 to 84.7 percent; the net response rates

vary more, reflecting differences in Screener

response rates. The completion rates for adults

are consistently, although not often substantially,

lower than completion rates for parent

interviews.

 

9

 Youth completion rates can be correctly calculated in two

ways: (1) the product of the screening cooperation rate,

parent cooperation rate, and the cooperation for youth

who had completed parent interviews; or (2) the product

of the screener completion rate and the completion rate

for all sampled youth not dependent on whether the

parent interview is completed.
19

Table 10.—Number of completed interviews and weighted completion and response rates in the NHES, by

survey year and component

Interview type

Number of

completed

interviews Completion rate Response rate

NHES:91

 Screener

 Early Childhood Education

 Adult Education

60,322

13,892

12,568

81.0

94.5

84.7

81.0

76.5

68.6

NHES:93

 Screener

 School Readiness

 School Safety & Discipline

 Parents of 3rd through 5th graders

 Parents of 6th through 12 graders

 6th through 12 graders

63,844

10,888

2,563

10,117

6,504

82.1

89.6

89.4

89.6

83.0

82.1

73.6

73.4

73.6

68.1

NHES:95

 Screener

 Early Childhood Program Participation

 Adult Education

45,465

14,064

19,722

73.3

90.4

80.0

73.3

66.3

58.6

NHES:96

 Screener

 Parent/Family Involvement in Education

 and Civic Involvement

 Youth Civic Involvement

 Adult Civic Involvement

55,838

20,792

8,044

2,250

69.9

89.4

76.4

84.1

69.9

62.5

53.4

58.9

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES).

Some insight into a potential reason for the

difference in completion rates between parents

and other adult respondents can be seen in table

11. If the person selected to respond to the

extended interview was the Screener respondent,

then the person completed the extended interview

at a relatively high rate irrespective of the content

of the interview. For example, in the NHES:95,

the extended interview completion rate for

Screener respondents was 92 percent for parents

in the ECPP component and 91 percent for adults

in the AE component, that is, nearly identical

rates. However, the percentage of the Screener

respondents who were sampled for (or were

respondents for) extended interviews varies

substantially for the components. Parent

respondents for sampled children and youth were

more likely to be Screener respondents than were

sampled adults. For instance, in the NHES:95,

parent respondents for 12,890 out of 15,591

sampled children (83 percent) were the Screener

respondents for their households, compared to

12,916 of the 24,134 sampled adults (54

percent). Similar differences are observed for the

NHES:96. It is worth noting in this context that
20

Table 11.—Extended interview respondent participation by Screener respondent status

Total Participants

Component and respondent Number Percent Number Percent

NHES:95

ECPP parent respondent 15,591 100% 14,064 90%

 was Screener respondent 12,890 83 11,810 92

 was not Screener respondent 2,701 17 2,254 84

AE adult respondent 24,134 100 19,722 80

 was Screener respondent 12,916 54 11,777 91

 was not Screener respondent 11,218 46 7,945 71

NHES:96

PFI/CI parent respondent 23,367 100 20,792 89

 was Screener respondent 19,605 84 17,828 91

 was not Screener respondent 3,762 16 2,964 79

CI adult respondent 2,590 100 2,250 84

 was Screener respondent 1,547 60 1,497 97

 was not Screener respondent 1,043 40 753 72

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey

(NHES).

the Screener respondent is asked to identify the

parent or guardian who knows the most about the

child’s care and education, whereas the sampled

adult is the only eligible respondent for an adult

interview.

There is an important operational difference

behind the disparate completion rates for those

who were and were not Screener respondents for

their households. When the person selected to

respond to an interview is the Screener

respondent, he/she has already made a decision to

cooperate with the study. In addition, as the

Screener respondent, he/she is already on the

telephone with the interviewer, and the extended

interview can be conducted immediately in most

cases. By contrast, if the sampled adult is not the

Screener respondent, the dual tasks of contacting

the person and securing his/her cooperation

remain to be done. These results highlight the

reason why some surveys use proxy respondents

if proxies can provide reliable information about

household members.

The differences in the completion rates for those

who were the Screener respondents versus those

who were not are substantially different for

parents of sampled children and for sampled

adults. In the NHES:95, there is a difference of

about 8 percent for parents (92 versus 84

percent), and a striking difference of about 20

percent for sampled adults (91 versus 71

percent). Again, similar differences are observed

for the NHES:96. It may be that parents,

particularly parents of young children, are more

likely to be at home in the evening and are easier

to reach by telephone. Parents of sampled

children may also find the interviews more salient

than sampled adults. It is also possible that

intra-household communication among adults in

households with children is qualitatively different

than in households without children, so that any

communication between the Screener respondent

and extended interview respondent about the

impending interview is also qualitatively

different.
21

The differential in extended interview completion

rates by Screener respondent status raises the

possibility of using this characteristic in

nonresponse adjustment. The use of

characteristics associated with response

propensity reduces bias in the estimates (Brick

and Kalton 1996). While further research is

necessary before drawing any conclusions on this

issue, it may be that future surveys could benefit

from a nonresponse adjustment based on whether

the intended respondent for the extended

interview was the Screener respondent. Since the

probability of responding appears to be related to

being the Screener respondent, it is possible that

using this knowledge could reduce any bias in the

extended interview estimates due to nonresponse.

Summary

High response rates are critical to the success of

a survey because the potential for nonresponse

bias increases as survey response decreases.

Completion and response rates have varied over

the course of the four cycles of the NHES,

particularly at the screening level. Screener

response rates in the NHES:91 and NHES:93

were about 8 to 13 percent higher than in the

NHES:95 and the NHES:96.

Evidence from the NHES indicates that most

Screener nonresponse results from refusal to

complete the Screener, and that most

nonresponse occurs at the introduction to the

Screener. Very few respondents refuse to

participate after completing the portion of the

Screener in which household members are

enumerated. Among cases that refuse more than

once, the final refusal is even more likely to

occur at the introduction than the initial refusal.

Despite this evidence concerning early refusals at

the Screener level, the extent to which households

are enumerated has been found to be associated

with Screener response rates in the NHES. In the

NHES, greater Screener length is associated with

the extent of enumeration, but cannot be

separately assessed. A reasonable hypothesis is

that there is an interviewer effect that may be an

important determinant of the rates. The way

interviewers perceive their job in terms of

interview length and the intrusiveness of the

interview may have an effect on the ways in

which they interact with respondents and

establish the rapport necessary to secure

cooperation in the survey. The evidence from the

experiment conducted for the NHES:96 supports

this hypothesis.

NHES completion rates at the extended interview

level tend to be high with the exception of Youth

CI interviews in the NHES:96. Completion rates

are particularly high and stable for parent

respondents who are interviewed about sampled

children. While salience may be a factor in this

success, the evidence also indicates that it may be

a function of the fact that parents are more likely

to be Screener respondents for their households

than randomly sampled adults. Since Screener

respondents completed extended interviews at a

high rate irrespective of the topic, the higher

percentage completion rates are obtained, at least

in part, because of this fact. By the time the

Screener was completed and a child sampled as

the subject for the interview, it was highly likely

(83 to 84 percent) that the parent respondent is

on the telephone and cooperating with the study.

By contrast, the probability that a randomly

selected adult is already on the telephone and

cooperating was only 54 to 60 percent in the

NHES:95 and NHES:96. For both parents and

sampled adults, interviews were more likely to be

completed if the target respondent was also the

Screener respondent for his or her household.

The review of the response rates in the four

NHES surveys reveals that there are a number of

factors that must be considered if high response

rates are to be obtained. The objectives of the

survey, the approaches to screening households,

the strategies for maximizing response rates, and

the interactions between the interviewers and the

respondents all play important roles. No single

factor, such as length of the interview, can be

used to predict response rates. All of these

factors must be considered in assessing the

impact of the survey design and procedures on

response rates in RDD surveys.
22

References

Bercini, D.H. and Massey, J.T. (1979). Obtaining the household roster in a telephone survey: The impact

of names and placement on response rates. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association

Section on Social Statistics. Washington, DC: American Statistical Association. p.136-140.

Brick, J.M., Collins, M.A., Celebuski, C.A., Nolin, M.J., Squadere, T.A., Hap, P.C., Wernimont, J., West,

J., Chandler, K. (1992). National Household Education Survey of 1991: Adult and Course

Data File User’s Manual. NCES 92-019. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,

National Center for Education Statistics.

Brick, J.M., Collins, M.A., and Chandler, K.A. (forthcoming) An Experiment in RDD Screening. NCES

97-343. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics.

Collins, M.A., Brick, J.M., Kim, K., Gilmore, S., and Stowe, P. (1996). National Household Education

Survey of 1995: Adult Education Data File User’s Manual. . NCES 96-826. Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

Kessler, R.C., Little, R.J.A., Groves, R.M. (1995). Advances in strategies for minimizing and adjusting

for survey nonresponse. Epidemiological Reviews, 17:192-204.

Kish, L. (1949). A procedure for objective respondent selection within the household. Journal of the

American Statistical Association. 44:380-387.

Lavrakas, P.J., Bauman, S.L., and Merkle, D.M. (1993). The last-birthday method and within-unit

coverage problems. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association Section on Survey

Research Methods. Arlington, VA: American Statistical Association. p. 1107-1112.

Shettle, C.F., Guenther, P.M., Kasryzk, D., and Gonzalez, M.E. (1994). Investigating nonresponse in

federal surveys. Proceedings of American Statistical Association. Alexandria VA: American

Statistical Association p. 972-976.

Troldahr, V.C. and Carter, R.E. (1964). Random selection of respondents within households in phone

surveys. Journal of Marketing Research. 1:71-76.

Waskberg, J. (1978). Sampling methods for random digit dialing Journal of the American Statistical

Association. 78:40-46.
23

For More Information

More detailed information on the NHES methodology is available in the following NCES Technical

Reports and Working Papers.

Technical Reports

Overview of the National Household Education Surveys of 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1996 . (NCES

Publication No. 97-448).

An Experiment in Random-digit-dial Screening. (NCES Publication No. 97-343).

Working Papers

Design, Data Collection, Monitoring, Interview Administration Time, and Data Editing in the 1993

National Household Education Survey. (NCES Working Paper No. 97-04)

Unit and Item Response Rates, Weighting, and Imputation Procedures in the 1993 National Household

Education Survey. (NCES Working Paper No. 97-05)

Design, Data Collection, Interview Administration Time, and Data Editing in the 1995 National

Household Education Survey. (NCES Working Paper No. 97-08)

Unit and Item Response Rates, Weighting, and Imputation Procedures in the 1995 National Household

Education Survey. (NCES Working Paper No. 97-06)

Design, Data Collection, Interview Administration Time, and Data Editing in the 1996 National

Household Education Survey. (forthcoming)

Unit and Item Response Rates, Weighting, and Imputation Procedures in the 1996 National Household

Education Survey. (forthcoming)

Questionnaire Working Papers

1991 National Household Education Survey (NHES:91) Questionnaires: Screener, Early Childhood

Education, and Adult Education. (NCES Working Paper 96-20)

1993 National Household Education Survey (NHES:93) Questionnaires: Screener, School Readiness,

and School Safety and Discipline. (NCES Working Paper 96-21)

1995 National Household Education Survey (NHES:95) Questionnaires: Screener, Early Childhood

Program Participation, and Adult Education. (NCES Working Paper 96-22)
24
25

Appendix

NHES Screeners
26
27

NHES:91 Screener

Hello, this is (NAME). I'm calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. We are conducting a study based

on the President's goals for improving education for children and adults. These questions usually take about 5

minutes.

S1. Before we begin, I'd like to be sure that I've dialed correctly. Is this (TELEPHONE NUMBER )?

YES............................................................................1 (CONTINUE)

NO ............................................................................2 (GO TO S1A)

GO TO RESULT CODE....................................................3

S1A. Thank you very much. It seems that the number has been dialed incorrectly. It is possible that your

number may be called at a later time. [REDIAL]

S2. Is this phone number for ...

Home use only..........................................................1 (GO TO S3)

Business and home use, or.......................................2 (GO TO S3)

Business use only .....................................................3 (STERM1)

STERM1. Thank you very much, but we are only interviewing private residences.

S3. Are you a member of this household at least 16 years old?

YES............................................................................1 (GO TO S4)

NO ............................................................................2 (GO TO S3A)

S3A. May I please speak with a household member who is 16 or older?

AVAILABLE ..................................................................1 (GO TO S3D)

NOT AVAILABLE............................................................2 (SCHEDULE CALLBACK)

THERE ARE NONE ........................................................3 (GO TO S3B)

S3B. May I please speak with the male or female head of this household?

PERSON ON PHONE......................................................1 (CONTINUE)

OTHER PERSON, AVAILABLE..........................................2 (GO TO S3C)

OTHER PERSON, NOT AVAILABLE ...................................3 (SCHEDULE CALLBACK)

S3C. [READ INTRO ] Are you the male or female head-of-household?

YES............................................................................1 (GO TO S4)

NO ............................................................................2 (GO TO S3A)

S3D. [READ INTRO ] Are you a household member at least 16 years old?

YES............................................................................1 (GO TO S4)

NO ............................................................................2 (GO TO S3A)

NOTE: Response categories shown in mixed cases (upper and lower) were read to the respondent by the interviewer. Those

shown in all upper case were not read. Those shown in italics were added during data cleaning (additional codes were created

from among the "specify" responses).

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, responses of "refused" and "don't know" followed the skip pattern for "no."
28

Early Childhood Education Screening Items

We'd first like to ask a few questions about your household.

S4. The Department of Education is very interested in the early educational experiences of children. Are

there any children who live in your household who are between 2 and 9 years old?

YES............................................................................1 (CONTINUE)

NO ............................................................................2 (AINTRO)

S5. Please tell me the ages of the children in your household who are 2 to 9 years old.

[ENTER IN MATRIX : INCLUDE CHILDREN 2 TO 9 YEARS OF AGE ONLY .]

AGE

[2-9]

Is this child

male or female?

[M-F]

Is this child

[READ RACES

BELOW]

Is (he/she) of

Hispanic origin?

[(Y=1/N=2]

What is

(his/her)

first name?

 GENDER RACE HISPANIC

CODES FOR RACE : 1=White, 2=Black, 3=American Indian or Alaskan Native, 4=Asian or Pacific Islander,

91=Another race

CREATE HHRACE VARIABLE FROM INFOR ON FIRST CHILD: IF CHILD IS BLACK OR HISPANIC, THEN HHRACE = 1; ELSE

HHRACE = 2

ASK S6 AND S7 FOR THE FIRST CHILD

S6. Who is the parent or guardian in this household who knows the most about (CHILD'S) care and

education?

NAME 

S7. What is (NAME'S) relationship to (CHILD)?

PARNRELN

NATURAL OR ADOPTIVE MOTHER....................................1

STEPMOTHER/OTHER FEMALE GUARDIAN........................2

NATURAL OR ADOPTIVE FATHER.....................................3

STEPFATHER/OTHER MALE GUARDIAN ............................4

GRANDPARENT............................................................5

BROTHER/SISTER ........................................................6

OTHER RELATIVE .........................................................7

NONRELATIVE..............................................................8

ASK S8, S8A, AND S9 FOR ADDITIONAL CHILD
29

S8. Who is the parent or guardian in this household who knows the most about (CHILD'S) care and

education?

NAME 

S9. What is (NAME'S) relationship to (CHILD)?

PARNRELN

NATURAL OR ADOPTIVE MOTHER....................................1

STEPMOTHER/OTHER FEMALE GUARDIAN........................2

NATURAL OR ADOPTIVE FATHER.....................................3

STEPFATHER/OTHER MALE GUARDIAN ............................4

GRANDPARENT............................................................5

BROTHER/SISTER ........................................................6

OTHER RELATIVE .........................................................7

NONRELATIVE..............................................................8

S8A. [ASK IF NOT OBVIOUS ] Is this the same parent or guardian who knows about (PREVIOUS

CHILD/CHILDREN'S) care and education?

YES............................................................................1 (GO TO S9)

NO ............................................................................2 (GO TO S8)

GO TO S8 FOR NEXT CHILD OR IF HH IS SAMPLED, GO TO AINTRO AFTER LAST CHILD; IF HH IS NOT SAMPLED GO TO

ADDPERS1
30

Adult Education Screening Items

AINTRO. We are also interested in knowing about the educational activities of people 16 years old and older.

IF S4 = 1, GO TO S10A, ELSE ASK A10AA

S10AA. First, are there any people who normally live in your household who are under the age of 70?

YES............................................................................1

NO ............................................................................2

S10A. What is your age?

AGE

S10B. Are you . . .

White ........................................................................1

Black ........................................................................2

American Indian or Alaskan Native, or ......................3

Asian or Pacific Islander?..........................................4

OTHER (SPECIFY).......................................................91

S10C. Are you of Hispanic origin?

YES............................................................................1

NO ............................................................................2

IF RESPONDENT IS BLACK OR HISPANIC, HHRACE = 1; ELSE HHRACE = 2

IF HOUSEHOLD IS SAMPLED FOR ADULT EDUCATION COMPONENT, ASK S10D AND COPY INFORMATION ON RESPONDENT

INTO THE MATRIX

IF HOUSEHOLD IS NOT SAMPLED FOR ADULT EDUCATION, AND HAS CHILDREN, GO TO S17

IF HOUSEHOLD IS NOT SAMPLED AND HAS NO CHILDREN, GO TO STERM2

S10D. What is your first name?

NAME 

S10E. [IF NOT KNOWN ] Are you . . . .

Male, or ....................................................................1

Female .....................................................................2
31

S11. Please tell me the ages of the (other) people in your household who are 16 or older, including anyone

who is living in student housing.

AGE

[16-110]

Is this adult

male or female?

[M-F]

Is this adult

[READ RACES

BELOW]

Is (he/she) of

Hispanic origin?

[(Y=1/N=2]

What is

(his/her)

first name?

CODES FOR RACE : 1=White, 2=Black, 3=American Indian or Alaskan Native, 4=Asian or Pacific Islander,

91=Another race

ASK S12INTRO THROUGH S14 FOR EACH ADULT

Now I am going to ask you some questions about ((NAME/AGE/SEX'S)/YOUR) participation in three kinds of

educational activities over the past year: full-time school, part-time school, and all other kinds of adult education.

S12INTRO. First, (has (NAME)/have you) been enrolled as a full-time student in any kind of school, training

program, or other educational program in the past 12 months, that is since (INTERVIEW MONTH ), 1990?

YES............................................................................1

NO ............................................................................2

IF S12=1 THEN ASK S12A, OTHERWISE SKIP TO S13

S12A. In which of the following types of full-time educational programs (was (NAME/AGE/SEX)/were you)

enrolled?

(VERIFY: PAST 12 MONTHS ONLY )

YES NO

a. An elementary school, junior high school,

 or high school program? ..................................1 2

b. A program leading to an associate's degree? ....1 2

c. A program leading to a bachelor's or

more advanced degree? ...................................1 2

d. A vocational or occupational training program

after completing or leaving high school? ...........1 2

e. An adult literacy or basic skills program?...........1 2

f. An English as a Second Language (ESL)

program? ..........................................................1 2

g. Some other program? .......................................1 2

(SPECIFY) ____________
32

IF S12A-CATEGORY A=1 THEN ASK S12B, OTHERWISE SKIP TO S13

S12B. (Is (NAME/AGE/SEX)/Are you) currently enrolled as a full-time student in an elementary school, junior

high school, or high school program?

YES............................................................................1

NO ............................................................................2

IF S12B=1 THEN DISCONTINUE SERIES

S13. [In addition to (his/her/your) full-time studies] (Has (NAME/AGE/SEX)/Have you) been enrolled as a

part-time student at a college or university in an associate's, bachelor's, or graduate degree program,

in the past 12 months?

YES............................................................................1

NO ............................................................................2

S14. Now I'm going to read you a short list of other kinds of adult education. [Not counting (full-time

school) (or) (part-time courses taken for credit toward a degree)] Please tell me whether

((NAME/AGE/SEX) has/you have) been involved in any of these in the past 12 months.

YES NO

a. Continuing education courses or noncredit

courses? 1 2

b. Courses by mail, television, radio or

newspaper? 1 2

c. Private instruction or tutoring? 1 2

d. Educational or training activities given by

an employer, labor organization, neighborhood

center, church, or community group? 1 2

e. Instruction in basic skills such as math,

or reading and writing English? 1 2

f. Instruction in English as a Second

Language? 1 2

g. Or, any other organized educational activities?

Please describe: _____________ 1 2

ADDPERS1. Now I'd like to verify what I have recorded. I have listed (NUMBER) 2-9 year olds. Is this information

correct?

YES............................................................................1

NO ............................................................................2

IF HH WAS NOT SAMPLED, GO TO S17
33

ADDPERS2. I have listed (NUMBER) adults. Is this information correct?

YES............................................................................1

NO ............................................................................2

IF HOUSEHOLD HAS SAMPLED ADULTS, ASK S15 AND S16 FOR ALL ADULTS WHO ARE NOT THE SCREENER RESPONDENT.

S15. Is (NAME) living there, in student housing, or somewhere else?

HERE .........................................................................1 (GO TO S17)

STUDENT HOUSING [That is, school sponsored

 housing such as a dormitory. Please include

 all housing sponsored, owned, or leased

 by the school.] ........................................................2 (GO TO S16)

OTHER PRIVATE HOME OR APARTMENT...........................3 (INELIGIBLE)

INSTITUTION OR GROUP QUARTERS - INCLUDES

 JAIL/DETENTION CENTER, MEDICAL FACILITY,

 REHABILITATION CENTER, MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY,

 MILITARY BARRACKS, GROUP FOSTER CARE ..................4 (INELIGIBLE)

S16. Would you please give me (his/her) last name and telephone number so that we can call (him/her) to

talk about (his/her) educational experiences?

LAST NAME 

PHONE 
34

Household Characteristics

Now I have a few questions about your household.

S17. What is the total number of people living in your household, including all children and adults?

NUMPERS NUMBER..........................................

S18. In what county do you live?

COUNTY 

S19. What kind of home do you live in? Is it . . .

HOMETYPE A single family house or townhouse ..........................1

An apartment, or.......................................................2

Some other type of home..........................................3

S20. Do you . . .

OWNHOME Own your home ........................................................1

Rent your home, or ..................................................2

Have some other arrangement..................................3

S21. In addition to (NUMBER CALLED ), do you have other phone numbers in your household?

YES............................................................................1 (GO TO S21A)

NO ............................................................................2 (GO TO S22)

S21A. How many of these other phone numbers are used at least in part for home use?

NUMBER ..................................................................

S22. In studies like this, households are sometimes grouped according to income. Can you tell me which

group best describes an estimate of the total income of all persons in your household over the past

year. Please include income from all sources, such as salaries or other earnings, interest, retirement,

and so on for all household members. Is your household income . . .

$25,000 or less, or ....................................................1 (READ SET 1)

more than $25,000....................................................2 (READ SET 2)

S22A (Was it/Which of the following ranges includes your household income?)

[SET 1]

INCOMRNG $5,000 or less ...........................................................1

$5,001 to $10,000 .....................................................2

$10,001 to $15,000 ...................................................3

$15,001 to $20,000 ...................................................4

$20,001 to $25,000 ...................................................5
35

[SET 2]

$25,001 to $30,000 ...................................................6

$30,001 to $40,000 ...................................................7

$40,001 to $50,000 ...................................................8

$50,001 to $75,000 ...................................................9

over $75,000...........................................................10

IF EXTENDED INTERVIEWS ARE TO BE DONE:

INTERVIEWER IDENTIFIES RESPONDENT ON "SID" SCREEN;

GO TO HHSELECT1 TO SELECT AVAILABLE RESPONDENT FOR INTERVIEW

IF HH HAS NO CHILDREN AND WAS NOT SAMPLED FOR ADULT ED, OR IF HH HAS NO CHILDREN AND WAS SAMPLED FOR

ADULT ED BUT NO EXTENDEDS, READ STERM2.

STERM2. Those are all the questions I have about your household. Thank you very much for your assistance.

________________________

1HHSELECT is a CATI screen used to identify interviews to be completed in a given household and the respondent for each interview.
36
37

NHES:93 Screener

S1. Hello, this is (INTERVIEWER ) and I'm calling for the U.S. Department of Education. Is this phone

number for...

Home use, ........................................................................... 1 (CONTINUE)

Home and business use, or.................................................. 2 (CONTINUE)

Business use only? .............................................................. 3 (GO TO THANK 1)

NONWORKING , DISCONNECTED OR CHANGED ............................ 4

GO TO RESULT CODES ............................................................. 5 (INITIAL REFUSAL )

RETRY AUTODIALER ................................................................R

S2. We are conducting a voluntary and confidential study based on the President's and

Governors' goals for improving education. These questions usually take about 5 minutes.

Are you a member of this household and at least 18?

YES....................................................................................... 1 (GO TO S5A)

NO........................................................................................ 2 (GO TO S3)

GO TO RESULT ....................................................................... 3 (GO TO RESULT , INITIAL REFUSAL )

[HOUSEHOLD (HH) MEMBERS INCLUDE PEOPLE WHO THINK OF THIS HH AS THEIR PRIMARY PLACE OF RESIDENCE . IT INCLUDES

PERSONS WHO USUALLY STAY IN THE HH BUT ARE TEMPORARILY AWAY ON BUSINESS , VACACTION , IN A HOSPITAL , OR LIVING

AT SCHOOL IN A DORM , FRATERNITY OR SORORITY .]

S3. May I please speak with a household member who is at least 18?

AVAILABLE ............................................................................. 1 (GO TO S4)

NOT AVAILABLE ....................................................................... 2 (GO TO RESULT ; CALLBACK APPT )

NO ONE IN HH AT LEAST 18 ...................................................... 3 (GO TO S5A)

GO TO RESULT ....................................................................... 4 (INITIAL REFUSAL )

S4. Hello, this is (INTERVIEWER ) and I'm calling for the U.S. Department of Education. We are

conducting a voluntary and confidential study based on the President's and Governors' goals for

improving education. These questions usually take about 5 minutes.

Are you a member of this household and at least 18 years old?

YES....................................................................................... 1

NO........................................................................................ 2

GO TO RESULT ....................................................................... 3
38

S5A. The Department of Education is very interested in people's educational experiences. Are any of

the people who normally live in your household 18 or younger?

YES....................................................................................... 1 (GO TO S6)

NO........................................................................................ 2 (GO TO S5B)

GO TO RESULT ....................................................................... 3 (INITIAL REFUSAL )

S5B. Are there any people who live in your household who are enrolled in 12th grade or below?

YES....................................................................................... 1 (GO TO S6)

NO........................................................................................ 2 (GO TO BOX)

GO TO RESULT ....................................................................... 3 (INITIAL REFUSAL )

If S5A = no and S5B = no, go to THANK2.

S6. Starting with yourself, please tell me the ages and first names of all people who normally live in

your household.

How old is

(he/she)?

What is

(his/her)

first name?

Is this person

male or

female?

[M-F]

Screener

respondent

AGE1-AGE9

ERESPAGE

SEX

SEX1-SEX9

ERESPSEX

S6OVERF1. [VERIFY THE NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS ]

NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS IN MATRIX CORRECT .............. 1

RETURN TO MATRIX ................................................................. 2

GO TO RESULT ....................................................................... 3

S6VERF2. Have we missed anyone else who usually lives here but is temporarily away on business or

vacation, or living in school housing, such as a dorm?

NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS IN MATRIX CORRECT .............. 1 (GO TO BOX)

RETURN TO MATRIX ................................................................. 2 (RETURN TO MATRIX )

GO TO RESULT ....................................................................... 3 (GO TO RESULT )

If the only household members enumerated

above are age 0 to 2 or age 22 and older, go to

THANK3.

Ask S7-S10 for each person age 3 to age 21.
39

S7. [Are you/Is (CHILD)] attending or enrolled in school?

YES....................................................................................... 1 (GO TO S9)

NO........................................................................................ 2 (GO TO BOX BEFORE S8)

If S7 = no and age => 8, child is ineligible.

Ask S8 if child is age 5, 6, or 7. If age = 3 or 4, go to

next child or if none, go to sampling point.

S8. Is (CHILD) having home schooling or tutoring, or going to an alternative educational program?

YES....................................................................................... 1 (GO TO S10)

NO........................................................................................ 2 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

S9. What grade or year of school is [(CHILD)/are you] attending?

[PROBE FOR T OR P : Is that before or after kindergarten?]

NURSERY/PRESCHOOL /PREKINDERGARTEN ................................N (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN (BEFORE K) ................................T (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

KINDERGARTEN ......................................................................K (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

PREFIRST GRADE (AFTER K).....................................................P (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

FIRST GRADE ......................................................................... 1 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

SECOND GRADE ...................................................................... 2 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

THIRD GRADE ......................................................................... 3 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

FOURTH GRADE ...................................................................... 4 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

FIFTH GRADE .......................................................................... 5 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

SIXTH GRADE ......................................................................... 6 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

SEVENTH GRADE .................................................................... 7 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

EIGHTH GRADE ....................................................................... 8 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

NINTH GRADE /FRESHMAN......................................................... 9 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

TENTH GRADE /SOPHOMORE ................................................... 10 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

ELEVENTH GRADE /JUNIOR...................................................... 11 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

TWELFTH GRADE /SENIOR....................................................... 12 (GO TO NEXT CHILD )

UNGRADED ELEMENTARY /SECONDARY .................................... 13 (GO TO S10)

SPECIAL EDUCATION ............................................................. 14 (GO TO S10)

VOCATIONAL /TECHNICAL AFTER HS ......................................... 15 (INELIGIBLE, GO TO NEXT CHILD )

COLLEGE ................................................................................. 16 (INELIGIBLE, GO TO NEXT

CHILD

[IF T: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "kindergarten."

IF P: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "prefirst grade."]
40

S10. What grade would [(CHILD)/you] be attending if (he/she/you) were in a school with regular grades?

[PROBE FOR T OR P : Is that before or after kindergarten?]

NURSERY/PRESCHOOL /PREKINDERGARTEN ................................N

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN (BEFORE K)................................T

KINDERGARTEN ......................................................................K

PREFIRST GRADE (AFTER K).....................................................P

FIRST GRADE ......................................................................... 1

SECOND GRADE ...................................................................... 2

THIRD GRADE ......................................................................... 3

FOURTH GRADE ...................................................................... 4

FIFTH GRADE .......................................................................... 5

SIXTH GRADE ......................................................................... 6

SEVENTH GRADE .................................................................... 7

EIGHTH GRADE ....................................................................... 8

NINTH GRADE /FRESHMAN......................................................... 9

TENTH GRADE /SOPHOMORE ................................................... 10

ELEVENTH GRADE /JUNIOR...................................................... 11

TWELFTH GRADE /SENIOR....................................................... 12

UNGRADED /NO EQUIVALENT ................................................... 13

[IF T: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "kindergarten."

IF P: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "prefirst grade."]

Go to next child; if none, go to sampling point.

Sampling Point:

Select children for School Readiness and

School Safety and Discipline components.

If no one is selected, go to THANK4.

Ask S11 and S12 for each sampled child if only 1

household member => 16, auto code S11.

S11. Who is the parent or guardian in this household who knows the most about (CHILD'S) (care and)

education? [DISPLAY HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS 16 AND OLDER . IF THERE IS NO PARENT /GUARDIAN IN THE

HOUSEHOLD , ENTER THE PERSON NUMBER OF YOUTH RESPONDENT .]

PERSON NUMBER ................................................................

[IF RESPONDENT SAYS BOTH PARENTS KNOW : The computer has selected (CHILD'S) mother for the

interview. What is her name?]
41

If person number at S11 = person number of sampled

youth, auto code S12 SELF and go to box after S13.

S12. What is (NAME'S) relationship to (CHILD)?

ERESRELN

MOTHER (BIRTH/ADOPTIVE/STEP/FOSTER) ....................................................1

FATHER (BIRTH/ADOPTIVE/STEP/FOSTER).....................................................2

BROTHER/SISTER ......................................................................................3

GRANDPARENT ..........................................................................................4

OTHER RELATIVE .......................................................................................5

NONRELATIVE ............................................................................................6

SELF ...................................................................................................7 (NOT SHOWN ON SCREEN )

If S12 = 1 or 2, ask S13. Else, go to next child; if none, go

to sampling point.

S13. (Are you/Is that) (CHILD'S) ...

EPARTYPE

MOMTYPE Birth (mother/father)...................................................................1

DADTYPE Adoptive (mother/father).............................................................2

Step (mother/father), or..............................................................3

Foster (mother/father) ................................................................4

GO TO HHSELECT

SCREEN TO

SELECT INTERVIEW

THANK1. Thank you, but we are only interviewing in private residences.

THANK2. Thank you, but we are only interviewing in households with members 18 or younger or enrolled

in 12th grade or below.

THANK3. Thank you, but we are only asking about children and youth in certain age or grade ranges.

THANK4. Thank you, but no one in your household has been selected for this study.
42
43

NHES:95 Basic Screener

S1. Hello, my name is (INTERVIEWER) and I'm calling for the U.S. Department of Education. We are

conducting a voluntary and confidential study about the educational experiences of both adults and

children. These first questions usually take about 5 minutes. Are you a member of this household

and at least 18 years old?

YES............................................................................1 (GO TO S5)

NO .............................................................................2 (GO TO S2)

BUSINESS....................................................................3 (GO TO S5)

GO TO RESULT ..........................................................GT

RETRY AUTODIALER...................................................RT

S2. May I please speak with a household member who is at least 18 years old?

AVAILABLE...................................................................1 (GO TO S1)

NOT AVAILABLE ............................................................2 (GO TO RESULT, CALLBACK APPT.)

THERE ARE NONE.........................................................3 (GO TO S3)

GO TO RESULT ..........................................................GT

S3. May I please speak with the male or female head of this household?

PERSON ON PHONE ......................................................1 (GO TO S5)

OTHER PERSON, AVAILABLE...........................................2 (GO TO S4)

OTHER PERSON, NOT AVAILABLE....................................3 (GO TO RESULT, CALLBACK APPT.)

GO TO RESULT ..........................................................GT

S4. Hello, this is (INTERVIEWER) and I'm calling for the U.S. Department of Education. We are

conducting a voluntary and confidential study about the educational experiences of both adults and

children. This study will help the Department of Education plan educational programs in the U.S.

These first questions usually take about 5 minutes. Are you a head of this household?

YES............................................................................1 (GO TO S5)

NO .............................................................................2 (GO TO S3)

GO TO RESULT ..........................................................GT

S5. I would like to confirm that this number is for home use rather than only used for business.

(Is this a home phone?)

HOME USE...................................................................1 (CONTINUE)

HOME AND BUSINESS USE..............................................2 (CONTINUE)

BUSINESS USE ONLY.....................................................3 (GO TO THANK1)

GO TO RESULT ..........................................................GT
44

S6. Starting with yourself, please tell me just the first names and ages of all people who

normally live in your household. What is your first name, please?

[HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS INCLUDE PEOPLE WHO THINK OF THIS HOUSEHOLD AS THEIR PRIMARY PLACE OF

RESIDENCE. IT INCLUDES PERSONS WHO USUALLY STAY IN THE HOUSEHOLD BUT ARE TEMPORARILY AWAY

ON BUSINESS, VACATION, IN A HOSPITAL, OR LIVING AT SCHOOL IN A DORMITORY, FRATERNITY, OR

SORORITY.]

What is [your first

name/the first name

of the next person?]

How old [are you/is

(he/she)]?

Is this person male or

female? SCREENER

RESPONDENT

MOMAGE

DADAGE

AGE1-AGE13

ERESPAGE

SEX

SEX1-SEX13

ERESPSEX

S6VERF1. [VERIFY THE NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS LISTED ON THE MATRIX.]

Have we missed anyone else who usually lives here who is temporarily away from home or living

in a dorm at school, or any babies or small children?

MATRIX CORRECT....................................................... 1

RETURN TO MATRIX .................................................... 2

GO TO RESULT ........................................................... 3

Ask S7-S10 for each person age 3-10 and age 16-19. If

none, go to 2nd box after S10.

S7. Is (PERSON) attending (school/nursery school, kindergarten, or school)?

YES.......................................................................... 1 (GO TO BOX)

NO ........................................................................... 2 (GO TO BOX)

Ask S8 for each person age 5-10. Else, if person is age 3 or

4 or age 16-19 and enrolled in school, go to S9. Else, if not

enrolled in school, go to first box after S10.

S8. (READ FIRST TIME: Some parents decide to educate their children at home rather than sending

them to school.) Is (CHILD) being schooled at home?

YES.......................................................................... 1 (GO TO S10)

NO ........................................................................... 2 (GO TO BOX)

If person is enrolled in school, ask S9. Else go to 1st box

after S10.
45

S9. What grade or year is (PERSON) attending?

[PROBE FOR T OR P: Is that before or after kindergarten?]

NURSERY/PRESCHOOL/PREKINDERGARTEN/HEAD START N (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN (BEFORE K)................... T (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

KINDERGARTEN......................................................... K (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

PREFIRST GRADE (AFTER K)........................................ P (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

FIRST GRADE............................................................ 1 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

SECOND GRADE ........................................................ 2 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

THIRD GRADE ........................................................... 3 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

FOURTH GRADE ........................................................ 4 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

FIFTH GRADE ............................................................ 5 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

SIXTH GRADE............................................................ 6 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

SEVENTH GRADE....................................................... 7 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

EIGHTH GRADE ......................................................... 8 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

NINTH GRADE/FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL ................... 9 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

TENTH GRADE/SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL ............... 10 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

ELEVENTH GRADE/JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL ................. 11 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

TWELFTH GRADE/SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL .................. 12 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

UNGRADED ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY..........................U (GO TO S10)

SPECIAL EDUCATION...................................................S (GO TO S10)

VOCATIONAL/TECHNICAL AFTER HIGH SCHOOL ............. 15 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

COLLEGE (UNDERGRADUATE)................................................. 16 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

GRADUATE, PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL....................................... 17 (GO TO BOX AFTER S10)

[IF T: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "kindergarten."

IF P: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "prefirst grade."]

S10. What grade would (PERSON) be in if (he/she) were (attending school/attending a school with

regular grades)?

[PROBE FOR T OR P: Is that before or after kindergarten?]

NURSERY/PRESCHOOL/PREKINDERGARTEN/HEAD START N

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN (BEFORE K) .................. T

KINDERGARTEN......................................................... K

PREFIRST GRADE (AFTER K) ....................................... P

FIRST GRADE ............................................................ 1

SECOND GRADE ........................................................ 2

THIRD GRADE............................................................ 3

FOURTH GRADE......................................................... 4

FIFTH GRADE ............................................................ 5

SIXTH GRADE ............................................................ 6

SEVENTH GRADE....................................................... 7

EIGHTH GRADE.......................................................... 8

NINTH GRADE/FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL.................... 9

TENTH GRADE/SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL .............. 10

ELEVENTH GRADE/JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL.................. 11

TWELFTH GRADE/SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL................... 12

UNGRADED/NO EQUIVALENT.........................................U

VOCATIONAL/TECHNICAL AFTER HIGH SCHOOL ............. 15

COLLEGE (UNDERGRADUATE) .................................... 16

GRADUATE, PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL........................... 17

[IF T: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "kindergarten."

IF P: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "prefirst grade."]

Ask S7-S10 for next person age 3-10 or 16-19.
46

After last person, go to next box.

For splice sample, go to the sampling point.

Else, ask S11 and S12 for each person age 16 and older who

is not currently enrolled in grade 12 or below, ungraded

elementary or secondary, or special education.

S11. Now I have a few questions about [you/you and the other adult(s) in your household].

[Do you/Does (ADULT)] have a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a GED?

YES ......................................................................... 1

NO........................................................................... 2

S12. During the past 12 months [did you/did (ADULT)] take classes, programs, courses,

workshops, or seminars of any kind for any reason?

YES ......................................................................... 1

NO........................................................................... 2

After last adult, go to next box.

Sampling Point:

Select children and adults for extended interviews.

If any children are selected, go to next box.

If adults only are selected, go to box after S14.

If no one is selected, go to THANK2.

Ask S13 and S14 for each sampled child.

If there is only 1 household member 12 years old or older,

autocode S13 to this adult.

S13. We would like to ask some questions about (CHILD'S) (care and) education. [IF SCREENER

RESPONDENT IS OBVIOUSLY CHILD'S MOTHER, INSTEAD OF READING QUESTION, VERIFY

RELATIONSHIP AND ENTER HER PERSON NUMBER.] Who is the parent or guardian in this

household who knows the most about (CHILD'S) (care and) education?

[DISPLAY HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS 12 AND OLDER.]

PERSON NUMBER ...................................................

S14. What is [your/(CAREGIVER'S) relationship to (CHILD)?

ERESRELN MOTHER (BIRTH/ADOPTIVE/STEP/FOSTER)..................... 1

FATHER (BIRTH/ADOPTIVE/STEP/FOSTER)...................... 2

BROTHER/SISTER ....................................................... 3

GRANDPARENT........................................................... 4

OTHER RELATIVE........................................................ 5

NONRELATIVE ............................................................ 6
47

Ask S15 for sampled adults other than the Screener

respondent who are enrolled in college, graduate school, or

vocational/technical school after high school and are age 16

to 19, or are age 20 to 25. For other sampled adults, go to

S17.

S15. Is (ADULT) living there, in student housing, or somewhere else?

HERE ........................................................................ 1 (GO TO S17)

STUDENT HOUSING [This includes all housing owned,

 sponsored, or leased by the school such as a

 dormitory or fraternity or sorority house.] ............... 2 (GO TO S16)

OTHER PRIVATE HOME OR APARTMENT.......................... 3 (INELIGIBLE)

INSTITUTION OR GROUP QUARTERS [THIS INCLUDES

 A JAIL OR DETENTION CENTER, MEDICAL FACILITY,

 REHABILITATION CENTER, MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY,

 MILITARY BARRACKS, OR GROUP FOSTER CARE.].......... 4 (INELIGIBLE)

S16. Would you please give me (his/her) last name and telephone number so that we can call

(him/her) to talk about (his/her) educational experiences?

LAST NAME 

PHONE 

S17. [Are you/Is (ADULT)] currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces?

[DO NOT INCLUDE RESERVES OR NATIONAL GUARD.]

YES ........................................................................... 1 (INELIGIBLE)

NO............................................................................. 2 (GO TO BOX)

Go to HHSELECT screen to select interview

THANK1. Thank you, but we are only interviewing in private residences.

THANK2. Thank you, but no one in your household has been selected for this study.
48
25

NHES:96 Screener/Household & Library Interview

S1. Hello, this is (INTERVIEWER) and I'm calling about a research study sponsored by the United

States Department of Education. Are you a member of this household and at least 18

years old?

*

YES ................................................................................... 1 (GO TO S4)

NO..................................................................................... 2 (GO TO S2)

PROBABLE BUSINESS ........................................................... 3 (GO TO S4)

GO TO RESULT ................................................................. GT

S2. May I please speak with a household member who is at least 18 years old?

* AVAILABLE.......................................................................... 1 (GO TO S1)

NOT AVAILABLE ................................................................... 2 (GO TO RESULT, CALLBACK

APPT.)

THERE ARE NONE ................................................................ 3 (GO TO S3A)

GO TO RESULT ................................................................. GT

S3A. May I please speak with the male or female head of this household?

* PERSON ON PHONE.............................................................. 1 (GO TO S4)

OTHER PERSON, AVAILABLE.................................................. 2 (GO TO S3B)

OTHER PERSON, NOT AVAILABLE ........................................... 3 (GO TO RESULT,

CALLBACK APPT.)

GO TO RESULT ................................................................. GT

S3B. Hello, this is (INTERVIEWER) and I'm calling about a research study sponsored by the United

States Department of Education. Are you a head of this household?

*

YES ................................................................................... 1 (GO TO S4)

NO..................................................................................... 2 (GO TO S3A)

GO TO RESULT ................................................................. GT

S4. Is this phone used for...

* Home use,........................................................................ 1 (CONTINUE)

Home and business use, or............................................... 2 (CONTINUE)

Business use only?........................................................... 3 (GO TO THANK1)

GO TO RESULT ................................................................. GT

For Parent/Youth Interview, read SCRN_20.

For Adult CI Interview, read PRE_LIB.

__________________________________

NOTE: Response categories shown in mixed cases (upper and lower) are read to the respondent by the interviewer. Those shown in all

upper case are not read.

Variables designated by /R appear on the restricted file only.

Questions designated by * do not appear on either the public or restricted data files. They were used for administrative,

verification, or coding purposes only.
26

SCRN_20. The U.S. Department of Education is conducting a voluntary and confidential study about

the educational experiences of children and how they learn about their communities and

government. We are also interested in how all households use public libraries. Are any of

the people who normally live in your household age 20 or younger?

SUNDR21 YES ................................................................................... 1 (READ STMT1)

NO..................................................................................... 2 (READ STMT2)

GO TO RESULT ................................................................. GT

STMT 1. These next questions are about the people in your household and usually take 5 to 7

minutes. (GO TO S6.)

STMT 2. Then I just have a few questions about libraries and about the people in your household.

They usually take 5 to 7 minutes. (GO TO LINTRO.)

PRE_LIB. The U.S. Department of Education is conducting a voluntary and confidential study about

how people use public libraries and how they learn about their communities and

government. These questions usually take 10 to 15 minutes. First, I'd like to ask about

libraries. (GO TO LINTRO.)

PRE_S6. Now I'd like to ask about the people in your household and their education and background.

S6. Starting with yourself, please tell me just the first names and ages of all the people who

normally live in your household. What is your first name, please?

[HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS INCLUDE PEOPLE WHO THINK OF THIS HOUSEHOLD AS THEIR PRIMARY PLACE

OF RESIDENCE. IT INCLUDES PERSONS WHO USUALLY STAY IN THE HOUSEHOLD BUT ARE

TEMPORARILY AWAY ON BUSINESS, VACATION, IN A HOSPITAL, OR LIVING AT SCHOOL IN A DORM,

FRATERNITY, OR SORORITY.]

What is

[your first

name/the first

name of the

next person]?

How old

[are you/

is (he/she)]?

Is this person

male or

female?

SCREENER

RESPONDENT

* HHAGE1-

HHAGE16

AGE

MOMAGE

DADAGE

HHSEX1-

HHSEX16

SEX

*
27

S6VERF1. [VERIFY THE NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS LISTED ON THE MATRIX.] Have we missed anyone

else who usually lives here who is temporarily away from home or living in a dorm at

school, or any babies or small children?

MATRIX CORRECT................................................................ 1

RETURN TO MATRIX ............................................................. 2

GO TO RESULT ................................................................. GT

If AGE >= 3 (person age 3 or older), ask SX7. Else, go to box

after SX7.

SX7. [Are you/Is (PERSON)] attending (or enrolled in) (school/nursery school, kindergarten, or

school)?

SENROL1- YES ................................................................................... 1

SENROL16 NO ................................................................................... 2

If AGE >= 18 (person age 18 or older), autocode SX8 = 2 (not

home schooled) and go to box after SX8. Else, if AGE = 5-

17, ask SX8. Else, if SX7 = 1 (person is enrolled in school),

go to SX9. Else, go to first box after SX12.

SX8. (READ FIRST TIME: Some parents decide to educate their children at home rather than

sending them to school.) Is (CHILD) being schooled at home?

SHOMSC1-

SHOMSC16 YES ................................................................................... 1 (GO TO SX8A)

NO ................................................................................... 2 (GO TO BOX AFTER

SX8A)

SX8A. So your child is being schooled at home instead of at school?

* YES ................................................................................... 1 (GO TO SX10)

NO ................................................................................... 2 (RECODE SX8 = 2 AND GO TO BOX)

If SX7 = 1 (person is enrolled in school), go to SX9.

Else, go to first box after SX12.
28

SX9. What grade or year of school [are you/is (PERSON)] attending?

[PROBE FOR T OR P: Is that before or after kindergarten?]

SGRADE1-

SGRADE16 NURSERY/PRESCHOOL/PREKINDERGARTEN/HEAD START......... N (GO TO SX11)

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN (BEFORE K)............................ T (GO TO SX11)

KINDERGARTEN.................................................................. K (GO TO SX11)

PREFIRST GRADE (AFTER K)................................................. P (GO TO SX11)

FIRST GRADE ..................................................................... 1 (GO TO SX11)

SECOND GRADE ................................................................. 2 (GO TO SX11)

THIRD GRADE..................................................................... 3 (GO TO SX11)

FOURTH GRADE.................................................................. 4 (GO TO SX11)

FIFTH GRADE ..................................................................... 5 (GO TO SX11)

SIXTH GRADE ..................................................................... 6 (GO TO SX11)

SEVENTH GRADE................................................................ 7 (GO TO SX11)

EIGHTH GRADE................................................................... 8 (GO TO SX11)

NINTH GRADE/FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL............................. 9 (GO TO SX11)

TENTH GRADE/SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL ........................ 10 (GO TO SX11)

ELEVENTH GRADE/JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL........................... 11 (GO TO SX11)

TWELFTH GRADE/SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL............................ 12 (GO TO SX11)

UNGRADED ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY...................................U (GO TO SX10)

SPECIAL EDUCATION ............................................................S (GO TO SX10)

VOCATIONAL/TECHNICAL AFTER HIGH SCHOOL ...................... 15 (GO TO SX9A)

COLLEGE (UNDERGRADUATE) ............................................ 16 (GO TO SX9B)

GRADUATE, PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL.................................... 17 (GO TO SX9C)

[IF T: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "kindergarten."

IF P: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "prefirst grade."]

SX9A. In terms of credits earned and requirements fulfilled, what year of vocational/technical school

[are you/is (PERSON)] in now?

VOCYR1-

VOCYR16 FIRST................................................................................ 1 (GO TO SX11)

SECOND OR HIGHER............................................................. 2 (GO TO SX11)

SX9B. What is [your/(PERSON's)] class standing? That is, [are you/is (PERSON)] a freshman, sophomore,

junior, or senior?

COLLYR1-

COLLYR16 FRESHMAN ........................................................................ 1 (GO TO SX11)

SOPHOMORE....................................................................... 2 (GO TO SX11)

JUNIOR .............................................................................. 3 (GO TO SX11)

SENIOR .............................................................................. 4 (GO TO SX11)

SX9C. In terms of credits earned and requirements fulfilled, what year of graduate or professional

school [are you/is (PERSON)] in now?

GRADYR1-

GRADYR16 FIRST................................................................................ 1 (GO TO SX11)

SECOND............................................................................. 2 (GO TO SX11)

THIRD ................................................................................ 3 (GO TO SX11)

FOURTH OR HIGHER............................................................. 4 (GO TO SX11)
29

SX10. What grade would [you/(PERSON)] be in if [you/(he/she)] were (attending a school/attending a school

with regular grades)?

SGRDEQ1- [PROBE FOR T OR P: Is that before or after kindergarten?]

SGRDEQ16

NURSERY/PRESCHOOL/PREKINDERGARTEN/HEAD START......... N

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN (BEFORE K) ........................... T

KINDERGARTEN.................................................................. K

PREFIRST GRADE (AFTER K) ................................................ P

FIRST GRADE ..................................................................... 1

SECOND GRADE ................................................................. 2

THIRD GRADE..................................................................... 3

FOURTH GRADE.................................................................. 4

FIFTH GRADE ..................................................................... 5

SIXTH GRADE ..................................................................... 6

SEVENTH GRADE................................................................ 7

EIGHTH GRADE................................................................... 8

NINTH GRADE/FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL............................. 9

TENTH GRADE/SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL ....................... 10

ELEVENTH GRADE/JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL........................... 11

TWELFTH GRADE/SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL............................ 12

UNGRADED/NO EQUIVALENT..................................................U

VOCATIONAL/TECHNICAL AFTER HIGH SCHOOL ...................... 15

COLLEGE (UNDERGRADUATE) ............................................. 16

GRADUATE, PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL.................................... 17

[IF T: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "kindergarten."

IF P: In this interview, we will be referring to that as "prefirst grade."]

If SX8 = 1 (in home school), go to first box after SX12.

Else, ask SX11.

SX11. [Do you/Does (PERSON)] go to a public or a private school?

PUBSCH1- PUBLIC............................................................................... 1

PUBSCH16 PRIVATE............................................................................. 2

If SX9 or SX10 = N, T, or K or SX7 = 1 and AGE 316 (person

enrolled in nursery school or kindergarten or age 16 or older

and currently enrolled in school), then ask SX12. Else, go to

first box after SX12.

SX12. [Are you/Is (PERSON)] now enrolled in school full time or part time?

FULTIM1- FULL TIME........................................................................... 1

FULTIM16 PART TIME .......................................................................... 2

Ask SX7 to SX12 for next person enrolled in school.

After last person, go to next box.
30

If AGE 3 16 and SX7 and SX8 = 2 or SX9 or SX10 = 15, 16,

or 17 (person age 16 and older who is not currently enrolled in

grade/equivalent 12 or below, ungraded elementary or

secondary, or special education), then ask SX13 to SX15.

Else, go to first box after SX14.

SX13. [Now I have a few questions about (you/you and the other adults(s) in your household).] What is the

highest grade or year of school that [you/(ADULT)] completed?

GRADE1-

GRADE16

GRADE1_1- UP TO 8TH GRADE ............................................................... 1 (ENTER ACTUAL GRADE,

GRAD1_16 go to SX14)

GRAD2_1- 9TH TO 11TH GRADE............................................................ 2 (ENTER ACTUAL GRADE,

GRAD2_16 go to SX14)

12TH GRADE BUT NO DIPLOMA .............................................. 3 (GO TO SX14)

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA/EQUIVALENT...................................... 4 (GO TO SX15)

VOC/TECH PROGRAM AFTER HIGH SCHOOL BUT NO

 VOC/TECH DIPLOMA ........................................................... 5 (GO TO SX14)

VOC/TECH DIPLOMA AFTER HIGH SCHOOL ............................... 6 (GO TO SX14)

SOME COLLEGE BUT NO DEGREE ........................................... 7 (GO TO SX14)

ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE.......................................................... 8 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX14)

BACHELOR'S DEGREE........................................................... 9 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX14)

GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL BUT NO DEGREE ........ 10 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX14)

MASTER'S DEGREE (MA, MS) ............................................... 11 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX14)

DOCTORATE DEGREE (PHD, EDD) ........................................ 12 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX14)

PROFESSIONAL DEGREE AFTER BACHELOR'S DEGREE

 (MEDICINE/MD; DENTISTRY/DDS; LAW/JD/LLB; ETC.) ............ 13 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX14)

SX14. [Do you/Does (ADULT)] have a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a GED?

SDIPL1- YES ................................................................................... 1

SDIPL16 NO..................................................................................... 2

Ask SX13 to SX14 for next person age 16 and older who is

not currently enrolled in grade 12 or below, ungraded

elementary or secondary, or special education. After last

person, go to next box.

If AGE 316 (person age 16 or older), then ask SX15. After

last person, go to SX16.

SX15. What is [your/(ADULT'S)] marital status? [VERIFY IF KNOWN.]

MARITL1- MARRIED/REMARRIED........................................................... 1

MARITL16 SEPARATED........................................................................ 2

DIVORCED .......................................................................... 3

WIDOWED .......................................................................... 4

NEVER MARRIED.................................................................. 5

SX16. Not counting the Reserves or National Guard, (are you/is any member of your household)

currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces?
31

XHHACTV

YES ................................................................................... 1 (GO TO BOX)

NO..................................................................................... 2 (GO TO SX17)

If SX16 = 1 (on active duty) and respondent is the only adult in

the household, autocode SX16OV to respondent's person

number. Else, go to SX16OV.

SX16OV. (Who is that?) [DISPLAY HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS WITH AGE >= 16. CODE ALL THAT APPLY. IF

RESPONDENT IS THE ONLY HOUSEHOLD MEMBER, CODE THE PERSON NUMBER OF THE RESPONDENT.]

ACTVDU1-

ACTVDU16 PERSON NUMBER ............................................................ (INELIGIBLE)

SX17. (Were you/Was everyone in your household) born in this country, that is, in one of the 50

States or the District of Columbia?

XHHBORN

YES ................................................................................... 1 (AUTOCODE SX19 = 1

AND GO TO SX18)

NO..................................................................................... 2 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX18)

SX18. (Did you/Did every member of your household) learn English as (your/their) first language?

XHHLANG YES ................................................................................... 1 (AUTOCODE SX20 = 1 AND

 GO TO 1ST BOX AFTER SX20)

NO..................................................................................... 2 (GO TO BOX)

If SX17 = 2 (not every household member was born in the

U.S.), then ask SX19 for each person in the household; also

ask SX20 for each person where AGE >= 3 (age 3 or older).

If SX17 = 1 (every household member was born in the U.S.),

autocode SX19 = 1 (every household member was born in the

U.S.). If SX18 = 2 (not every household member learned

English as their first language), ask SX20 for each person

where AGE >= 3 (age 3 or older). If SX18 = 1 (every

household member learned English as their first language),

autocode SX20 = 1 (every household member learned

English as their first language), for each person where AGE

>= 3 (age 3 or older).

SX19. In what country [were you/was (PERSON)] born?

BORNUS1- 50 STATES OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 1

BORNUS16 U.S. TERRITORIES: PUERTO RICO, GUAM, AMERICAN SAMOA,

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, MARIANA ISLANDS, OR

 SOLOMON ISLANDS ............................................................ 2

TERROS1/R (SPECIFY) 

SOME OTHER COUNTRY........................................................ 3

CONTOS2/R (SPECIFY) 
32

SX20. What was the first language [you/(PERSON)] learned to speak?

LANG1- ENGLISH ............................................................................ 1

LANG16 SPANISH ............................................................................ 2

SPANISH AND ENGLISH EQUALLY............................................ 3

OTHER LANGUAGE .............................................................91

LANGOS/R (SPECIFY) 

Ask SX21 and SX22 for each person. After last person, go to

first box after SX22 (Sampling Point).

SX21. [Are you/Is (PERSON)] ....

[IF R GIVES RACE AND ALSO SAYS HE/SHE IS OF HISPANIC ORIGIN, CODE RACE HERE.]

RACE1-

RACE16 White .........................................................................1 (GO TO SX22)

Black ..........................................................................2 (GO TO SX22)

American Indian or Alaskan Native .............................3 (GO TO SX22)

Asian or Pacific Islander, or........................................4 (GO TO SX22)

Some other race?.......................................................5 (GO TO SX21A)

SX21A. [CODE RESPONSE IF SX21 = 5.]

OTHRAC1- HISPANIC/LATINO/MEXICAN/SPANISH/

OTHRAC16 PUERTO RICAN..............................................................1 (AUTOCODE SX22 = 1 AND

GO TO BOX AFTER SX22)

MORE THAN ONE RACE/BIRACIAL/MULTIRACIAL ..................2

OTHER.......................................................................91

RACEOS/R (SPECIFY) 

SX22. [Are you/Is (PERSON)] of Hispanic origin?

HISPAN1- YES........................................................................... 1

HISPAN16 NO ............................................................................ 2

Sampling Point:

Select children and adults for extended interviews.

If any children are selected, go to next box.

If adults only are selected, go to second box after SX24.

If no one is selected, go to LINTRO.

Ask SX23 and SX24 for each sampled child. If there is only

one household member, other than the sampled child, who is

at least 12 years older than that child, autocode SX23 to this

adult. If the sampled child is the only or oldest person in the

household, go to LINTRO.
33

SX23. We would like to ask some questions about (your/(CHILD)'s) (care and) education.

* [IF SCREENER RESPONDENT IS OBVIOUSLY CHILD'S MOTHER, ASK: Are you (CHILD)'s

mother? IF YES, ENTER HER PERSON NUMBER.]

[IF SCREENER RESPONDENT MIGHT NOT BE CHILD'S MOTHER, ASK: Who is the parent or

guardian in this household who knows the most about (your/(CHILD)'s) (care and)

education?]

[DISPLAY HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS 16 YEARS OLD AND OLDER.]

PERSON NUMBER ....................................................

If person number at SX23 NE person number of sampled child,

ask SX24 for each sampled child, and then go to HHSELECT

screen to select interview. If person number at SX23 = person

number of sampled child, display household members at least

12 years older than the sampled child and ask SX24 for each

household member listed. The respondent for the parent

interview will be selected in the following order of relationship:

mother, father, grandmother, aunt, sister, grandfather, uncle,

brother, cousin, other relative (but not husband/wife), or

nonrelative (but not boyfriend/girlfriend). If no household

member is so designated, the sampled child is ineligible; go to

LINTRO. If a respondent for the parent interview is selected, go

to HHSELECT screen to select interview.

SX24. What is [your/(CAREGIVER'S)/(PERSON'S)] relationship to [(CHILD)/you]? [VERIFY IF KNOWN]

* MOTHER (BIRTH/ADOPTIVE/STEP/FOSTER).......................................1

FATHER (BIRTH/ADOPTIVE/STEP/FOSTER)........................................2

BROTHERS, INCLUDING STEP,

 ADOPTED, AND FOSTER ..............................................................3

SISTERS, INCLUDING STEP,

 ADOPTED, AND FOSTER ..............................................................4

GRANDPARENT ............................................................................5

AUNT..........................................................................................6

UNCLE ........................................................................................7

COUSIN.......................................................................................8

OTHER RELATIVE/GUARDIAN (BUT NOT HUSBAND/WIFE) ....................9

NONRELATIVE/GUARDIAN (BUT NOT BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND)...........10

HUSBAND/WIFE/BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND .......................................11

If SX24 = 5 (grandparent) use that person's sex with SX24 to

set RELATION and drive displays.

If SX24 = 11 (husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend), code case

ineligible and go to LINTRO.
34

If sampled adult is not the screener respondent and SX7 = 1

and SX9 = 15, 16, 17 (enrolled in college, graduate school or

vocational/technical school after high school) for that person,

ask SX25. Else, go to HHSELECT (Adult CI extended

interview).

SX25. Is (ADULT) living there, in student housing, or somewhere else?

* HERE.........................................................................................1 (GO TO

HHSELECT)

STUDENT HOUSING [This includes all housing owned,

 sponsored, or leased by the school such as a

 dormitory or fraternity or sorority house.] ................................2 (GO TO SX26)

OTHER PRIVATE HOME OR APARTMENT ..........................................3 (INELIGIBLE, GO TO

LINTRO)

INSTITUTION OR GROUP QUARTERS [THIS INCLUDES

 A JAIL OR DETENTION CENTER, MEDICAL FACILITY,

 REHABILITATION CENTER, MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY,

 MILITARY BARRACKS, OR GROUP FOSTER CARE.]...........................4 (INELIGIBLE, GO TO

LINTRO)

SX26. Would you please give me (his/her) last name and telephone number so that we can call

(him/her) to do a brief interview about activities related to civic involvement?

* LAST NAME 

* PHONE 

1996 Topical Component: Household Public Library Usage

LINTRO. (These next questions are about/We are interested in) public libraries. This does not include

school or college libraries, or special research libraries.

L1. About how far would you say it is from your home to the closest public library? Would you

say...

LDISTANC Less than 1 mile, .......................................................................1

1 or 2 miles, ..............................................................................2

3 to 5 miles,...............................................................................3

6 to 10 miles, or.........................................................................4

More than 10 miles?..................................................................5

L2. People use public libraries in a number of ways. In the past month, that is, since (MONTH)

(DAY), has any member of your household used a public library in the following ways? How

about...

YES NO

LVISIT1 a. Going to a public library to borrow or drop off

books or tapes?..........................................................................1 2

LVISIT2 b. Going to a public library for any other purpose, such as

a lecture or story hour, or to use their equipment? ......................1 2

LCOMP c. Using a home computer to link to a public library? ......................1 2

LPHONE d. Calling the public library to renew books or for

information other than library hours or directions? ......................1 2

LMATLS e. Having library materials mailed or delivered to your

home?........................................................................................1 2

LMOBILE f. Visiting a bookmobile? ...............................................................1 2
35

If L2a through L2f = 2 (no use of public libraries), ask L3.

Else, go to L4.

L3. Has anyone in your household used a public library in any of those ways in the past year?

LYRUSE

YES.............................................................................. 1 (GO TO BOX AFTER L4PROBE)

NO ............................................................................... 2 (GO TO BOX AFTER L4PROBE)

L4. In the past month, that is since (MONTH) (DAY), has any member of your household used a

public library (or bookmobile) for the following purposes? How about...

YES NO

LSCHOOL a. For a school or class assignment?..............................................1 2

LKIDSACT b. A program or activity designed for children age 6 to 12? ............1 2

LKIDBOOK c. An activity for children under 6, such as story hour

 or other introduction to books and reading? ..............................1 2

LRECR d. For enjoyment or hobbies, including to borrow

 books or tapes or attend activities?...........................................1 2

LJOBHELP e. To get information to help find a job? .........................................1 2

LWORK f. For a work assignment or to keep up to date

 at work? ...................................................................................1 2

LCONSUME g. To get information for personal use, such as

 consumer or health issues, investments, and so on? ................1 2

LLRNREAD h. To work with a tutor or take a class to learn

 to read?....................................................................................1 2

If any L2a-f = 1 and all L4a-h = 2 (R reported any household use

of public libraries and answered no to all purposes of library

use), ask L4PROBE. Enter response at L4 and set L4FLAG =

1. Else, go to box after L4PROBE.

L4PROBE. Earlier I recorded that someone in your household had used library or bookmobile services in

the past month. What was the purpose for using the library or bookmobile?

L4FLAG*

[IF BORROWING BOOKS/TAPES, PROBE: Was that for school, for work, for enjoyment, or

something else? What? RECORD SPECIFIC PURPOSE.]

SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT ...............................................................................1

PROGRAM/ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN AGE 6 TO 12 ..........................................2

ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN UNDER 6...............................................................3

ENJOYMENT OR HOBBIES ...........................................................................4

INFORMATION TO HELP FIND JOB.................................................................5

WORK ASSIGNMENT/KEEP UP TO DATE AT WORK...........................................6

INFORMATION FOR PERSONAL USE/CONSUMER/HEALTH/INVESTMENTS ............7

TAKE CLASS/USE TUTOR TO LEARN TO READ ................................................8

OTHER .................................................................................................91

 SPECIFY__________________________________________________

* L4Flag = 1 if L4PROBE = 1 to 8
36

If library items are administered before matrix, go to PRE_S6. If

library items are administered in the Parent Interview, go to

SX27.

Household Characteristics

SX27. Now a few more questions about your household. Do you...

HOWNHOME Own your home,........................................................................1

Rent your home, or....................................................................2

Have some other arrangement? ................................................3

SX28. Besides (PHONE NUMBER), do you have other telephone numbers in your household?

HOTHNUM YES............................................................................................1 (GO TO SX29)

NO .............................................................................................2 (GO TO SX30)

NOT MY NUMBER [RECORD NUMBER IN COMMENTS] ..........................3 (GO TO SX30)

SX29. How many of these additional telephone numbers are for home use?

HNUMUSE NUMBER.................................................................................

SX30. So that we can group households geographically, may I have your ZIP code?

STFZIP/R ZIP CODE ...................................................................................

SX31. Which of these best describes the community where you live? Is it...

HCCOMMUN A rural or farming community, ...................................................1

A suburb of a city, .....................................................................2

A small city or town of fewer than

 50,000 people, or ....................................................................3

A city of 50,000 people or more? ...............................................4

If SX31 = 2 (suburb), go to SX31OV. Else, if SX31 = 4 (city of

50,000 people or more), go to SX31OV2.

Else, go to box after SX31OV2.

SX31OV. Is it a suburb of...

HCSUB A city with over 500,000 people, ............................................ 1 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX31OV2)

A city with 100,000 to 500,000, or.......................................... 2 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX31OV2)

A city with 50,000 to 100,000?............................................... 3 (GO TO BOX AFTER SX31OV2)

SX31OV2. Is it ...

HCCITY A city with over 500,000 people, ................................................1

A city with 100,000 to 500,000, or..............................................2

A city with 50,000 to 100,000?...................................................3
37

Ask SX32 if NUMKID20 (number of children age 20 or

younger) >= 1. Else, go to SX33.

SX32. In the past 12 months, has your family received funds or services from any of the

following programs? How about...

YES NO

HWIC a. Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC? ........................ 1 2

HFOODST b. Food Stamps?.................................................................... 1 2

HAFDC c. AFDC, or Aid to Families with Dependent

 Children?.......................................................................... 1 2

SX33. In studies like this, households are sometimes grouped according to income. What was

the total income of all persons in your household over the past year, including salaries

or other earnings, interest, retirement, and so on for all household members?

Was it...

HINCMRNG

$25,000 or less, or.....................................................................1 (READ SET 1)

More than $25,000? ..................................................................2 (READ SET 2)

Was it...

HINCOME

[SET 1]

$5,000 or less............................................................................1

$5,001 to $10,000......................................................................2

$10,001 to $15,000....................................................................3

$15,001 to $20,000, or...............................................................4

$20,001 to $25,000?..................................................................5

[SET 2]

$25,001 to $30,000....................................................................6

$30,001 to $35,000....................................................................7

$35,001 to $40,000....................................................................8

$40,001 to $50,000....................................................................9

$50,001 to $75,000, or.............................................................10

Over $75,000? ........................................................................11

Ask SX33OV if

(Number in HH = 2 and HINCOME < = 2) or

 (Number in HH = 3 and HINCOME < = 3) or

 (Number in HH = 4 and HINCOME < = 3) or

 (Number in HH = 5 and HINCOME < = 4) or

 (Number in HH = 6 and HINCOME < = 4) or

 (Number in HH = 7 and HINCOME < = 5) or

 (Number in HH = 8 and HINCOME < = 5) or

 (Number in HH = 9 and HINCOME < = 6) or

 (Number in HH = 10 and HINCOME < = 6) or

 (Number in HH = 11 and HINCOME < = 7) or

(Number in HH = 12 and HINCOME < = 7).

Else, go to THANK2.
38

SX33OV. What was your total income last year, to the nearest thousand?

HINCMEXT

AMOUNT..................................................................... $ ,

THANK1. Thank you, but we are only interviewing in private residences.

THANK2. Those are all the questions I have about your household. Thank you for your time.
39