DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38291
title: Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 3): Retention Early Warning Project, 2018-2019
title: Archival Version

description: In 2019, the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study attempted to contact and convert 2,239 participants who had dropped out of either the MIDUS 2 or MIDUS 3 Survey Projects. Dubbed the "Retention Early Warning" or "REW" Project, this was an effort to address longitudinal respondent attrition in MIDUS as well as explore early life vulnerabilities that may influence subsequent health profiles. REW recruited drop-outs from earlier waves of the study by using in-person interviews and increased monetary incentives. Respondents were interviewed in their homes using a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) survey protocol. In addition to the survey interview, respondents were asked to complete a Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ), a shortened version of the Brief Test of Adult Cognition via Telephone (BTACT), and to provide anthropometric measures as well as Dried Blood Spots for select biomarkers. Data collection largely repeated previous assessments, though modules were shortened or adjusted to account for the in-person interview format. CAPI survey data was collected for 651 individuals, realizing a 31% response rate, adjusted for mortality.
description: Initial contact was made with respondents through an advance letter, telling them about the MIDUS REW study. Respondents were incentivized with cash rewards once they completed certain stages of the study. Study staff utilized postcards and telephone calls to aid with respondent retention.
description: During the computer-assisted personal interview, respondents were asked questions regarding their finances, health, education, and family, and were asked to provide anthropometric and biomarker measures such as blood pressure, height, and weight. Respondents also completed a 28-page Self-Administered Questionnaire that covered topics such as health, personal beliefs, work, social networks, religion, spirituality, discrimination, and aging. Lastly, respondents were asked to participate in a cognitive interview, where they completed various cognitive tests.
description: There are no weights associated with this dataset.
description: Response Rates: Of the 2,239 eligible participants who dropped out of the MIDUS 2 or MIDUS 3 survey project, 651 completed the Retention Early Warning (REW) survey interview. This corresponds to a 31% response rate, adjusted for sample mortality. Details of fielding and final disposition codes for the CAPI and other modules collected by the REW project can found in the Field Report.
description: Presence of Common Scales: The REW project employs many psychosocial scales and constructed variables. For details, please refer to the Documentation of Psychosocial Scales and Constructed Variables.
description: For details of how the attriter sample was sampled and fielded, please refer to the Field Report.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: Coded Text Responses Data DS2: Final Disposition Codes Data DS3: MIDUS Retention Early Warning Data
description: The non-institutionalized, English-speaking population of the United States aged 25-74 at MIDUS 1 (baseline). All participants in this project were attriters of the MIDUS Survey at either MIDUS 2 or MIDUS 3.
description: computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); mail questionnaireThis project includes 3 datasets: the main REW dataset, the disposition codes for the CAPI interview, and coded text of verbatim responses to the CAPI and SAQ.The variable M2ID is the linking variable for the three datasets in this collection. The data in this collection can also be linked to all MIDUS datasets using the variable M2ID, including survey projects MIDUS 1 [ICPSR 2760], MIDUS 2 [ICPSR 4652]. and MIDUS 3 [ICPSR 36346].Additional information about the Midlife Development in the United States study can be found at the MIDUS Website.