DOI: 10.3886/e163962v1
title: 2014 Abortion Patient Survey

description: The 2014 Abortion Patient Survey was the Guttmacher Institute’s fifth in a series and uses a design and questionnaire similar to the four earlier studies, which were conducted in 1987, 1994–1995, 2000–2001 and 2008. The data are from a nationally representative sample of women obtaining non-hospital abortions in 2014. A total of 8,380 abortion patients provided information about the demographic characteristics of age, race and ethnicity and educational attainment, as well as contraceptive use in the month they became pregnant, health insurance coverage during the time period of the abortion, how they were paying for abortion services, foreign-born status, and how long ago they made the appointment.
description: We employed a three-stage weighting process to correct for any bias produced by deviation from the original sampling plan and patient nonresponse. First, individual weights were developed to adjust for the demographic characteristics of the 1,066 nonrespondents for whom facility staff provided information. Second, facility-level weights adjusted for the other 1,578 nonrespondents for whom no demographic data were available. Third, stratum weights were constructed to correct for departures from the number of facilities to be sampled in each grouping by caseload and provider type. The main weight variable is weight3. To obtain accurate standard errors, most analyses should also account for the fact that the sample was stratified by using the stratum variable, strata.
description: Response Rates: During fielding periods, participating facilities reported providing a total of 11,024 abortions. Usable surveys were returned from 8,380 patients, for a response rate of 76%.
description: Participating facilities were sampled from the universe of all known abortion-providing facilities as of 2011, according to information obtained from the Guttmacher Institute’s 2011 Abortion Provider Census, and excluding hospitals and those facilities that provided fewer than 30 abortions in 2011. The universe was stratified by facilities’ 2011 annual caseload of abortions (30–399; 400–1,999; 2,000–4,999; and 5,000 or more), and by whether they were affiliated with national organizations for women’s reproductive health. Within each stratum, facilities were organized by census region and state. Next, we systematically sampled facilities from each stratum by selecting them at specified intervals within the list; the interval varied by stratum. Facilities with the largest caseloads were oversampled to ensure a diverse representation of facility types within the sample. Selected facilities were then recruited and assigned to a survey period that was inversely proportional to the probability of being selected, ranging from two weeks for the largest facilities to 12 weeks for the smallest. During this period, facility contacts were asked to administer the questionnaire to all patients obtaining an abortion on the day of their procedure; in the case of multiday procedures, questionnaires were administered on the first day.
description: Women who obtained an abortion in the United States. Smallest Geographic Unit: State
description: on-site questionnaire;