DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37910.v1
title: American Health Values Survey (AHVS): Sentinel Communities Segmentation, 5 American communities, 2016-2017
title: Version 1

description: The American Health Values Survey (AHVS) was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago in order to develop a typology of Americans based on their health values and beliefs. The survey, of more than 10,000 adults from five individual communities, examined values and beliefs related to health at both the individual as well as societal levels. The community surveys sought to compare differences between the local typologies, but also to investigate any similarities with national typology groups. The survey assessed the importance of health in:

day-to-day personal life (i.e. the amount of effort spent on disease prevention as well as appropriate seeking of medical care);
equity, the value placed on the opportunity to succeed generally in life as well as on health equity;
social solidarity, the importance of taking into account the needs of others as well as personal needs;
health care disparities, views about how easy/hard it is for African Americans, Latinos and low-income Americans to get quality health care;
and, the importance of the social determinants of health.

In addition, the survey also explored views about how active government should be in health; collective efficacy, the ease of affecting positive community change by working with others; and health-related civic engagement e.g. the support of health charities and organizations working on health issues.
There are public-use and restricted-use versions of the data provided for each of the five sentinel communities participating in this study. Although each site differs on the number of respondents as listed below, each data file contains the same 143 variables for each site and version of the data. The only difference between the public-use versus restricted-use versions of the data is the variable <strong>ZIP</strong>, which was MASKED in the public-use version.

DS1 and DS2 - Baltimore, Maryland: 2,139
DS3 and DS4 - Maricopa County, Arizona: 2,247
DS5 and DS6 - Stockton, California: 2,127
DS7 and DS8 - Mobile, Alabama: 1,821
DS9 and DS10 - North Central counties in Nebraska: 2,846
description: The purpose of this study was part of a broader effort by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore regional variation in health values and beliefs, and to construct a typology of U.S. adults on those values and beliefs. Their hope is that an increased understanding of American health values and beliefs can inform the development of new efforts to promote population health and equity in the United States.
description: The multimode data collection approach included three data collection modes: 1) an online self-administered survey (computer-assisted web interview, or CAWI); 2) a mailed self-administered paper questionnaire (SAQ); and 3) a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI). All modes were available in Spanish and English. Throughout the fielding period, respondents could also call a toll-free line and complete the survey via telephone.
Respondents were provided prepaid incentives with the initial web invitation letter ($1) and the SAQ ($2). Those who completed the survey during the designated two-week "Early Bird" period also received a $10 contingent (post-paid) incentive.
description: The response options for the majority of questions from the questionnaire ask for a 4- or 5-point rating scale. The topics of the scale cover:

priority (1-4)
agree / disagree (1-5)
feelings (1-4)
effect (1-5)
confidence (1-4)
frequency (1-4)

The questionnaire additionally asked about the following demographic information: gender, age (raw and categorized), ethnicity, race, education, children, household composition, income, height / weight, and
physical health. Other topics asked about include civic engagement and political ideology / involvement.
description: Survey weights were derived through a multistep process. First, the inverse probability was calculated for selection of the ABS sample. For example, if there were 500 cases in the frame, and 50 were selected, the probability of selection would be 50/500=0.10. Therefore, the base weight would be the inverse of 0.10, or 1/0.10=10.
The base weights were then adjusted for the various nonresponse in each step of the process. In particular, adjustments were made for (1) non-resolved, (2) non-screened, and (3) non-interviewed cases. After these adjustments were made, the weights were raked to population control totals for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and education groups based on 2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates for each community site.
description: Data was collected using a multimode survey design with an address-based list sample (ABS). A simple random sample of addresses was drawn from a sampling frame created from the USPS Delivery Sequence File (DSF). In creating the sampling frame, the following addresses from the DSF were included: (1) residential or primary residential with business addresses, and (2) P.O. boxes that were designated as the "only way to get mail" (OWGM). Among these addresses, there were addresses considered as "drop delivery type." This type of address is usually found in apartment buildings where mail is only dropped to one address/unit, and the building management will distribute the mail to the occupants instead. If there were three or more units in a drop delivery address, they were excluded from the sampling frame. If there were at most three units in a drop delivery address, they were included in the sampling frame and were assigned a synthetic apartment number (based on geographic coordinates) to distinguish from the other units.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Baltimore Health Values Survey Public-Use Data
DS2: Baltimore Health Values Survey Restricted-Use Data
DS3: Maricopa County Health Values Survey Public-Use Data
DS4: Maricopa County Health Values Survey Restricted-Use Data
DS5: Stockton Health Values Survey Public-Use Data
DS6: Stockton Health Values Survey Restricted-Use Data
DS7: Mobile Health Values Survey Public-Use Data
DS8: Mobile Health Values Survey Restricted-Use Data
DS9: North Central Nebraska Health Values Survey Public-Use Data
DS10: North Central Nebraska Health Values Survey Restricted-Use Data
description: Adults, age 18 and over, living in each of the five selected communities. Smallest Geographic Unit: Zip Code
description: computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); mail questionnaire; self-enumerated questionnaire; telephone interview; web-based surveyThis study is a follow-up study to the American Health Values Survey, [United States], 2015-2016 study
(ICPSR #37403)The data sets can be merged. There are 143 variables per data set. The formats for each variable are the same across each data set. There is no key variable to sort or merge on.The public-use and restricted-use data files are exactly the same with the exception of the variable <strong>ZIP</strong>. This variable has been masked in the public-use version of the data sets. Everything else (data, labels, open-ended responses) will be the same between the public-use and restricted-use versions. Please review the processing notes at the front of each codebook for additional information regarding the data.The 3-digit code for the variable <strong>ZIP</strong> represents the first three digits of the respondent's 5-digit zip code. Respondents who reside in an area with a population of less than 20,000 people had the response removed entirely. This decision was made by the Principal Investigators in accordance to guidelines from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC).The nine counties surveyed in North Central Nebraska were Antelope, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Holt, Keya Paha, Knox, Pierce, and Rock.Individual community research briefs, topline reports, and full site reports are available from the Sentinel Community Health Values web site.Additional information about these five communities, and the other sentinel communities across the United States, can be found at the Culture of Health web site.