Title page
Contents
Executive Summary 4
Acknowledgements 8
Chapter 1. Introduction 14
1.1. Increasing Survey Nonresponse 14
1.2. Theories of Survey Nonresponse 14
1.3. Research Questions 17
1.4. NHES:2019 Methods 17
Chapter 2. Qualitative Nonresponse Study Methods 21
2.1. Qualitative Interview Methods 21
2.2. Address Observation Methods 27
Chapter 3. Nonrespondent Characteristics and Attitudes 32
3.1. Interview Findings: Characteristics 32
3.2. Interview Findings: Attitudes 47
3.3. Address Observation Findings 64
Chapter 4. Receiving and Processing Mail 68
4.1. Receiving Mail 68
4.2. Processing Mail 74
Chapter 5. Experiences with and Opinions About Surveys 90
5.1. Experiences with and Opinions About Surveys in General 90
5.2. Engagement with and Reactions to NHES:2019 Screener Materials 100
Chapter 6. Nonrespondent Typologies 129
6.1. Creation of Typology Groups 129
6.2. Typology Group Characteristics 131
Chapter 7. Quality of the Sampling Frame 145
7.1. Addresses That Should Not Have Been Included on the Frame 145
7.2. Addresses with Inconsistent NHES:2019 UAA Outcomes 148
7.3. Quality of Auxiliary Variables on the Frame 154
Chapter 8. Summary and Conclusions 165
8.1. Key Findings 165
8.2. Theories of Nonresponse 171
8.3. Considerations for Future NHES Administrations 174
References 181
Table 3.1. Number and percentage distribution of self-reported interview participant characteristics: 2019 34
Table 3.2. Number and percentage distribution of structure type observation for observed, residential, nonrespondent addresses: 2019 65
Table 3.3. Percentage of observed, occupied, residential, nonrespondent addresses with observed household attributes: 2019 65
Table 5.1. Percentage of interview participants that reported remembering at least one NHES:2019 screener mailing, by selected characteristics: 2019 105
Table 5.2. Percentage of interview participants that opened at least one NHES:2019 screener mailing among those that remembered at least one... 108
Table 5.3. Percentage distribution of interview participant handling of opened NHES:2019 screener mailings among participants that opened at least... 114
Table 7.1. Number and percentage distribution of auxiliary data for nonrespondent addresses sampled for observation component, by NHES:... 150
Table 7.2. Number and percentage distribution of observed characteristics of nonrespondent addresses sampled for observation component, by NHES:... 153
Table 7.3. Agreement rate between frame and observation variables for nonrespondent addresses sampled for observation component, by... 157
Table 7.4. Agreement rate between interview-gathered and frame characteristics of interviewed addresses, by selected characteristics: 2019 162
Table 7.5. Number and percentage distribution of selected address characteristics, by frame missing status: 2019 163
Figure 4.1. Percentage distribution of mail access type observation for observed residential, nonrespondent addresses, by mail access type: 2019 69
Figure 4.2. Percentage distribution of interview participants' self-reported engagement with example mailings, by example mailing: 2019 83
Figure 5.1. Percentage distribution of mailing recall, by screener mailing: 2019 104
Figure 5.2. Percentage distribution of interview participant handling of opened mailings among participants who opened at least one mailing: 2019 111
Figure 7.1. Percentage distribution of observation outcomes for nonrespondent addresses sampled for observation component: 2019 146
Figure 7.2. Percentage distribution of residential occupancy status observation for nonrespondent addresses sampled for observation.... 148
Figure 7.3. Agreement rate between frame and observation variables for nonrespondent addresses and inconsistent UAA addresses sampled... 155
Figure 7.4. Extent of agreement between interview-gathered and frame characteristics of interviewed addresses, by selected characteristics: 2019 161
Exhibits
Exhibit 1.1. NHES:2019 screener phase contact attempts 19
Exhibit 2.1. Qualitative interview recruitment contact attempts 24
Exhibit 2.2. Interview domains and structured activities 25
Exhibit 2.3. Observation items 29
Exhibit 2.4. Variables used for observation subgroup analyses, by source 31
Exhibit 3.1. Types of evidence reported by observers, by observed household member characteristics, attitudes, and interests 67
Exhibit 4.1. Mailings included in example mail activity 79
Exhibit 5.1. NHES screener mailings engagement flowchart 103
Exhibit 6.1. Factors used to create typology groups, by topic area 130
Exhibit 6.2. Overview of typology groups 131
Exhibit 6.3. Typology group characteristics 142
Exhibit 7.1. Significant predictors of observability in multivariate logistic regression 147
Exhibit 7.2. Address characteristics that were significant predictors of agreement rate in multivariate logistic regression, by observation variable 159