Abstract #301143

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JSM 2003 Abstract #301143
Activity Number: 242
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2003 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
Abstract - #301143
Title: Characteristics of Late Respondents to a Survey of DoD Health Care Beneficiaries
Author(s): Esther M. Friedman*+ and Nancy A. Clusen and Mike Hartzell
Companies: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. and U.S. Department of Defense
Address: 600 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, DC, 20024-2520,
Keywords: nonresponse bias ; late respondents ; mail survey
Abstract:

Nonresponse bias occurs when nonrespondents differ from respondents on characteristics relating to the survey topics. When nonresponse is not ignorable, inferences made from these data may be biased. Although it is difficult to obtain data on nonrespondents to mail surveys, data on late respondents (i.e. respondents whose surveys arrive after the fielding period), are more easily accessible. These late cases interest researchers, as their characteristics may differ from those of early respondents and may even suggest important characteristics that can be used in nonresponse compensation procedures. Although efforts to incorporate these late cases tend to be time-consuming and costly, excluding them from analyses may result in biased estimates.

This paper briefly reviews the issue of late responders to sample surveys and compares late respondents to the Health Care Survey of DoD Beneficiaries to early respondents, with regard to military status, physical and mental health status, demographics and quality of response. This study further examines the impact of late response on survey estimates and concludes with the implications of the findings on field and statistical operations.

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