Abstract #301490

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JSM 2003 Abstract #301490
Activity Number: 327
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 6, 2003 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
Abstract - #301490
Title: Lessons Learned from a Split-panel Test on Questionnaire Length for a Provider-based Health Survey
Author(s): Catharine W. Burt*+ and Susan Schappert and Esther Hing
Companies: National Center for Health Statistics and National Center for Health Statistics and National Center for Health Statistics
Address: Rm 952, Hyattsville, MD, 20782,
Keywords: data collection ; response rates ; questionnaire design ; response burden
Abstract:

This paper provides lessons learned from a split-panel test of questionnaire length performed in a provider-based health survey. The questionnaire tested was the patient record form from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, an annual survey of office-based physicians. Form A requested 70 pieces of information and fit on the front of one legal-size page. Form B requested 140 pieces of information and fit on the front and back of one legal-size page. Since the test was performed with the 2001 production sample, the main challenge was to provide answers to questions about form length on both unit and item response rates while simultaneously producing the usual annual reports and releasing a user-friendly public use microdata file. Form length did not affect unit nonresponse or item nonresponse; however, observed distributions varied drastically for some items depending on the item wording on the two forms. Discussion of the challenges faced and met include forms design, sampling, weighting, unbiased data collection, collection monitoring, coding and editing, and analyses performed to compare response rates.

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