The Development and Testing of Disability Questions for the Current Population Survey

• Activity Number: 221
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Committee on Statistics and Disability
• Author(s): Terence M. McMenamin*+ and Stephen M. Miller and Anne E. Polivka
• Companies: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Keywords: disability ; CPS ; BLS ; health ; DOL ; survey

Abstract

In accordance with Executive Order 13078, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with the Employment Rate Measurement Methodology interagency workgroup, identified the goal of placing a small set of questions within the Current Population Survey (CPS). A set of potential questions was drawn from existing surveys, cognitively tested, and placed in the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) for a field test. Based on an analysis of the NCS data, a set of seven questions was identified, and cognitively tested to ensure the questions would work within the CPS. This question set was placed in the February 2006 CPS for testing. Analysis of the test data revealed a lower overall disability rate as measured in the CPS than in the NCS, with lower positive response rates for each question. The data did not indicate that adding the questions caused an adverse effect on the response rates.