On Quality of Ancillary Data Available for Address-Based Sampling

• Activity Number: 314
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): J. Michael Dennis*+ and Charles DiSogra and Mansour Fahimi
• Companies: Knowledge Networks and Marketing Systems Group
• Keywords: ABS ; Frame Enhancements ; KnowledgePanel

Abstract

A feature of address-based sampling (ABS) is versatility of the sample frame where many ancillary data can be appended to an address. Commercial databases, e.g., Experian, infoUSA, Axiom are used to append observed and modeled information at various levels of aggregation. This enables researchers to develop more efficient sample designs and broaden analytical possibilities with expanded sets of covariates. While quality of ancillary data is of concern for researchers, the literature provides only anecdotal assessments on accuracy. Relying on surveys and KnowledgePanel® recruitment samples that employ ABS, the authors present results of comparisons between an array of ancillary data and corresponding observed values collected directly from the responding households. Preliminary results suggest concordance for dichotomous variables range 96% to 15%, multi-level variables 84% to 0%.