Using Address Based Sampling Frames in Lieu of Traditional Listing: A New Approach

• Activity Number: 44
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, July 29, 2012 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Sylvia Dohrmann*+ and Jill M. Montaquila and Graham Kalton and Martha Berlin
• Companies: Westat and Westat and Westat and Westat
• Keywords: ABS ; area sample ; USPS ; quality control ; coverage enhancement

Abstract

Address lists originating from the Unites States Postal Service (USPS) have appeal as a possible alternative to the costly listing effort that has traditionally been used for multi-stage area household samples with in-person interviewing. A number of evaluations of the USPS lists have reached the consensus that the lists generally have excellent coverage in urban areas. However, these studies have consistently indicated poorer coverage in more rural areas, in areas with a large number of group quarters, and in fast-growing areas.

This paper presents an approach that applies an area linkage method developed specifically to address noncoverage in the USPS lists. The paper describes this approach, discusses alternative approaches considered, and reviews issues encountered during the development and field testing of this new approach. Besides serving as a means to provide sample coverage to residential addresses missing from the USPS lists, the approach also provides measures of the extent of noncoverage of these lists.