Developing Interviewer Observations of the Neighborhood and Sample Unit for the National Health Interview Survey

• Activity Number: 300
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Peter Miller*+ and Nancy Bates and James Dahlhamer and Renee Gindi
• Companies: US Census Bureau and US Census Bureau and National Center for Health Statistics and National Center for Health Statistics
• Keywords: Paradata ; Interviewer Observations ; Adaptive Design

Abstract

In 2012, the Census Bureau began collaborating with the National Center for Health Statistics to collect interviewer observations of sample neighborhoods and sample units in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). These observations seek to measure aspects of the sample unit environment that may predict both the likelihood of response to survey invitations and the health status of residents. This paper traces the development of an interviewer observations instrument. We describe the work with NCHS to create the module of observations to be collected at the initial NHIS interview contact attempt. This module was created with the dual purpose of providing NHIS-specific observations and more generic measures that might be applied across Census surveys. The paper details the development and selection of the observations, the final automated module, interviewer training, and interviewer debriefings and feedback prior to and during a NHIS field test conducted in 2013.