357 – Issues in Survey Design and Estimation
Nested Subsamples: a Method for Achieving Flexibility in Annual Sample Sizes for a Continuous Multiyear Survey
Chris Moriarity
National Center for Health Statistics
Van Parsons
National Center for Health Statistics
A new requirement for the most recent National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) sample redesign, implemented in 2016, was annual sample size flexibility. The new sample design accomplished this requirement by selecting a large initial sample, and then assigning sequential identifiers within the large sample. A given annual sample is obtained by including sample parts associated with the sequential identifiers, in order, until the desired annual sample size is obtained. We describe the research undertaken to implement this flexibility, including what was done after the discovery that one part of the sequential identifier assignment process needed to be revised.