family resources survey data collection methods jo maher (national centre for social research) tom...
TRANSCRIPT
Family Resources Survey Data Collection Methods
Jo Maher (National Centre for Social Research)Tom Howe (Office for National Statistics)
The FRS Consortium
Office for National Statistics (ONS) and National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) work in Consortium and each organisation is responsible for particular areas of the data collection process. Both organisations share fieldwork equally.
ONS: SamplingData mergingData Quality assuranceReporting Interview timings
NatCen: Question designComputer-Assisted Personal Interview
(CAPI)Cognitive question testingReporting non-Response
Sampling
UK Sample for 2006/07 was approx 44,000 households for England & Wales and Scotland
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) conduct fieldwork separately
Fieldwork split equally between ONS and NatCen
PPS with a Scottish boost
Stratified by: Government Office Region (GOR) Proportion of HRPs in NSSEC 1-3 Economic status of adults aged 16-74
Annual question changes
Questionnaire changes each year
Changes made at request of: Sponsor (DWP) Data users (HMRC and other government
departments) Consortium interviewers
The FRS interview
Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI)
Divided into household and benefit unit interview
All adults interviewed
Proxy interviews permitted
Questions about children (e.g. health, deprivation questions) are answered by parents/guardians.
Interview topics 2007/8
Household interview Household composition Accommodation &
tenure Housing costs Charges on property Sewerage and water Within household
contribution Childcare arrangements Informal caring
Interview topics 2007/8
Benefit Unit interview Health & disabilities Education, grants &
loans Children outside
household Employment Tax credits Pension arrangements Income from benefits Income from pensions,
trusts, royalties
Maintenance allowances and other sources of income
Adult and child social deprivation
Household durables - televisions
Income from savings and investments
Total savings Assets
Timetable of changes
Apr - New survey year begins Jun - Field report questionnaire sent to Aug - NatCen send Field Report to DWP Sep - Information Priorities Group meet Oct - Question changes discussed with DWP Nov - Question changes designed Dec - Question changes programmed Jan - CAPI program testing Mar - Final CAPI program sent to interviewers
CAPI
Interviews conducted as Computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI)
CAPI programmed in Blaise Allows complex routing CAPI allows checks to be made of the answers
given during interview Increases flexibility in question wording (e.g. text
fills can be used to insert the respondent’s name into the question)
Also allows data to be stored confidentially
Cognitive question testing
Major revisions to the FRS are tested
Cognitive question testing employed
Explore respondent understanding of questions
Findings inform final question design
CAPI Interview lengthFRS 2005-6 - Average Length of CAPI Session
(based on Audit Trail data)*
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 101-110
111-120
121-130
131-140
141-150
151-160
161-170
171-180
181-190
191-200
201+
Length of CAPI Session (minutes)
Nu
mb
er
of
Inte
rvie
ws
Total Interview lengthFRS 2005/6 - Average Length of Interview (all cases)
including CAPI Session and Introductions
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 101-110
111-120
121-130
131-140
141-150
151-160
161-170
171-180
181-190
191-200
201+
Length of Interview incl Intros (minutes)
Nu
mb
er o
f In
terv
iew
s
Data Merging
ONS merge edited Blaise data from ONS, NatCen and NISRA
Merge uses manipula scripts
Checks to ensure data formatted as DWP require
Merged data produced in 25 SPSS tables for data QA
Data Quality Assurance
Monthly datasets are subjected to a series of rigorous checks
Checks ensure data is consistent at person and household level
Credibility and outlier checks
Edits made to data following checks
Non-response
Information collected by interviewers Observation questions about accommodation for
refusal and non-contact households further observation for refusal households only Questions asked on non-response form and
recorded in CAPI 63% completion rate of non-response form in
2004/5
Refusal households
Tend to be smaller than responding households Less likely than respondent households to be
comprised of single adults with children Less likely to contain children than respondent
households More likely than respondent households to be
comprised of adults of the same age group, rather than adults of different age groups.
More likely to contain a paid working adult than respondent households.
Data collection and fieldwork
Advance letters Purpose leaflets Instructions CAPI questionnaire and showcards Ask for and record accurate
information
Further Information
Further information on FRS data collection available in the FRS Technical Report
2005/06 FRS Technical Report published in March 2006. Available on NS website
Any Questions?