Small Populations, Large Effects: Improving the Measurement of the Group Quarters Population in the American Community Survey by National Research Council

Author:National Research Council
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Behavioral and Social Sciences: Population and Fertility Studies
ISBN: 9780309255639
Publisher: The National Academies Press
Published: 2012-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

SCOPE OF COVERAGE

Because of the difficulties associated with maintaining the sampling frame, the GQ sample contains a relatively high percentage of ineligible cases, which are identified only during the facility-level data collection phase. This includes cases that are determined to be housing units instead of group quarters and group quarters that no longer exist—for example, because the facility has been closed. As discussed, for a variety of reasons the ACS also classifies some GQ types (for example, domestic violence shelters, soup kitchens, regularly scheduled mobile food vans, targeted nonsheltered outdoor locations, crews of commercial maritime vessels, natural disaster shelters, and dangerous encampments) as permanently out of scope and excludes them from the sampling universe.

An additional challenge is introduced by a combination of the data collection methodology and the seasonal nature of some group quarters. Examples are college dormitories or military facilities, which are valid GQs but may have no residents during some of the data collection months in which they are included in the sample. As discussed later, most sampled GQ facilities are randomly assigned to an interview month throughout the course of the year, and some facilities—especially large ones—may be in the sample during more than one month.

Table 4-1 summarizes the distribution of the main GQ-level outcome codes for those included in the 2008 ACS sample based on an internal evaluation of the sampling frame conducted by the Census Bureau (Williams, 2010). A facility case is considered completed at the GQ level if a field representative collects basic information and a resident roster from the facility. Once the names of the residents are collected, the actual respondents can be sampled and approached for an interview.

Although inability to locate a sampled facility or refusal to participate do not seem to represent serious problems for the ACS GQ operation, eligible facilities that are unoccupied at the time of the survey and ineligible cases make up close to one-quarter of the sample. Tables 4-2 and 4-3, also based on the Census Bureau’s internal research, show that the rates of cases that fall into one of these two categories differ considerably by GQ type and size. The Census Bureau stratifies facilities by size: the small stratum includes group quarters with 15 or fewer residents, as shown on the frame, and the large stratum includes those with more than 15 residents, as shown on the frame.

Table 4-2 shows that the GQ types with the highest rates of noninterviews (resulting from the facility being unoccupied at the time of the survey) are college housing, military facilities, “other institutional facilities,” homeless shelters, and “other noninstitutional facilities.” In the case of college dorms, one out of four of the large dorms sampled is not interviewed because the facility is unoccupied at the time of the survey. Table 4-3 illustrates that the sample includes many ineligible cases as well, especially among small group quarters. For example, approximately half of the small military facilities, homeless shelters, and nursing homes are found to be ineligible.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.