Survey Response in a Statewide Social Experiment: Differences in Being Located and Collaborating by Race and Hispanic Origin

This study examines whether and how survey response differs by race and Hispanic origin, using data from birth certificates and survey administrative data from a large-scale statewide experiment. The sample consists of mothers of infants selected from Oklahoma birth certificates using a stratified random sampling method (N=7,11). This study uses Heckman probit analysis to consider two stages of survey response: (1) being located by the survey team and (2) completing a questionnaire through collaboration with the survey team. Analysis results show that African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics are significantly less likely to be located during the study recruitment than Whites, controlling for other demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. Conditional on being located, however, the probability of collaboration does not differ among the four groups. Findings suggest that researchers should pay attention to separate stages of respondent recruitment and improve strategies to locate members of racial and ethnic minority groups during recruitment.

Subsequent publication: Nam, Y., Mason, L. R., Kim, Y., Clancy, M., & Sherraden, M. (2013). Survey response in a statewide social experiment: Differences in being located and collaborating, by race and Hispanic origin. Social Work Research, 37(1), 64–74. doi:10.1093/swr/svs031

Project: SEED for Oklahoma Kids