Retention Rates in the NLSY97
The overall retention rate for round 13 is 84.2 percent. Table 1 shows the retention rates by sample type for rounds 2-13 of the NLSY97.
|
Cross-sectional |
Supplemental |
Sample Total |
|||
Interviewed |
Retention rate |
Interviewed |
Retention rate |
Interviewed |
Retention rate |
|
Round 2 |
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Male Female Total |
3213 3066 6279 |
92.9% 93.2 93.0 |
1070 1037 2107 |
93.9% 94.6 94.2 |
4283 4103 8386 |
93.1% 93.6 93.3 |
Round 3 |
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Male Female Total |
3144 3029 6173 |
90.9 92.1 91.5 |
1026 1010 2036 |
90.0 92.2 91.1 |
4170 4039 8209 |
90.7 92.1 91.4 |
Round 4 |
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Male Female Total |
3097 2957 6054 |
89.6 89.9 89.7 |
1019 1007 2026 |
89.4 91.9 90.6 |
4116 3964 8080 |
89.5 90.4 89.9 |
Round 5 |
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Male Female Total |
3011 2907 5918 |
87.1 88.4 87.7 |
977 987 1964 |
85.7 90.1 87.8 |
3988 3894 7882 |
86.7 88.8 87.7 |
Round 6 |
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Male Female Total |
2995 2903 5898 |
86.6 88.3 87.4 |
1002 996 1998 |
87.9 91.0 89.4 |
3997 3899 7896 |
86.9 88.9 87.9 |
Round 7 |
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Male Female Total |
2951 2831 5782 |
85.3 86.1 85.7 |
977 996 1972 |
85.7 90.1 88.2 |
3928 3826 7754 |
85.4 87.3 86.3 |
Round 8 |
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Male Female Total |
2816 2784 5600 |
81.4 84.7 83.0 |
916 986 1902 |
80.4 90.1 85.1 |
3732 3771 7502 |
81.2 86.0 83.5 |
Round 9 |
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Male Female Total |
2734 2703 5437 |
79.0 82.2 80.1 |
932 969 1901 |
81.7 88.4 85.0 |
3666 3672 7338 |
79.6 83.8 81.7 |
Round 10 |
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Male Female Total |
2850 2774 5624 |
82.4 84.3 83.3 |
953 982 1935 |
83.4 89.6 86.5 |
3803 3756 7559 |
82.7 85.7 84.1 |
| Round 11 | ||||||
Male Female Total |
2803 2718 5521 |
81.0 82.6 81.8 |
932 965 1897 |
81.7 88.0 84.8 |
3735 3683 7418 |
81.2 84.0 82.6 |
| Round 12 | ||||||
Male Female Total |
2819 2741 5560 |
81.4 83.3 82.3 |
948 982 1930 |
83.1 89.5 86.3 |
3767 3723 7490 |
81.9 84.9 83.3 |
| Round 13 | ||||||
Male Female Total |
2835 2781 5616 |
81.9 84.5 83.2 |
950 995 1945 |
83.3 90.8 87.0 |
3785 3776 7561 |
82.3 86.1 84.2 |
Note: Table based on RNI (R25102., R38277., etc.), KEY!SEX (R05363.), and CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.). Retention rate is defined as the percentage of all base-year respondents participating in a given survey. Deceased respondents are included in the calculations. |
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Factors used to help bolster NLSY97 retention rates:
- Locating efforts: Because transiency is a common characteristic of the age cohort interviewed in the NLSY97, locating the respondent is a major component of the fielding process each time. At the end of each interview, respondents are asked to provide names and phone numbers of close contacts that might know of their whereabouts if they were to move before the next survey round. Advance letters are mailed to the last known address of a respondent with a request to the post office for forwarding information if the respondent is no longer at that address. Other standard locating services are employed for respondents who cannot be found through contacts or the post office.
- Regular respondent mailings: Respondents receive an advance letter mailed before each fielding effort. The letter reiterates the importance of their participation in the NLSY97 and includes a survey fact sheet. Additional marketing materials are available throughout the field period so that interviewers will have information to share with respondents about the importance of the study.
- Multiple contact attempts: Interviewers try multiple times to contact a respondent, varying the time or date of contact to maximize success.
- Additional incentives offered: In some rounds, a sub-sample of respondents were offered different levels of incentives to see if higher incentives affected survey participation. The most successful incentive approaches are then implemented survey-wide.
- Interviewer consistency: Where possible, an interviewer who completed a successful interview with a respondent in a previous round is assigned that respondent in the next round.
Reasons for Noninterview in the NLSY97
Each NLSY97 respondent who is not interviewed in a given round has been assigned a "reason for noninterview" code, which can be found in the "RNI" variable. Table 2 summarize the reasons for noninterview by sample type during rounds 2-13.
Reason for noninterview |
Deceased |
Not locatable |
Technical problem |
R too ill |
R unavailable |
Refused interview |
Other |
Total |
Round 2 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
7 6 1 |
104 63 41 |
6 3 3 |
6 6 -- |
42 37 5 |
428 350 78 |
5 4 1 |
598 469 129 |
Round 3 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
16 13 3 |
193 122 71 |
2 2 -- |
1 1 -- |
51 35 16 |
510 400 110 |
3 3 -- |
776 576 200 |
Round 4 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
15 12 3 |
173 107 66 |
6 5 1 |
6 5 1 |
80 61 19 |
612 496 116 |
12 8 4 |
904 694 210 |
Round 5 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
25 19 6 |
279 172 107 |
-- -- -- |
1 1 -- |
77 53 24 |
718 583 135 |
2 2 -- |
1102 830 272 |
Round 6 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
30 23 7 |
253 162 91 |
-- -- -- |
4 4 -- |
4 1 3 |
765 637 128 |
32 23 9 |
1088 850 238 |
Round 7 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
37 27 10 |
256 162 94 |
-- -- -- |
2 2 -- |
26 23 3 |
858 715 143 |
51 37 14 |
1230 966 264 |
Round 8 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
45 35 10 |
277 192 85 |
-- -- -- |
6 6 -- |
208 124 152 |
898 746 152 |
48 45 3 |
1482 1148 334 |
Round 9 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
59 45 14 |
418 307 111 |
-- -- -- |
5 3 2 |
92 59 33 |
999 827 172 |
73 70 3 |
1646 1311 335 |
Round 10 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
77 59 18 |
191 139 52 |
-- -- -- |
7 6 1 |
86 52 34 |
1038 849 189 |
26 19 7 |
1425 1124 301 |
Round 11 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
90 68 22 |
320 232 88 |
-- -- -- |
6 5 1 |
77 47 30 |
1037 846 191 |
36 29 7 |
1566 1227 339 |
Round 12 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
103 78 25 |
274 194 80 |
-- -- -- |
-- -- -- |
96 56 40 |
997 838 159 |
24 22 2 |
1494 1188 306 |
Round 13 total Cross-sectional Supplemental |
113 82 31 |
265 197 68 |
-- -- -- |
4 4 0 |
120 51 69 |
893 758 135 |
28 22 6 |
1423 1114 309 |
Note: Table based on RNI (R25102., R38277., etc.) and CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.). |
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