Retention & Reasons for Noninterview
Retention & Reasons for Noninterview
Retention vs. Response Rate
Retention rates for NLSY79 respondents from 1979 to 1993 exceeded 90 percent. Rates from 1994 until 2000 exceeded 80 percent. Rates from 2002 until 2014 were in the 70s. Retention rate is calculated by dividing the number of respondents interviewed by the number of respondents remaining eligible for interview. All 1979 (round 1) respondents including those reported as deceased are eligible for interviews, with the exception of those who have been permanently dropped from the sample. In the round 29 (2020) survey, 6,535 civilian and military respondents out of the 9,964 eligible were interviewed, for an overall retention rate of 65.6 percent. Retention rates for each survey are shown in Table 1. This table also shows which interviews were conducted with paper-and-pencil interviewing (PAPI) and which were executed with computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI).
The number of respondents can also be expressed as a percentage of the number of base year respondents not known to be deceased. This is referred to as the response rate and is reported in Table 2 for each survey round. As of 2020, 1,185 main respondents had been reported as deceased. The response rate for those believed to be alive is 74.4 percent.
Table 1. Sample Sizes & Retention Rates by Sample Type: NLSY79
| Cross-Sectional Sample |
Supplemental Sample | Military Sample | Total Sample | ||||||
| Year |
Type & Mode of Interview ("Personal" mode can refer to either in person and by telephone) |
Total | Retention Rate 1 | Total | Retention Rate 1 | Total | Retention Rate 1 | Total | Retention Rate 1 |
| 1979 | Personal/PAPI | 6111 | - | 5295 | - | 1280 | - | 12686 | - |
| 1980 | Personal/PAPI | 5873 | 96.1 | 5075 | 95.9 | 1193 | 93.2 | 12141 | 95.7 |
| 1981 | Personal/PAPI | 5892 | 96.4 | 5108 | 96.5 | 1195 | 93.4 | 12195 | 96.1 |
| 1982 | Personal/PAPI | 5876 | 96.2 | 5036 | 95.1 | 1211 | 94.6 | 12123 | 95.6 |
| 1983 | Personal/PAPI | 5902 | 96.6 | 5093 | 96.2 | 1226 | 95.8 | 12221 | 96.3 |
| 1984 | Personal/PAPI | 5814 | 95.1 | 5040 | 95.2 | 1215 | 94.9 | 12069 | 95.1 |
| 1985 | Personal/PAPI | 5751 | 94.1 | 4957 | 93.6 | 1862 | 92.5 | 108943 | 93.9 |
| 1986 | Personal/PAPI | 5633 | 92.2 | 4839 | 91.4 | 183 | 91.1 | 10655 | 91.8 |
| 1987 | Telephone only/PAPI | 5538 | 90.6 | 4768 | 90.1 | 179 | 89.1 | 10485 | 90.3 |
| 1988 | Personal/PAPI | 5513 | 90.2 | 4777 | 90.2 | 175 | 87.1 | 10465 | 90.2 |
| 1989 | Personal/PAPI/CAPI | 5571 | 91.2 | 4853 | 91.7 | 181 | 90.0 | 10605 | 91.4 |
| 1990 | Personal/PAPI/CAPI | 5498 | 90.0 | 4755 | 89.8 | 183 | 91.0 | 10436 | 89.9 |
| 1991 | Personal/PAPI | 5556 | 90.9 | 32814 | 89.9 | 181 | 90.0 | 90185 | 90.5 |
| 1992 | Personal/PAPI | 5553 | 90.9 | 3280 | 89.8 | 183 | 91.0 | 9016 | 90.5 |
| 1993 | Personal/CAPI | 5537 | 90.6 | 3293 | 90.2 | 181 | 90.0 | 9011 | 90.4 |
| 1994 | Personal/CAPI | 5457 | 89.3 | 3256 | 89.2 | 178 | 88.6 | 8891 | 89.2 |
| 1996 | Personal/CAPI | 5290 | 86.6 | 3171 | 86.8 | 175 | 87.1 | 8636 | 86.7 |
| 1998 | Personal/CAPI | 5159 | 84.4 | 3065 | 83.9 | 175 | 87.1 | 8399 | 84.3 |
| 2000 | Personal/CAPI | 4949 | 81.0 | 2921 | 80.0 | 163 | 81.1 | 8033 | 80.6 |
| 2002 | Personal/CAPI | 4775 | 78.1 | 2792 | 76.5 | 157 | 78.1 | 7724 | 77.5 |
| 2004 | Personal/CAPI | 4686 | 76.7 | 2818 | 77.2 | 157 | 78.1 | 7661 | 76.9 |
| 2006 | Personal/CAPI | 4629 | 75.7 | 2862 | 78.4 | 162 | 80.6 | 7653 | 76.8 |
| 2008 | Personal/CAPI | 4688 | 76.7 | 2908 | 79.6 | 161 | 80.1 | 7757 | 77.8 |
| 2010 | Personal/CAPI | 4602 | 75.3 | 2808 | 76.9 | 155 | 77.1 | 7565 | 75.9 |
| 2012 | Personal/CAPI | 4422 | 72.4 | 2731 | 74.8 | 147 | 73.1 | 7300 | 73.3 |
| 2014 | Personal/CAPI | 4263 | 69.8 | 2660 | 72.8 | 147 | 73.1 | 7070 | 71.0 |
| 2016 | Personal/CAPI | 4192 | 68.6 | 2581 | 70.7 | 139 | 69.2 | 6912 | 69.4 |
| 2018 | Personal/CAPI | 4147 | 67.9 | 2587 | 70.8 | 144 | 71.6 | 6878 | 69.0 |
| 2020 | Personal/CAPI | 3942 | 64.5 | 2458 | 67.3 | 135 | 67.2 | 6535 | 65.6 |
| 1 Retention rate is defined as the percentage of base year respondents within each sample type remaining eligible who were interviewed in a given survey year. Included in the eligible sample are deceased and difficult to field respondents whom NORC does not attempt to contact. | |||||||||
| 2 A total of 201 military respondents were retained from the original sample of 1,280. | |||||||||
| 3 The total number of civilian and military respondents in the NLSY79 at the beginning of the 1985 survey was 11,607. | |||||||||
| 4 Economically disadvantaged, nonblack/non-Hispanic female and male members of the supplemental subsample are not eligible for interview as of the 1991 survey year. Remaining eligible for interview in post-1990 surveys are 3,652 black and Hispanic or Latino respondents of the supplemental sample, of whom 3,281 were interviewed in 1991. | |||||||||
|
5 The total number of civilian and military respondents in the NLSY79 at the beginning of the 1991 survey was 9,964. |
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Table 2. Response Rates (Excluding Deceased Sample Members) by Sample Type: NLSY79
| Cross-Sectional Sample | Supplemental Sample | Military Sample | Total Sample | |||||||||
| Year | # Response | Total Deceased | Rate | # Response | Total Deceased | Rate | # Response | Total Deceased | Rate | # Response | Total Deceased | Rate |
| 1979 | 6,111 | 0 | - | 5,295 | 0 | - | 1,280 | 0 | - | 12,686 | 0 | - |
| 1980 | 5,873 | 4 | 96.2 | 5,075 | 5 | 95.9 | 1,193 | 0 | 93.2 | 12,141 | 9 | 95.8 |
| 1981 | 5,892 | 15 | 96.7 | 5,108 | 14 | 96.7 | 1,195 | 0 | 93.4 | 12,195 | 29 | 96.3 |
| 1982 | 5,876 | 24 | 96.5 | 5,036 | 19 | 95.5 | 1,211 | 1 | 94.7 | 12,123 | 44 | 95.9 |
| 1983 | 5,902 | 27 | 97.0 | 5,093 | 26 | 96.7 | 1,226 | 4 | 96.1 | 12,221 | 57 | 96.8 |
| 1984 | 5,814 | 30 | 95.6 | 5,040 | 33 | 95.8 | 1,215 | 4 | 95.2 | 12,069 | 67 | 95.6 |
| 1985 | 5,751 | 36 | 94.7 | 4,957 | 43 | 94.4 | 1861 | 0 | 92.5 | 10,8941 | 79 | 94.5 |
| 1986 | 5,633 | 43 | 92.8 | 4,839 | 51 | 92.3 | 183 | 1 | 91.5 | 10,655 | 95 | 92.6 |
| 1987 | 5,538 | 51 | 91.4 | 4,768 | 56 | 91.0 | 179 | 3 | 90.4 | 10,485 | 110 | 91.2 |
| 1988 | 5,513 | 56 | 91.0 | 4,777 | 68 | 91.4 | 175 | 3 | 88.4 | 10,465 | 127 | 91.2 |
| 1989 | 5,571 | 60 | 92.1 | 4,853 | 78 | 93.0 | 181 | 3 | 91.4 | 10,605 | 141 | 92.5 |
| 1990 | 5,498 | 67 | 91.0 | 4,755 | 82 | 91.2 | 183 | 3 | 92.4 | 10,436 | 152 | 91.1 |
| 1991 | 5,556 | 75 | 92.0 | 3,2812 | 65 | 91.5 | 181 | 4 | 91.9 | 9,0182 | 144 | 91.9 |
| 1992 | 5,553 | 81 | 92.1 | 3,280 | 71 | 91.6 | 182 | 4 | 92.4 | 9,015 | 156 | 91.9 |
| 1993 | 5,537 | 90 | 92.0 | 3,293 | 83 | 92.3 | 181 | 4 | 91.9 | 9,011 | 177 | 92.1 |
| 1994 | 5,457 | 104 | 90.8 | 3,256 | 96 | 91.6 | 178 | 4 | 90.4 | 8,891 | 204 | 91.1 |
| 1996 | 5,290 | 129 | 88.4 | 3,171 | 109 | 89.5 | 175 | 5 | 89.3 | 8,636 | 243 | 88.8 |
| 1998 | 5,159 | 152 | 86.6 | 3,065 | 118 | 86.7 | 175 | 5 | 89.3 | 8,399 | 275 | 86.7 |
| 2000 | 4,949 | 170 | 83.3 | 2,921 | 136 | 83.1 | 163 | 7 | 84.0 | 8,033 | 313 | 83.2 |
| 2002 | 4,775 | 188 | 80.6 | 2,792 | 151 | 79.7 | 157 | 7 | 80.9 | 7,724 | 346 | 80.3 |
| 2004 | 4,686 | 221 | 79.6 | 2,818 | 171 | 81.0 | 157 | 7 | 80.9 | 7,661 | 399 | 80.1 |
| 2006 | 4,629 | 252 | 79.0 | 2862 | 197 | 82.8 | 162 | 7 | 83.5 | 7653 | 456 | 80.5 |
| 2008 | 4688 | 274 | 80.3 | 2908 | 222 | 84.8 | 161 | 7 | 83.0 | 7757 | 503 | 82.0 |
| 2010 | 4602 | 309 | 79.3 | 2808 | 255 | 82.7 | 155 | 9 | 80.7 | 7565 | 573 | 80.6 |
| 2012 | 4422 | 384 | 77.2 | 2731 | 292 | 81.3 | 147 | 13 | 78.2 | 7300 | 689 | 78.7 |
| 2014 | 4263 | 444 | 75.2 | 2660 | 331 | 80.1 | 147 | 15 | 79.0 | 7070 | 790 | 77.1 |
| 2016 | 4192 | 512 | 74.9 | 2581 | 385 | 79.0 | 139 | 18 | 76.0 | 6912 | 915 | 76.4 |
| 2018 | 4147 | 576 | 74.9 | 2587 | 435 | 80.4 | 144 | 22 | 80.4 | 6878 | 1033 | 77.0 |
| 2020 | 3942 | 659 | 72.3 | 2458 | 502 | 78.0 | 135 | 24 | 76.3 | 6535 | 1185 | 74.4 |
| Note: Response rate is defined as the percentage of base-year respondents remaining eligible and not known to be deceased who were interviewed in a given survey year. | ||||||||||||
| 1A total of 201 military respondents were retained from the original sample of 1,280; 186 of the 201 participated in the 1985 interview. The total number of NLSY79 civilian and military respondents eligible for interview (including deceased respondents) beginning in 1985 was 11,607. | ||||||||||||
| 2 The 1,643 economically disadvantaged nonblack/non-Hispanic male and female members of the supplemental subsample were not eligible for interview as of the 1991 survey year. The total number of NLSY79 civilian and military respondents eligible for interview (including deceased respondents) beginning in 1991 was 9,964. | ||||||||||||