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National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)

Retention & Reasons for Non-Interview

Retention vs response rate

The overall retention rate for round 20 of the NLSY97 is 74.7 percent. Table 1 presents retention rates by sample type across rounds 1-20. Retention rate is defined as the percentage of all base-year respondents who participated in a given survey round. It's calculated by dividing the number of respondents interviewed by the number of respondents remaining eligible for interview. Respondents who are known to be deceased are included in these calculations.

Table 1. Retention rates by sample type
Round Round Year Cross-Sectional Supplemental Total Sample
Responded Retention Rate Responded Retention Rate Responded Retention Rate
1 1997 6748   2236   8984  
2 1998 6279 93.0 2107 94.2 8386 93.3
3 1999 6173 91.5 2036 91.1 8209 91.4
4 2000 6054 89.7 2026 90.6 8080 89.9
5 2001 5918 87.7 1964 87.8 7882 87.7
6 2002 5898 87.4 1998 89.4 7896 87.9
7 2003 5782 85.7 1972 88.2 7754 86.3
8 2004 5600 83.0 1902 85.1 7502 83.5
9 2005 5437 80.1 1901 85.0 7338 81.7
10 2006 5624 83.3 1935 86.5 7559 84.1
11 2007 5521 81.8 1897 84.8 7418 82.6
12 2008 5560 82.3 1930 86.3 7490 83.3
13 2009 5616 83.2 1943 86.9 7559 84.1
14 2010 5544 82.1 1935 86.5 7479 83.2
15 2011 5501 81.5 1922 86.0 7423 82.6
16 2013 5285 78.3 1856 83.0 7141 79.5
17 2015 5271 78.1 1832 81.9 7103 79.0
18 2017 5018 74.4 1716 76.7 6734 75.0
19 2019 5168 76.6 1779 79.6 6947 77.3
20 2021 4967 73.6 1746 78.1 6713 74.7

Note: Table is based on RNI (R25102., R38277., etc.) and CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.).

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.

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 2021, 267 respondents had been reported as deceased. The response rate for those believed to be alive is 77.0 percent.

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Table 2. Response rates (excluding deceased sample members) by sample type
Round Round Year Cross-Sectional Supplemental Total Sample
Responded Non-Deceased Response Rate Responded Non-Deceased Response Rate Responded Non-Deceased Response Rate
1 1997 6748 6748   2236 2236   8984 8984  
2 1998 6279 6742 93.1 2107 2235 94.3 8386 8977 93.4
3 1999 6173 6740 91.6 2036 2234 91.1 8209 8968 91.5
4 2000 6054 6736 89.9 2026 2233 90.7 8080 8969 90.1
5 2001 5918 6729 87.9 1964 2230 88.1 7882 8959 88.0
6 2002 5898 6725 87.7 1998 2229 89.6 7896 8954 88.2
7 2003 5782 6721 86.0 1972 2226 88.6 7754 8947 86.7
8 2004 5600 6713 83.4 1902 2226 85.4 7502 8939 83.9
9 2005 5437 6703 81.1 1901 2222 85.6 7338 8925 82.2
10 2006 5624 6689 84.1 1935 2218 87.2 7559 8907 84.9
11 2007 5521 6680 82.6 1897 2214 85.7 7418 8894 83.4
12 2008 5560 6670 83.4 1930 2211 87.3 7490 8881 84.3
13 2009 5616 6667 84.2 1943 2206 88.1 7559 8873 85.2
14 2010 5544 6661 83.2 1935 2205 87.8 7479 8866 84.4
15 2011 5501 6652 82.7 1922 2199 87.4 7423 8851 83.9
16 2013 5285 6641 79.6 1856 2192 84.7 7141 8833 80.8
17 2015 5271 6625 79.6 1832 2186 83.8 7103 8811 80.6
18 2017 5018 6600 76.0 1716 2177 78.8 6734 8777 76.7
19 2019 5168 6579 78.6 1779 2174 81.8 6947 8757 79.3
20 2021 4967 6556 75.8 1746 2161 80.8 6713 8717 77.0

Note: Table 2 is based on RNI (R25102., R38277., etc.) and CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.).

Reasons for Non-Interview (RNI)

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 round's RNI variable. Table 3 summarizes the reasons for noninterview by sample type during rounds 1-20.

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Table 3. Reason for non-interview by sample type
Round Round Year Cross-Sectional Supplemental Total Sample
Deceased Not Locatable Refused Other Total Deceased Not Locatable Refused Other Total Deceased Not Locatable Refused Other Total
1 1997                              
2 1998 6 63 350 50 469 1 41 78 9 129 7 104 428 59 598
3 1999 8 122 400 46 576 2 71 110 17 200 10 193 510 63 776
4 2000 12 107 496 79 694 3 66 116 25 210 15 173 612 104 904
5 2001 19 172 583 56 830 6 107 135 24 272 25 279 718 80 1102
6 2002 23 162 637 28 850 7 91 128 12 238 30 253 765 40 1088
7 2003 27 162 715 62 966 10 94 143 17 264 37 256 858 79 1230
8 2004 35 192 781 140 1148 10 85 153 86 334 45 277 934 226 1482
9 2005 45 307 881 78 1311 14 111 173 37 335 59 418 1054 115 1646
10 2006 59 139 849 77 1124 18 52 189 42 301 77 191 1038 119 1425
11 2007 68 232 846 81 1227 22 88 191 38 339 90 320 1037 119 1566
12 2008 78 194 838 78 1188 25 80 159 42 306 103 274 997 120 1494
13 2009 81 197 758 96 1132 30 68 135 60 293 111 265 893 156 1425
14 2010 87 199 858 60 1204 31 72 155 43 301 118 271 1013 103 1505
15 2011 96 171 924 56 1247 37 66 177 34 314 133 237 1101 90 1561
16 2013 107 355 837 165 1464 44 111 169 56 380 151 466 1006 221 1844
17 2015 123 242 1040 72 1477 50 102 218 34 404 173 344 1258 106 1881
18 2017 148 427 1054 101 1730 59 176 233 52 520 207 603 1287 153 2250
19 2019 169 161 1180 70 1580 62 75 278 42 457 227 236 1458 116 2037
20 2021 192 142 1398 49 1781 75 48 343 24 490 267 190 1741 73 2271

Note: Table 3 is based on RNI (R25102., R38277., etc.) and CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.).