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.
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.
Scroll right to view additional table columns or click the link at the bottom of the table to open in a new window.
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.
Scroll right to view additional table columns or click the link at the bottom of the table to open in a new window.
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.). |