SAMPLE EXPANSION PLANS FOR THE CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY Alan R. Tupek, U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics Preston J. Waite, Lawrence S. Cahoon, U.S. Bureau of the Census Alan R. Tupek, 441 G Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20212 I. Introduction The Bureau Current planning Population improvements Survey (CPS) to the 1990 Decennial Census. using and implementing the expanded sample. the of computer the estimates. in collection for in minorities, 1989). recall bias. The final section of The CPS sample expansion will provide more design com- the paper discusses prehensive analysis of the components of unemploy- sample design research now in progress. 2. Sample Expansion Options labor socioeconomic force. affecting Analysis distinct industry composition of groups special of the The proposed CPS for the 1990's calls situations States or minority concentrations or geographic a l l 50 States and the D i s t r i c t of Columbia. ColLection of the data in one week, as is now done, estimates. Increasing the more reliable is not o p e r a t i o n a l l y possible reliability of State annual estimates of force for rural areas and some metropolitan doubling of the the survey. CPS implementation is proposed expected to of the be accomplished extending the collection period to CPS an These proposals have been considered impractical from the viewpoint of c o l l e c t i o n and processing resources. Hence, other options are sample size from 55,000 to 105,000 eligible houseThe the in some cases, more than a doubting of the cost of Plans call for a nearly expansion with increase in sample. Previous options f o r redesign involved large scale expansion in work toad and, the area estimates. holds. the sample expansion to provide more reliable data for data will also improve based for on location will be possible with the labor of other considerations and provides an overview of ment and the resulting We also discuss issues of incon- the use of an expanded sample for State estimates. Butz reliable estimates for States and allow more The effects may occur due to the phase the expanded sample and by data collection sistency of State and national estimates caused by increased longitudinal use of the CPS data, and an expansion of the CPS sample size (Plewes and of two weeks following the reference week, assisted interviews, methods to reduce coverage error We also describe efforts to minimize the effects on survey The improvements include a new questionnaire, automation the sample design efficiency despite the two years between implementing the basic sample design in conjunction with the redesign of the CPS sample following environment mize of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census are sample considered. by The alternative we have selected retains the 1-week reference period now in use but additional data collection spreads collection occurs in the week following the reference week of period. We also considered several options invol- the 12th of the month. ving pooling data from m u l t i p l e reference weeks to week. Currently, most integrated sample State of the The new sample would be an designed to and national estimates. produce lected during week. the week sample entire sample. begin in research 1996, into will occur in 1994. The time for The week" data. for producing There "monthly" data ALL WEEKS--Each week of the con- for expanding the CPS sample and the rea- ence week. cuss natively, some type of moving major design issues in implementing the We describe efforts to by considered spreading the year interviewing Under one option, sets of four or five consecutive two-phase approach. various ways to options would occur using the preceding week as the refer- sons for selecting the two-phase approach. We disthe are The primary sample across the month are provided below. with collection of data over a two-week period. sidered idea of such proposals is to pool data across accomplish this. further options across month date back at least to the e a r l y 1960's. erence estimation and to address concerns This paper describes some of the a 2-week weeks to produce "monthly" data, rather than "ref- of the Larger sample is planned to permitting over They are discussed in the Gordon Committee report. the Implementation of the redesign for the basic CPS sample implementation from data Proposals for spreading the CPS sample the col- following the reference State estimates would be derived the obtain monthly estimates. reliable National estimates would be based on the portion of the of maxi- weeks represent the months. average scheme is possible for monthly estimates. 72 Alter- estimation While providing the best "monthly" data, the Alternatively, the week following the week of all weeks option would likely delay publication of the 12th can be the second reference week. monthly ence periods are then wholly within the month, and estimates two (in some months, three) weeks beyond the current schedule. problems of overlap of In reference options. The 4-(or 5-) provide periods into other months would occur more often other addition, than week in data from the middle of the month. the alternatives, this proposal the away reference from of the advantage, tual elimination of recall bias. change est from the current l-week reference That change is likely to cause the great- effect on seasonal factors. publication timing and In addition, the comparability with payroll employment survey are affected. sample It is spread provides further tual than on the week a week the likely have week This (or of would concern is which 12th, the impact on the seasonal factors due to a reference week change is tess than under the but week There would the all weeks of not delay full able way in that direction. It would entail the schedule. first publication relative There would be some reference week to months contained from the previous month. payroll schedule. the some of reinterview, training, for other in favor the the publication of the consistency, on a reference date period. The extent of expansion (2) the to discard to of maintain consistency the the design CPS, issues have emerged. - for four the does not two-phase significant design These are: coincide with and that expansion. 12th. current One is the week The week prior to the 12th can be publication We would maintain schedule, - the With Therefore, it is not the delayed phase sample there are risks of but the reference the series selecfor the possible the introduction of the two-phase sample. classify likely be more than the 3- week option, than the all week option. be the ability to maintain schedule but same issues of phase in effects. less A major advantage would the the the publication in due to both the redesign and with some The impact on seasonal factors would to in of the expanded discontinuities week would fail partially in the previous month in cases. in historical make both designs maximally efficient. the of with other series, The timing of the sample redesign tion them reference weeks within the month. the second reference week. the In gen- two-phase option. Under this option, there are two of A for the current two-phase option. The primary con- In developing surveys, to made considered three options, but the negatives cerns were: (I) the need opera- and other necessary funcclosest are depends on the option implemented. We tions. TWO WEEKS--This option is the survey the 12th for national associated with them led us It also allows the use of the fourth week of the month employment Inclusion of week 3. Major Design Issues weeks. period Another primary Comparisons and (3) publication timing. three reference data from the CPS and data from the payr- tional viewpoint, this option seems optimal, as it for The collection beyond the present collection period. one or two days However, from an the would allow us to use the field and CATI staff CPS will eral, a delay of one week occurs for each week current where CPS monthly estimates is required. the month, it goes a consider- delay in They estimates would extend the collection week provide with beyond delay does the oll employment series. data and there would be a larger sample with three recall has the same reference period, and the same between a reference week of the 12th. Using the options involve collecting Changing publ ication all Comparability with the payroll sur- vey is better than the all week option, representation above result in inconsistencies. By centering collection on the week of the proposal, concep- some impact on the seasonal patterns nomic data. two earlier than under the 4-(or 5-) week pro- also be more sample PSUs than with However, the the 12th is standard for collecting eco- posal. can not be released at the same time. The to a two week reference period could of weeks) weeks option. month. and cause a discontinuity in the data series. of the 12th. publication whole we discuss in the next section, is data for more than one reference week. THREE WEEKS--Distribute sample across the three centered as change All desirable. fewer sample PSUs and less work load option would allow Among furthest bias problem. for field staff every week of the year. weeks the be as disruptive to our data users as the Also, the is is the concept of providing data that are truly representative period of this option creates the greatest concepperiod. Refer- We under the general issue If both the redesign and expansion occur jointly, we risk only one discontinuity in the data series. for CPS estimates and estimates from the - Interviewing for a portion of the sample take payroll employment survey. 73 wilt place two weeks after the reference week rather than the usual one week later. for Hence, the two-phase design. However, after the respondents may have different recall patterns implementation of the two-phase design, it will be depending on the time of the interview. more This efficient to interview some cases in these may result in biases in the data and differen- eleven States during the second week. tial bias by State. nally Sample designated for the first week of inter- only one week and form the basis viewing is used to produce national estimates. interviewer The combined first and second week that work over a two used for State estimates. sample Therefore, it will be possible to produce two national for is with the current not estimates official be are discussed consistent greater for week period sion from the redesign. the efficiency of the However, detail the implementation of haps, in 1996. Since both do same time, it the is system given not occur at A carefully controlled phase in the cal sample PSU's from the 1990 efficiency housing Census and For it is not cost years later phase design. some of from reselect We use a PSUs a ever, statisti- of new PSUs of the two-phase design in normal redesign. ways different Many features increase There are, how- to exert more control of the phase in than is p o s s i b l e with a normal redesign. However, and introduction the risk of affecting the data. maximum As with a effective to select new PSUs in 1994, hire interviewers for those two The of the design the two-phase sample for 1996 should also involve the same steps. rede- procedure to maximize overlap between succes- 1996 contains several features that are the units within those frame. the and new interviewers needed for the new design. the restratification of the primary sampling units of of occurs after each decennial census to sive designs to minimize the number The redesign of the sample in 1994 will involve selection CPS minimize effects on the data. efficiency of both simultaneously. PSUs, split. for cost and design reasons to implement the signed possible to maximize the (PSUs), the reselection of sample that 5. Phase In Effects the two-phase expansion, per- not expan- would have been possible if it had not been neces- The current plans are for the implementation of for will designs will not be as efficient as two phase later than the redesign. tater 1996 two-phase sary and Spreading in The designs will maximize 4. The Timing Issue 1994, origi- determining loads and PSU sizes. below. the redesigned CPS in The be interviewed in The problems described here are a direct result monthly national in work will of the decision to separate the estimate developed from the first week only. The issues sample result in inefficient interviewer work loads. the same time period. The State estimates from the full sample will redesigned will then result redesign, the number of new PSU w i l l the PSUs for the two- ienced Doing this would result in deleting the new PSUs and adding a d d i t i o n a l PSUs. two-phase expansion The in new PSUs and new interviewers. with the major expansion be greater than that exper- regular redesign because of the of the survey. We expect to The h i r i n g and t r a i n i n g of i n t e r v i e w e r s f o r just a reduce the number of new interviewers by designing two and s e l e c t i n g the samples f o r the year period would be very c o s t l y . to keep a l l of the PSUs selected in 1996 design, cies b u i l t of when in the inefficiencies whether they will occur. They During We do have a choice will will occur, but not example can occur the redesign in of the expansion, there in the occur during the period. tation of two phase design, or they can be second week with the phase spread Some interviews sample. Current plans are to max- interview week. There will current one in of the two-phase be concurrent changes in the imize the efficiency of the redesign sample, which estimation methodology. Such changes do not mally sample redesign. That results in some inefficien- the within PSU sample. required of the two-phase design. match two week interviewing period. nor- We w i l l these changes in much the as we c o n t r o l same the phase in of a redesigned There is one s i g n i f i c a n t in advantage that we have the phase in of the two-phase sample that does uses not e x i s t In the eleven redesign, largest States, it is not necessary to add a sample. that This is a par- ticular problem in that the two-phase design the manner of The sample size within a State for the basic redesign will not during carefully control cies after implementation of the two-phase design. A similar situation exists in the selection occur week w i l l be s h i f t e d to the starts in 1994. For during the 1994 to 1996 period the i n t e r - views w i l l either phase be s o m e s h i f t s during the 1994 - 1996 period, after the implemenover the entire period. basic and the sample expansion j o i n t l y . then there must be some i n e f f i c i e n - into both designs. the I f we are 1994 in the regular redesign. soon as we introduce the sample sample 74 During the we use the sample data in estimation as into the field. The only exception is dunTny work loads assigned to lion. new interviewers for training. during the reference week, expansion, it is With the two phase not necessary to introduce all the sample into the estimation process with the introduction the reliability concurrent expansion of the estimates. is not necessary to into the incorporate opportunity the to field, improves improvement control permitting the a The phase in, train the responses compared to the and two-phase approach, we will assess the impact is given two the proxy-reconciled weeks respondents after the interviewed study, we will determine potential changes to the questionnaire. precise The field test for delayed recall is months use random digit dialing with interviewing with previous month's actual responses for This work showed that recall much larger than for a one week delay. 1994 through August 1995. control However, group beginning early after the reference week and be The test will during for interviewing for the end of the reference week. highly tations of We recognize limi- and the possible effect on the test results. force status, an extended recall technique was not therefore, in reducing mean squared error. This study shows the need to explore alternative tech- There w i l l be two niques to reduce recall bias. parts to the delayed recall project. The second phase will involve a field test. the questionnaire to of always It may contain modifica- minimize effects of delayed error. recall. A proposal for laboratory provided by validation amount in the We will order to One Such a technique can yield that deviate very hours to get. and is to of errors debriefings The final decision to proceed with of the be based on events week in the minds of are to The alternative now under consideration is imple- mentation of the two-week option described earlier section 2. reference weeks. effect the CPS reinstate The conceptional estimates. changing rapidly. 7. Multiple Estimates Issues. In Subjects the current when the The the cued with plausible event categories that may only This option entails a conceptional large help the respondent recall rela- to the other error, then the expanded sample and context of the reference respondents. of will not be implemented with a two-phase approach. worked interview involves asking is imple- comparison in various the expanded sample using the two- change from current practice due to the the of If the error due to delayed recall is large tive the little from information detailed questions. The purpose are Hence, the study will Cohany 1989). self-validation obtain recall bias on key obtained from employer records (Edwards, Levine, & The for recall error to other sources of error in the CPS. use a selfcompare tele- sources, to obtain indirect measures of recall phase approach will information of error produced in one week and two week recall. data respondents. procedure work exists. of Direct measures reinterviews mentation major Limitation is in verifying effect difficult include would the characteristics. We expect respondents tions which external The objective of the field test estimates The be essentially the same as 1994. from instance, the une~)loyment insurance rolls. tion January We, to supplement the RDD portion of identified the new CPS questionnaire proposed for implementain plan the sample with a sample of persons without phones first phase will involve laboratory investigations. a the random digit dialing (ROD) design correlated month-to month variables, such as labor effective a the week test group to start on the second Sunday following Work by Bushery and Woltman (1979) showed that for May scheduled for to With quantification status by comparing current responses for previous may be serious for some variables. As a interview is not feasible. recall bias on estimates of labor force recall bias with one month delay is likely one reference week. of response error due to the one week delay in the Work by Perkins and Staff (1969 and 1970) meas- bias by This con~Darison helps determine the small laboratory samples, potential modifications to the the same respondent. Fur- obtained in the CPS interview are self-validated, result of the initial Also, questionnaire in order to minimize any impact. the responses and proxy reports. amount of error for ured atten~)ts conducting a reconciliation interview for the self Before a final decision is made on implementing evaluate repeated reports for each respondent and proxy 6. Delayed Recall will told Ample soliciting information. we is of interviewers and reduce potential data effects. the subject ther verification greater of an interpolated week on response error. the to retrieve the proper information is given. the official estimates as soon as interview- ing begins in when asked for hours worked time and encouragement to make Therefore, it the example, there was a holiday on Monday of that week. of sample into the field. This can be done because For different change will effect will be labor force composition is a system that uses one week of interviews for the national esti- informa- 75 mates and two weeks of interviews estimates, there are produces estimates for for the 9. State multiple opportunities to various characteristics. sampling. current This sample is for during the production national labor force estimates. week, Ling plans are to designate a national sample for interviewing first boundaries. design country first week and then one based on the full the likely not variance very gains important aggregate An additional estimates. problem context With of the State areas strata of the w i t h i n States Within each stratum, one PSU with p r o b a b i l i t y p r o p o r t i o n a t e of a sample to State estimates w i l l of a sys- c l u s t e r s of provide reliability. wilt to of revised estimates, Many States The eleven largest States r e q u i r e no sample, since the required r e l i a b i l i t y remain the same f o r these States. The f u l l change reliable r e q u i r e the a d d i t i o n a d d i t i o n a l sample to achieve the required additional with revised estimates use remaining into The second stage of sampling is require sample month-to-month cross of a State-based supplemental sample. as a result of any delayed recall bias. exists in the The grouped not m e t r o p o l i t a n areas are The expansion of the CPS level full largest selection monthly national estimates. The bias in the national estimates would likely be larger for the samp- roughly four housing u n i t s w i t h i n each PSU. size. would be small and for select tematic sample would have a slightly sample are to s i z e . The estimates lower variance due to the increased However, we the week tater revise the estimates based on the full sample. primary Because the CPS is PSUs do based on economic v a r i a b l e s . permits us to produce national for The always in sample. of the official State estimates. a of These PSUs are g e n e r a l l y RSAs a State-based design, Sample from both weeks of interviewing form the basis u n i t s (PSUs). stages c l u s t e r g e o g r a p h i c a l l y the three counties in r u r a l areas. During the second additional interviewing will occur. Such we in the urban areas and u s u a l l y contain from one to week. of the official estimates based on the sample designated First, counties in the United States i n t o These estimates need not all be consistent. The Overview of the Sample DesiQns The CPS design involves two d i s t i n c t two-phase design w i l t the c u r r e n t CPS design. be very similar The major d i f f e r e n c e s between preliminary estimate for the current month are the increased sample and the spread of the i n t e r v i e w i n g over the two week p e r i o d . The s t r a t - and revised estimates for the previous month. ification month-to-month change estimates are the difference the extent Thus, do not are plan force w i l t be will State-based. still The design be embedded in the two-phase sample. I t may or may not use a State-based s t r a t i f i c a t i o n . The of c l u s t e r s of four housing mates. the State PSU w i t h i n PSU sample w i t [ also be a systematic sample to issue revised national esti- This decision means that within national will estimates, The be a systematic sample of clus- ters of four housing u n i t s . also in the interest of protecting the integrity of the official labor we sample that the bias levels are different in the two estimates, the change estimates biased. To under estimates way on units. Research is the means f o r c o o r d i n a t i n g the two produced from the full sample will be inconsistent designs and optimizing with the official national estimate. From a between the two designs. There are no plans to 4-8-4 rotation system istical change the perspective it is not clear that the most efficient estimator of a total is the sum estimates stat- for each component. of 10. S t r a t i f i c a t i o n However, this may [t is to provide the two-phase design in research related 1996. These consider- design will The first the time estimates, area mates implementation of the two-phase design. This area District includes issues of stratification, PSU, selection, Design 2. the two weeks the sample design from monthly is 1994 produce for the to National State redesign 1996. tabor This force estimates f o r the the ing. between The second It will 76 is a national week of i n t e r v i e w - subset of the two- produce n a t i o n a l e s t i - mates at the current levels design. 39 States and the design the f i r s t This design is a phase design. of interviewing for the two-phase remaining of Columbia. design u t i l i z i n g The second area includes work on the optimum allocation of first use eleven largest States, and annual State e s t i - delay between the implementation of the redesign and the and sample overlap. CPS and PSU Desi9n 1. The for to the be necessary to develop three separate sample implementation ations fall into two broad areas. includes will of the for designs f o r the two Phase CPS system. a brief overview of some of the research on detailed design considerations for allocation Selection Considerations Other Design Considerations The purpose of this section sample sample as a part of the sample expansion. the be a problem for some data users. 8. the of reliability. labor force changes across States. It will not produce State level estimates. Design 3. The third design is the total two- phase design. This design will State level estimates. capacity for produce The the It will also have the producing national We expect retaining best inefficiency in selecting using those design. PSUs Thus, and we for in that for same Plans are to evaluate the recall then one of the alternative approaches, in redesigned the paper, As we all designs The authors would like to acknowledge Paul Mul- the redesigned sample from 1994 to 1996 after tin 1996. simultaneously is not the system. We are studying methods of PSUs for all of the designs. ods would use controlled selection jointly the two-phase design is implemented. PSU selection methodologies guaran- Edwards, W. Sherman, Levine, Roger and Hours Worked". Other design are also under Proceedings of efficiency considerations Spreading the interviews across best U.S. the strategy design is to spread the California to each week. CPS." half the the sample week of interviewing. in April 2, 1971. . . . . . . from The research on the U.S. Bureau Commerce, Bureau of the from J. Bushery to H. gottman, on the from R. on Aquilino Labor to Force Data." W. M. Perkins, ."Methods Test Phase Ill: Second Report on the randum from C. Jones and Memo- R. Aquilino to W. M. Perkins, January 29, 1970. century. into _ . , _ = . Survey design error in of the randum take survey design improvements and crovide our users with the ability to assess from June 24, 1969. the CPS estimates. to "Methods Test Phase Ill: First Report on of Nonself Response on Labor Force Status." improvements Reduction in sampling error is necessary • the Accuracy of Retrospective Interviewing and Effects the CPS over the years and plans nonsampling advantage (1989): of Nonself Response on Labor Force Status." for further improvements in the 1990's continue to reduce of P. Survey into the Accuracy of Retrospective Interviewing and Effects to meet the needs of our data users into 21st of of Changes in Respondent The expansion of the CPS sample is necessary to introduced Memorandum Memorandum 12. Summary the William Population Proceedings Department We The national reliability data Current Accuracy of Retrospective interviewing and effects optimum allocation is addressing these issues. continue Association, Survey Research on ."Methods Test Phase Ill: Third Report Unfortunately requirements would not be met with the first Section April 13, 1979. sample evenly PSUs. constraints wilt not permit this. cannot assign, for example, the the Census. "Use of a Two-Week Reference Period in the The main impetus for the two-phase design is across the two weeks in all the Cohany, of the Census Annual Research Conference. the expectation that it will help in the hiring of qualified interviewers. From this perspective the 21st Century". will two weeks requires fewer interviewers for the survey. American Statistical of Plewes, Thomas J., Butz, "Moving the allocation of the sample to week of interview. the Methods. Sample to Week of Interview number of Sharon (1989): "Cognitive Strategies for Reporting 11. Optimum Allocation of the A Chandler typing this paper. consideration. determine of the Bureau of Labor References tee that no PSUs from the redesign be dropped when and Copeland Bureau of the Census for her skill and patience in The meth- and Kennon We would also like to thank Sue possible. Research is underway to maximize the efficiency of selecting and Statistics for their contributions to this paper. mentioned in the previous section, meeting criterion described will be selected for implementing the sample expansion. introduced If the prob- lem is serious relative to other sources of error, Acknowledgment both effect before a final decision is made on imple- in 1996. Additionally, we want efficient for the characteristics using the full and sample in 1994 be a subset of the two phase sample and the two-phase sample the State estimates, and the mentation of the two-phase approach. not the two-phase the the problem PSUs and sample sample prefer this However, there continue to be recall partial samples. There is consider- units for the redesigned CPS in 1994 and then delayed in implementing need to explain and control the multiple estimates by the sample selected for the redesign in 1994 for the two-phase design. able of achieved described to concerns with this method, especially estimates, that minimum costs and minimization are approach, solution larger sample size. but will not be used for that purpose. of potential data effects two-phase paper, promotes a the 77 L. E. Williams to Memo- W. M. Perkins,
© Copyright 2024