2002 NSAF Questionnaire

Report No. 12 in the 2002 NSAF Methodology Series

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

1. INTRODUCTION

The 2002 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) is a survey of the economic, health, and social characteristics of children, adults under the age of 65, and their families. Interviews were conducted with more than 40,000 families, yielding information on more than 100,000 people. The data collection was conducted for the Urban Institute and Child Trends by Westat from February 2002 through November 2002.

The sample is representative of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population under age 65. As with virtually all household surveys, some important segments of the population (e.g., the homeless) could not be sampled because of their living arrangements and hence are not included in the survey results.

As with the prior two rounds of data collection (conducted in 1997 and 1999), oversize samples were drawn in 13 states (Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin) to allow the production of reliable estimates at the state level. The oversize state samples are supplemented with a balance of the United States sample to allow the creation of estimates at the national level as well. The sampling frame consisted of a list-assisted, random-digit dialing (RDD) sample of telephone numbers supplemented by an area probability sample of nontelephone households.

The goal of producing reliable estimates at the state level for measures of child and family wellbeing stems from the NSAF's role in Assessing the New Federalism, an Urban Institute project launched at the onset of policy changes that called for the devolution of responsibility for social programs, especially those affecting low-income families, from the federal government to state and local governments. The project focuses on programs in the areas of health care, income security, employment, training, and social services. In addition to the NSAF, the data collection component of the project also includes intensive site visits to the 13 states to gather information on the development and implementation of policies.

While the site visits provide researchers and policymakers with information on how states differ in both the policies selected and how these policies are implemented, the NSAF survey data provide reliable estimates of outcome measures not available from other data sources, such as administrative data or other household surveys. In short, if states differ in the policies selected, we may see differences at the state level on measures of child, adult, and family well-being.

In this first chapter of the report, we describe the household screener and extended interview of the 2002 NSAF, as well as respondent selection, types of NSAF interviews, and the NSAF definition of family. The second chapter describes specific changes made to the questionnaire between the current round and the previous one, such as which questions are new, changed, or no longer asked. The third chapter provides the full 2002 NSAF questionnaire, along with additional information about question universes and skip patterns.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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