Assessing the Link Between Survey Interview Method and Survey Outcomes: Evidence from the CPS and the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected data collection for the nation's primary source of household-level labor force data, the Current Population Survey (CPS). In the first four months of the pandemic period (March-June 2020) the average month-over-month nonresponse rate increased by 58 percent, while the size of newly entering cohorts declined by 37 percent relative to the prior 15 months. Together, these factors reduced the overall sample size of the CPS by around 16 percent. We hypothesize that these changes, and significant associated shifts in the demographic composition of the sample, were caused by the cessation of in-person interviewing. Geographic variation in nonresponse over this period does not appear related to variation in COVID case rates across metro areas or states.

SUBMITTER: Ward JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8414819 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature