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Chapter 2
Data Collection

The Sample

The sample for this project was drawn from the 1997 PSID interviews. As interviews were completed for the 1997 PSID, households with children who were Family Unit (FU) members under the age of 13 were identified for inclusion in the Child Development Supplement. Both the PSID core sample and the new PSID immigrant refresher sample generated Child Development cases.

The actual number of households eligible for the Child Development Supplement from the PSID was 2,705 (2,458 from the Core sample and 247 from the New Immigrant sample). A total of 2,394 households with a total of 3,586 children were interviewed for the Child Development Supplement for a response rate of 88.2%.

Race and Gender Composition

Because of an initial oversampling of low-income families and the addition of a recent sample of immigrant families, the unweighted PSID sample has a substantial number of black and other minority families. The CDS identified 2,390 eligible families: 1,140 white families, 997 black families, 158 nonwhite, nonblack Hispanic families, 46 Asian families, 12 Native American families, and 29 families of other nationalities (Table 1). There are a total of 3,586 children whose primary caregiver was interviewed. Of these, boys and girls are represented in approximately equal numbers (see Table 1).

Table 1. Race and Gender Composition of the Child Development Supplement^a

	Total Families	Total Children	Male Children	Female Children	% Children by Race
White	1140	1648	827	821	46.03%
Black	997	1467	772	695	40.98%
Hispanic	158	268	134	134	7.49%
Asian	46	63	31	32	1.76%
Native American	12	19	8	11	0.53%
Other	29	107	50	57	2.99%
NA/DK	7	8	4	4	0.22%
Total	2389	3580	1826	1754	100%
Missing	1	6

^aThe numbers in this table are unweighted.

Stratification of Sample:

The sample was originally divided into strata according to the distance from our interviewing staff. The sample and budget used the following strata definitions:

• Stratum 1: Living in 1980 SRC primary area
• Stratum 2: Living in 1960/1970 SRC primary area (major concentration of 10 to 15+ households)
• Stratum 3 "clustered households": At least one day travel from the nearest SRC interviewer; 3+ households in the area
• Stratum 4 "remote households": At least one day travel from the nearest SRC interviewer; <3 households in the area

Households outside the continental U.S. were excluded from interviewing and were coded as non-sample. All other households were included in the sample. The response rates were expected to be slightly lower in Strata 3 and 4. Since these were interviewed predominantly by telephone, it was easier for reluctant households to refuse to participate.

Instrument Development

The questionnaires were developed over the course of the 11-month preproduction period, during which time two pretests were conducted. In the first pretest, household and school questionnaires were tested separately, because the pretest occurred in the summer. Survey Research Center interviewers conducted the Household Pretest 1 interviews in June 1996. Columbia Teachers College recruited teachers and administered the Teacher Pretest 1 interviews in July 1996. The second pretest, conducted in October, was a full dress rehearsal of the entire PSID-Child Development Supplement, and included pretesting the PSID interview and the CDS household and teacher interviews, as well as mailing the teacher and administrator questionnaires.

For production interviewing, the following questionnaires and booklets were produced:

A.	Time Use Diary
B.	Child Questionnaire
C.	Child Respondent Booklet
D.	Primary Caregiver-Child Questionnaire
E.	Primary Caregiver-Child Respondent Booklet
F.	Primary Caregiver-Household Questionnaire
G.	Other Caregiver-Household Questionnaire
H.	Other Caregiver-Child Questionnaire
I.	Father Out of the Home-Household Questionnaire
J.	Father Out of the Home-Child Questionnaire
K.	Elementary/Middle School Teacher Questionnaire
L.	Preschool/Daycare Teacher Questionnaire
M.	Elementary/Middle School Administrator Questionnaire
N.	Preschool/Daycare Administrator Questionnaire
O.	Home-Based Care Questionnaire

A large number of other forms, checklists, and related materials were also needed for this study. These were developed throughout the preproduction period by the study director, survey manager, project manager, and other team members.

Table 2 summarizes the questionnaires for the Child Development Supplement and the possible modes of interview for each instrument during the production phase.

Table 2. Questionnaires

Qnaire Booklet	Respondent	Number	Mode
Child Qnaire	Child (3-12)	One per child (age 3-12)	Face-to-Face
Time Diary	Child	Two per eligible child (all ages)	Mail ahead and Face-to-Face or phone
Prim Caregiver-Child Qnaire	Primary Caregiver	One per child (all ages)	Face-to-Face or phone
Prim Caregiver-HH Qnaire	Primary Caregiver	One per primary caregiver	Self-Administered in home (interviewer administered if literacy or language problems)
Other Caregiver-Child Qnaire	Other Caregiver of Child	One per child (for HHs with other caregiver)	Self-Administered in home
Other Caregiver-HH Qnaire	Other Caregiver of Child	One per other caregiver	Self-Administered in home
Father Outside of the Home-Child Qnaire	Father Outside of the Home	One per child (for HHs with a father living outside of the home)	Telephone Interview
Father Outside of the Home-HH Qnaire	Father Outside of the Home	One per father outside of the home	Telephone Interview
Elem/Middle School/Home School Teacher Qnaire	Elem./M.S. English Teacher/Home school teacher	One per child in Elem, middle or home school	Self-Administered mail survey
Elementary/Middle School Administrator Qnaire	Elementary or M.S. School Administrator	One per child in Elem or middle school	Self-Administered mail survey
Preschool/Daycare Teacher Qnaire	Preschool/Day Care Center Teacher	One per child in preschool or day care center	Self-Administered mail survey
Preschool/Daycare Administrator Qnaire	Preschool/Day Care Center Administrators	One per child in preschool or day care center	Self-Administered mail survey
Home-Based Care Qnaire	In-home day care provider	One per child in home-based day care	Self-Administered mail survey

Field Procedures

Data collection began in January 1997 and was completed in the field in November 1997. Production halted during July and August, since the majority of schools were closed for the summer, and resumed in September. In 1997, the interviewer first completed the Core PSID Family Unit (FU) interview which determined the number and ages of children. The Core interview also contained a child support supplement that determined whether any child in the household had an absent parent, and whether any children from a former relationship were living elsewhere. If there was a child in the FU between birth and age 12, the interviewer advised the respondent that they would be contacted about the Child Development survey. The central office randomly selected two children, assigned time diary days, determined a likely primary caregiver and whether there was an absent father, and transferred the case to the nearest field interviewer. The field interviewer contacted the FU, explained the study, identified the primary and secondary caregivers, made an appointment for the interview, and mailed the advance time diary and introductory letter. The interviewer then visited the household, obtained written permission to interview the children, obtained child assessments, child interviews, a primary caregiver interview and assessment, time use diaries and left self-administered instruments for the primary caregiver and other caregiver. If either of the children was in school, day care, or in the care of a babysitter, signed parent permission slips were obtained for the teacher/caregiver, and the interviewer checked the information with the school before mailing the teacher questionnaire, teacher time diary and administrator questionnaires to teacher and administrator. If there was a father living outside of the home of the target child for any sample children, the interviewer requested the name and phone number of the absent father from the primary caregiver and proceeded to contact the absent father to conduct child and household interviewers if consent was given. The final completed questionnaires were mailed to the central office and logged in as received. Completed questionnaires were coded and entered in the SRC Survey Services Lab. Project staff processed payment checks for primary caregiver, teacher, and absent father. The primary caregiver was given a small amount of money as a token of appreciation for doing the interview, and each child received a small gift. The teacher and absent father each received a small incentive to complete the interview.

The following is the preferred order of administration for the entire household interview (Figure 2-1). This order could not always be followed exactly because every household composition and needs are different. When possible, however, the field interviewers tried to adhere to the following order.

In each household, the following steps were taken:

1. Take PSID interview.
2. If there is an eligible child, a Child Case is generated by Data Control.
3. Data Control staff print a set of labels, CAI (Computer Assisted Interviewing) Sample Management System (CSMS) checklist, and an information sheet for the household and teacher.
4. The Data Services research assistant prepares and mails the sample line packet (containing coversheets, labels and information sheets) to the interviewer assigned to the case.
5. The interviewer reviews the sample line packet and labels the appropriate questionnaires.
6. The interviewer contacts the household, verifies the primary caregiver selection, explains the study, verifies the mailing address, and sets up an appointment for an in-person interview.
7. The interviewer mails an introductory packet to the household containing a study brochure, introduction letter, and time diaries.
8. The interviewer visits the household and gets written permission to interview the child(ren) from the primary caregiver. The interviewer administers the child assessments and primary caregiver-child questionnaire. The time diaries are reviewed and edited with the primary caregiver (and the child, if appropriate).
9. The interviewer gives the appropriate self-administered questionnaires to the primary caregiver and the other caregiver (if one is in the household).
10. The interviewer obtains written parental permission to contact teachers and caregivers for children in school, preschool, or child care.
11. The interviewer obtains contact information for fathers living outside the home, if applicable.
12. After the interview is completed, the interviewer edits the interviews and enters complete information about the contact and the interview into CSMS.
13. The interviewer mails the school questionnaires to the appropriate teachers, caregivers, and school administrators.
14. The interviewer notifies Ann Arbor via CSMS that the teacher information has been mailed.
15. The interviewer mails an introductory letter to the father living outside the home, if applicable.
16. The interviewer contacts and interviews the father living outside the home, if applicable.
17. The interviewer edits the father outside the home questionnaires, if applicable.
18. The interviewer reports the completed household session to the Team Leader (TL).
19. The TL instructs the interviewer to mail the completed questionnaires to Ann Arbor (if no verification is required) or to the TL (for verification and evaluation).
20. The interviewer mails completed and edited interviews to Ann Arbor or the TL, as instructed.
21. The TL evaluates and verifies the interview, if applicable, gives feedback to the interviewer, and mails completed interviews to Ann Arbor.
22. The Ann Arbor staff logs completed questionnaires as they are received from interviewers, primary caregivers, other caregivers, teachers, childcare providers, and administrators.
23. The Survey Services Lab (SSL) staff mails reminder postcards one week after the interviewer has mailed the materials to the teachers and administrators.
24. The SSL staff conducts reminder calling for nonresponding teachers, caregivers, and administrators beginning two weeks after the interviewer has mailed the materials to the teachers and administrators. A second questionnaire is mailed by the SSL staff if necessary.
25. A total of two rounds of 5 calls each will be made before coding the case as final non-response, if the questionnaires are not returned.
26. The SSL staff codes and enters the completed time use diaries into the SAS data entry program created by PSID staff.
27. The SSL staff enters all completed questionnaires into the SAS data entry program created by PSID staff.
28. The SSL conducts check coding on 10% of Home Time Diaries and Home-based Care Time Diaries, and performs double entry verification on questionnaires for quality control purposes.
29. Completed questionnaires are stored by PSID staff once the questionnaires are coded and processed.

Figure 2-1. Field Procedures