Civic Engagement and Social Cohesion Measuring Dimensions of Social Capital to Inform Policy (2014) / Chapter Skim
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4 Competing and Complementing Data Strategies: The Role of the Federal Statistical System
4 Competing and Complementing Data Strategies: The Role of the Federal Statistical System
Pages 81-106
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From page 81... ...
Underscoring our guidance is the recognition that the viability of large national surveys is at a crossroads; a real possibility exists that major surveys conducted by the federal statistical system will take a starkly different form in the not too distant future. RECOMMENDATION 1: For data collection in areas of social capital, a multipronged strategy should be pursued in which large population surveys conducted by the federal statistical 81
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From page 82... ...
Some elements of social capital are best measured through surveys of individuals or households while, for others, it is possible to gather information using nonsurvey methods. Among the data elements for which surveys are required, some can be effectively collected using instruments administered to national samples while others are better approached using specialized, more focused ones.
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From page 83... ...
And the historically high response rates of government surveys (e.g., 92-94 percent for the CPS in 2003-2005 and 86-88 percent for the volunteer supplements) give them a comparative advantage over nongovernment surveys.
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From page 84... ...
4.2. THE CPS SUPPLEMENTS It is not possible or desirable to make the CPS the source for all data related to social capital needed for policy, research, and general information purposes. The primary purpose of the core, monthly CPS is as an employment survey, and adding a major new component could increase respondent burden and jeopardize its high response rates.
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From page 85... ...
It also provides information on the number of Americans who are active in their communities, communicating with one another on issues of public concern, and interacting with public institutions and private enterprises. At national and state levels, the CPS Civic Engagement Supplement fulfills several elements of this mandate for descriptive information.2 As we argue above, some elements of social capital data collection are well served by broad population surveys fielded by the federal statistical system, while others are not -- not because they are unimportant, but because they either require a different measurement approach can be collected using less costly vehicles.3 CONCLUSION 5: Current Population Survey (CPS)
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From page 86... ...
CONCLUSION 7: Although even a short module can generate useful information, the Current Population Survey does not offer a comparative advantage for data collection on complex behaviors and attitudes indicative of social cohesion, individ ual and group connectedness, and civic health generally. These phenomena cannot be satisfactorily characterized by data col lected from a small set of questions.
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From page 87... ...
While this was a practical short-term decision, it would not be the best approach long term. RECOMMENDATION 2: Due to the importance of substate and subgroup analyses, under a cost-reduction scenario the panel favors a combined civic engagement and volunteer supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS)
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From page 88... ...
identifying and eliminating redundancies across the CPS Civic Engagement and Volunteer Supplements; and (3) iden tifying and eliminating questions for which comparable data can be found in other government surveys or elsewhere, while recognizing there is analytic value in having both volunteering and civic engagement data, along with covariate information, for the same respondents.
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From page 89... ...
Internet use (Civic Engagement Supplement, question S3) may also be peripheral to the core volunteer and engagement constructs coverable by the CPS, and it is likely that better nonsurvey sources of this information exist.
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From page 90... ...
. network site." Another option is to structure questions, such as S5, in an open-ended "yes/no" fashion parallel to question S1 of the volunteer supplement ("Since September 1st of last year, [have you/has NAME]
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From page 91... ...
Eliminating Overlap Among the Supplements Minimizing overlap within the CPS supplements is another source for streamlining and is no doubt something that will be studied during the design of the a combined instrument. As just one illustrative example, the question on participation in groups or organizations in the Civic Engagement Supplement (S5, S6)
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From page 92... ...
in the Civic Engagement Supplement were transferred to the voting supplement, it could possibly be dropped from the civic engagement supplement. The nonprofit sector relies heavily on surveys of volunteer activities.
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From page 93... ...
The Civic Engagement and Volunteer Supplements are both conducted annually, budget permitting (the Civic Engagement Supplement was not fielded in 2012)
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From page 94... ...
Another issue that supports our recommendation for a combined supplement -- as opposed to separate, biannual Volunteer and Civic Engagement Supplements -- involves the way the overall CPS survey sample is rotated. Currently, analysts can take advantage of the fact that the sample overlaps from year to year because respondents are in the sample for 4 months, out for 8 months, then back in for 4 additional months.
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From page 95... ...
Since the panel recommends refocusing the CPS Civic Engagement Supplement to volunteering and voting primarily, question rotation -- while still potentially useful -- becomes less crucial because the scope of the survey content will have been narrowed. 4.4. BEYOND THE CPS Developing a comprehensive data collection strategy in the areas of social capital requires consideration of other survey vehicles with potentially greater relevance and direct applicability to research on specific domains; the CPS supplements should not be evaluated in isolation.
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From page 96... ...
dictate the content of many of these surveys. While the panel recognizes that surveys often have different design standards, and transparency is not uniform across them, 13 Some of these surveys -- the National Crime Victimization Survey, the American Time Use Survey, and the Neighborhood Social Capital Module of the American Housing Survey -- are fully sponsored and administered by the federal statistical system.
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From page 97... ...
(conducted by the Census Bureau) : the neighborhood social capital module was designed to help researchers study neighborhood effects.
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From page 98... ...
BLS & Census Time use, employment Annual AHS - HUD Housing Biannual Neighborhood Observation/ Social Capital HRS NIA & SSA (U. of Health and aging Biennial Michigan)
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From page 99... ...
Nationally representative National sample of about 90,000 households/CAPI & CATI 1999 Nationally representative random-digit-dialing sample 2012 (ongoing) Nationally representative National sample of about 25,000 people/CATI 2013 (ongoing)
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From page 100... ...
Biennial marital histories, and household composition NHIS CDC/NCHS & Health of adults and Annual Census children Sample Adult CDC/NCHS & Health conditions, Annual Core Census limitations, behaviors, access and utilization of insurance
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From page 101... ...
COMPETING AND COMPLEMENTING DATA STRATEGIES 101 Population Sampled and Capacity for Small-Area Most Recent Year Sampling Mode Estimates 2013 (ongoing) 8,984 respondents born National between 1980 and 1984 2012 (ongoing)
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From page 102... ...
of Michigan Detailed well-being, Every 4 years Use of Time with funding caregiving, time diary Supplement of from multiple (24 hrs.) from previous the PSID government day agencies, foundations, and other organizations Transition into U
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From page 103... ...
; and participated in main PSID 2009 interview 2012 (ongoing) National probability Census region sample; two waves with sample target of 1,500 adults for each wave.
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From page 104... ...
NOTES: ANES, American National Election Studies; ASEC, Annual Social and Economic Supplement; BLS, Bureau of Labor Statistics; CAPI, computer-assisted personal interviewing; CATI, computer-assisted telephone interviewing; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; GSS, General Social Survey; NCHS, National Center for Health Statistics; NHIS, National Health Interview Survey; HUD, Department of Housing and Urban Development; insights into the scalability of results from neighborhood-level surveys of social capital to larger areas.
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From page 105... ...
totaling 9,359 community respondents 2001 (inactive) Nationally representative National sample of 4,216 adults aged 21 and older, random digit dialing NCVS, National Crime Victimization Survey; NIA, National Institute of Aging; NLSY79, National Longitudinal Surveys 1979 wave; NSF, National Science Foundation; PSID, Panel Study of Income Dynamics; SCBS, Social Capital Benchmark Survey; SCCS, Social Capital Community Survey; SSA, Social Security Administration.
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From page 106... ...
And now is the right time to move on the measurement and design issues implied in the above recommendation because federal statistics in this subject matter area have not yet become deeply rooted. Additionally, numerous national polling organizations regularly conduct surveys intended to gauge various aspects of civic engagement and social cohesion.
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