NLSY26 NLS Listening Sessions Protocol International Surveys

NLSY26 Needs Assessment Listening Session (90 minutes)
Discussion Guide- Innovations in International Survey
Introduction — ~5 Mins
Welcome the group.
Let them know they’ve been invited to this session to provide feedback on a potential new
NLSY26 cohort. Go over general ground rules below.
o Reminder: Session is being recorded
o Your participation in this survey is voluntary. We are collecting this information under
OMB Clearance Number 1225-0088. Without this currently approved number, we could
not conduct this information session.
o We are doing this as a series of 6 listening sessions. This session will focus on
innovations in international surveys.
o We expect this session will be about 90 minutes. We have a lot to get through so we will
be moving along at a quick pace.
o Additionally, we want to hear from everyone. If you notice that you haven’t spoken up in
a while, please do so. I may call on you to get your opinion.
o There will be additional opportunities to provide feedback so do not worry if we are not
able to get to everything you would like to discuss today. We will discuss those
opportunities at the end of the session.
Introduce the NLS— ~3 Mins
There are currently two active cohorts in the NLS program.
• The first cohort, the NLSY79, consists of about 10,000 men and women who were born in
the years 1957-64. They were ages 14-22 when first interviewed in 1979 and are still being
interviewed today.
o Children of NLSY79 respondents were interviewed starting in 1986. The NLSY79 Child
and Young Adult surveys contain extensive information about the biological children of
women in the NLSY79-including various child assessments.
•

The second cohort, the NLSY97, consists of nearly 9,000 men and women who were born in
the years 1980-1984. They were 12-16 when they were first interviewed in 1997.
o The NLSY97 contained a parent questionnaire in round one that gathered extensive
background information about parents and additional information about the child.

•

There is a free public-use NLS dataset.

Why we’re collecting feedback— ~ 2 Mins
•

A lot has changed in the survey world since the 1997 cohort was launched. We want to
ensure that the newest NLSY cohort uses modern methods. We are looking to learn from
your surveys outside the U.S. where much innovation has occurred.

Page 2

•

We are interested in hearing your perspective on how other surveys have used new
technologies and data collection methods, handled declining response rates, and how
other surveys have made use of alternative data sources.

Trends and innovations in international longitudinal surveys— ~55 Mins
[Quick introductions for moderator, NORC facilitator, and participants only. Say name,
organization. and what surveys one has worked on]
1. Data Collection methodology
We are very interested to hear about innovations in how you collect data and stay in touch with
respondents.
•

Frequency of interviewing (20 minutes)
o How frequently do the surveys that you work on collect data from sample
members?
o What modes and devices (cell phones, wearables) are part of your data
collection efforts?
o Do the surveys that you work on try to identify key transitions close to when
they occur? How is that information incorporated into later interviews to
gather more details? (event-triggered interviewing)
o Do the surveys that you work on ask questions to a subsample of respondents
whom you know may have experienced a specific event (for example, natural
disaster based on geographic information or unemployment based
administrative data)? How is that information gathered and preloaded into
the questionnaire?
o Does your survey collect information about sample members’ behavior or
experiences in real time? What mode is used? With what frequency are
sample members contacted? (ecological momentary analysis)

•

Administrative Data (10 minutes)
o Have you incorporated administrative data sets into your surveys? What
administrative data are you bringing in?
o How are you using those data?
o Does the availability of administrative data affect the questions that you ask
respondents?

•

Paradata (10 minutes)
o What paradata do you collect?
o How do you use the paradata? During the field period to make decisions
about field efforts? After the field period to plan for the next round of
data collection?
o What paradata are publicly released?

Page 3

•

Stemming decline in response rates: (10 minutes)
o What approaches do you take to try to maintain high response rates in your
longitudinal surveys?
o What modes do you use for outreach to respondents? What modes are most
successful?
•

Oversamples (5 minutes)
o Do your surveys oversample certain populations? Are any of your
oversamples based on traits other than race/ethnicity, age, or geography?
• Moderator note: BLS is particularly interested in if other surveys have tried
o

oversampling youth with disabilities.

What considerations should the NLSY26 take into account when
designing oversamples?

Additional topics to consider if they don’t arise during the discussion and time permits:
a. What measurement challenges are other longitudinal surveys experiencing that the
NLSY26 should be aware of?
Dissemination — ~15 Mins
•

•
•

What meta data standards (for example, DDI lifecycle or Dublin core) do your
surveys employ for their data products?
o How did the survey you work on select a standard? What makes the
standard a good fit for the survey?
o Are there meta data standards that you think NLSY26 should look at?
What disclosure avoidance approaches do your surveys use that the NLSY26 should
consider?
What types of restricted access environments do other longitudinal surveys use?

Opportunities for NLS to include measurements for international comparison— ~5
Mins
•
•

Where can the NLSY26 provide the greatest value for including measurements for
international comparison?
What new concepts can be added to the new NLSY cohort so that researchers can
compare across international surveys?

NLSY26 Final thoughts or concerns— ~5 Mins
•

Are there any surveys that you think the people designing the NLSY26 should look
at for content or methodology?

Page 4

•

Are there other advances in data collection that you think the NLSY26 should
consider?

Close out
MODERATOR:
• Conclusion and thanks
• Provide other info on other feedback resources (FRN, user survey, informational
materials, email, etc.)
• As we mentioned previously, this is part of a series of six listening sessions. The other
session topics include Employment, Jobs, and the Future of Work; Childhood and Family
Retrospective; Health, Environment, and Climate; Mental Health; and Think
tanks/Research organizations/Non-profits. If you have feedback on other aspects of the
NLSY that we did not have time to cover in this session, we will be posting a user survey
soon that you can submit responses too. We will also send you a thank you email which
will have an opportunity for you to provide additional feedback.