Plan and operation of Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth

Abstract

Objectives: This report describes how Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) was designed, planned, and implemented. The NSFG is a national survey of women and men 15-44 years of age designed to provide national estimates of factors affecting pregnancy and birth rates; men's and women's health; and parenting. Cycle 6, conducted in 2002, was the first time the NSFG included a sample of males.

Methods: The survey used in-person, face-to-face interviews conducted by trained female interviewers. One person per household was interviewed from a national area probability sample in about 120 sample areas, with oversamples of teenagers, African Americans, and Hispanics. The data collection used computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). Separate questionnaires were used for female and male respondents. The last section of the questionnaires used a technique called audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI). In order to control costs and nonresponse errors, survey managers statistically analyzed results from interviewers' visits to sampled households each day, and used those results to allocate interviewer labor and other resources more efficiently. This management improved response rates and made the sample more representative.

Results: Over 12,500 interviews were completed, about 7,600 with females and about 4,900 with males. The response rate was about 80 percent for females and about 78 percent for males. The survey procedures were adapted during the fieldwork to achieve the desired response rates and to control costs.