Improving the Network Scale-Up Estimator: Incorporating Means of Sums, Recursive Back Estimation, and Sampling Weights Data File

In the spring of 2014 the Nebraska Community Survey was sent to a random sample of 2,000 households in Nebraska. The sample was obtained from the United States Postal Service delivery sequence file (DSF) through the Bureau of Sociological Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Seasonal and vacant households were removed from the sample by the provider. The DSF covers approximately 97 percent of U.S. Households and provides a reasonable frame for the Nebraska population. The Institutional Review Board at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln approved the research protocol and granted the project an exempt status (IRB# 20140314288 EX). Each household in the sample was sent a packet which included a letter introducing the survey, a one dollar incentive, a copy of the survey questionnaire, and a pre-paid return envelope. The person in the household to take the survey was selected using the next-birthday method, a quasi-probability selection design. Eligible respondents had to be at least 19 years old, the age of majority in Nebraska, and be the next person in the household to have a birthday after April 14, 2014. A week after the initial mailing a reminder postcard was sent to any households that had not responded to the initial mailing. Three weeks later, a second survey packet was sent to non-responding households. If at any time a respondent asked to be removed from the address list all further mailings were stopped. After the third mailing data was collected for approximately another six weeks, allowing respondents ample time to complete and return their survey. More information can be found in the complete publication.2014年春季，内布拉斯加社区调查（Nebraska Community Survey）向美国内布拉斯加州的2000户家庭随机样本发放了调研问卷。该样本由内布拉斯加大学林肯分校社会学研究局，通过美国邮政服务投递序列文件（Delivery Sequence File, DSF）获取。样本提供方已剔除其中的季节性住户与空置住户。DSF覆盖了约97%的美国家庭，可为内布拉斯加州的人口抽样提供合理的抽样框。内布拉斯加大学林肯分校的机构审查委员会（Institutional Review Board, IRB）批准了本研究方案，并授予该项目豁免资质（IRB编号：20140314288 EX）。研究团队向样本中的每户家庭寄送了调研包，内含调研介绍函、1美元调研激励金、调查问卷副本以及预付费回寄信封。受访对象的选取采用“下一生日法”（next-birthday method）这一准概率抽样设计，需满足以下条件：年满19岁（内布拉斯加州法定成年年龄），且为2014年4月14日后家庭中生日最先到来的成员。初始邮寄一周后，向未回复的住户寄送提醒明信片；三周后，再次向未回复的住户寄送第二份调研包。若有受访者提出从地址列表中移除自身信息，则立即停止所有后续邮寄。第三次邮寄结束后，研究团队又持续收集数据约六周，以给予受访者充足时间完成并回寄问卷。更多详细信息可查阅完整出版文献。