Comparative Data Evaluation of 2010 SIPP-EHC-CAPI and 2008 SIPP-CAPI

Rebecca Chenevert, U.S. Census Bureau
Ashley Edwards, U.S. Census Bureau
Renee Ellis, University of California, Irvine
Graton Gathright, U.S. Census Bureau
David Hedengren, U.S. Census Bureau
Carolyn A. Hronis, U.S. Census Bureau
Jeongsoo Kim, U.S. Census Bureau
Daniel Perez-Lopez, U.S. Census Bureau
Michelle Sandhoff, University of Maryland
Marina Vornovytskyy, U.S. Census Bureau
Rachael Walsh, U.S. Census Bureau

We analyze data from the 2010 field test of a re-engineered instrument for the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). This instrument, called SIPP-EHC, uses an Event History Calendar and extends the interview reference period from four months to one year. We evaluate this new interviewing method by comparing average monthly rates of reported employment and program participation in data from the field test with data from 2008 SIPP. We find similar rates across the two surveys with differences of only a few percentage points where differences are statistically different. We test for time trends in the differences between monthly reported participation rates across the surveys and do not find significant evidence of memory decay in the SIPP-EHC survey responses.