Volume 36, Number 3 (Summer) 2001
Pierret, Charles R.. 2001. "Event History Data Survey Recall: An Analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Recall Experiment." Journal of Human Resources 36(3):439-466.
Prior to its switch from an annual interviewing format to a biennial one, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) conducted an experiment to see how less frequent interviews would affect data quality. This paper analyzes this experiment with respect to data collected using event history techniques, namely AFDC and food stamp recipiency and employment history. Respondents faced with the longer recall period failed to report short spells of recipiency, employment, and nonemployment. The pattern of the coefficients in econometric models of the type often used to study event history did not change greatly, though tests reject the equality of the coefficients between the recall sample and the control group in half of the models estimated.
Charles R. Pierret is a research economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An earlier version of this paper was titled, "Will Every-Other-Year Interviewing Change What We Know About Anti-Poverty Programs? An Analysis of the NLSY79 Recall Experiment." He thanks Donna Rothstein, Michael Pergamit, Michael Horrigan, Tom MaCurdy, and participants at the Institute fro Research on Poverty 1997 Summer Workshop and the Bureau of Labor Statistics for helpful comments. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the views or policies of the BLS or other BLS staff members. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning October 2002 through September 2005 from the author at Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 4945, Washington, DC, 20212.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X