Washington Statistical Society - Methodology Seminars

Washington Statistical Society Methodology Seminars

Respondent Incentives in Surveys • Multiple Imputation Tutorial
Data Presentation – A Guide to Good Graphics and Tables

For more information about methodology seminars, please contact Don Malec (email: donald.j.malec@census.gov; 301-763-1718).

Note: In order to view and/or print the slides or report, you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader available free from Adobe.

Respondent Incentives in Surveys: A Fresh Look

June 10, 1999

Abstract:

As it becomes more difficult to achieve high response rates on many surveys, increasing attention has been given to the use of respondent incentives. For federally-funded survey contracts, the Office of Management and Budget has permitted the use of monetary incentives only in special circumstances that have clear and compelling justification. Several years ago OMB convened a symposium to examine the topic of incentives in surveys. The time seems right to revisit the issues. Nancy Kirkendall will give us an OMB perspective on the topic.

Dick Kulka wrote the report from the 1992 symposium on incentives. He will give an update on the issues and a summary of research on incentives since the Harvard session. Brad Edwards will report on questions that have dominated incentive discussions at Westat during the past two years, and that have led to a series of experiments. The panelists will address the following questions in a seminar format: When are incentives justified? What are the relevant ethical and economic perspectives? How can incentives be used effectively on telephone surveys? What are the effects of non-monetary incentives, in contrast to cash?

Presentations:

Providing Respondent Incentives in Federal Statistical Surveys:
The Advance of the Real "Phantom Menance"?
Richard A. Kulka
Statistics, Health, and Social Policy
Research Triangle Institute
Download the slides (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Incentives That Increase Survey Participation
Brad Edwards
Westat
Download the slides
Incentives - Perspective of OMB
Nancy J. Kirkendall
Office of Management and Budget
Download the slides (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Providing Incentives to Survey Respondents
A summary report of the 1992 Symposium on Providing Incentives to Survey Respondents held at Harvard University
Download the report (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Tutorial
Multiple Imputation: Fabricate Your Data Well

March 13, 2000
Joseph Schafer, Department of Statistics
and The Methodology Center
Pennsylvania State University

Abstract:

Multiple imputation (MI) (Rubin, 1987) is a general-purpose method for handling missing data. Each missing observation is replaced by M > 1 simulated values, producing M completed datasets. The datasets are analyzed separately and the results are combined to yield inferences that account for missing-data uncertainty. This tutorial presentation will provide an overview of MI, including its advantages over other commonly used missing-data methods. Computational techniques for generating MI's in multivariate databases will be presented, with a live software demonstration. Finally, some issues surrounding the use of MI in complex surveys will be discussed, including its performance when used in conjunction with traditional randomization-based point and variance estimators.

Outline of talk:

The missing-date problem (pp. 3-9)
Methods for missing data (pp. 10-13)
Single imputation (pp. 14-21)
Multiple imputation (pp. 22--26) with key references (p. 27)
Creating MI's (pp. 28-32)
Multiple imputation FAQ's (pp. 33-42)
Data example (pp. 43-46)
References (pp. 47-49)

Download the slides (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Joe Schafer's software for multiple imputation

Tutorial
Data Presentation -- A Guide to Good Graphics and Tables

October 11, 2000
Marianne W. Zawitz, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Abstract:

Quality data presentations ensure user understanding by taking advantage of how users already process information, reduce the number of thought processes required to understand the data, and breakdown fundamental obstacles to understanding. This workshop will cover when to use graphics and tables, using your data to determine the type of graphic or table, the elements of good graphics and tables, and achieving clarity in presentation. Based on the principles set forth by Edward Tufte and William Cleveland, this is a practical workshop to show participants how to improve their presentations of quantitative data. The tutorial is presented by Marianne W. Zawitz of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. She is the creator and content manager of the BJS Web site (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/).

View the slide presentation on graphics entitled "Data Presentation: A Guide To Good Graphics"
Download the handout entitled "Good Graphics: Simplicity of Design and Complexity of Data" (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
View the slide presentation on tables entitled "Data Presentation: A Guide To Good Tables"
Download the handout entitled "Good Tables: Numbers Have Architecture" (Adobe Acrobat PDF)