Journal of Economic and Social Measurement - Volume 40, issue 1-4

Authors: Tach, Laura | Cornwell, Benjamin

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper highlights the importance of the social networks perspective in social science research and describes the main approaches to measuring social networks and closely related phenomena - including social capital and kin networks - in existing household panel surveys. It then identifies cutting-edge techniques for collecting new data on social networks within the context of a household panel survey design. We focus in particular on possible extensions to traditional egocentric network data collection, the proper enumeration of kin networks and social support in unstable and complex families, measurement of communication via information and communication technology, and identification of the …social network properties of social media participation. Show more

Keywords: Social networks, social capital, social media, survey research

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150413

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 275-307, 2015

Authors: Quillian, Lincoln | Ludwig, Jens

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper considers the potential value of a new household panel to help understand issues related to housing and neighborhood conditions in the United States. The key scientific and policy issues that a panel study would be particularly valuable for addressing are primarily descriptive and include evaluating durations of exposures to housing and neighborhood conditions, and understanding factors determining household mobility that in turn determines the conditions that households experience and neighborhood compositions. For these purposes a national household panel has important advantages over existing data sources, and we offer several suggestions for key data elements to collect to maximize …the information available for research in this area. We are agnostic about whether the creation of a new national household panel would be more valuable than devoting resources to enhancing the existing Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Show more

Keywords: Housing, neighborhoods, panel data, residential mobility, neighborhood effects, social capital

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150410

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 309-340, 2015

Authors: Levy, Helen

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper considers the availability of data for addressing questions related to health insurance and health care and the potential contribution of a new household panel study. The paper begins by outlining some of the major questions related to policy and concludes that survey data on health insurance, access to care, health spending, and overall economic well-being will likely be needed to answer them. The paper considers the strengths and weaknesses of existing sources of survey data for answering these questions. The paper concludes that either a new national panel study, an expansion in the age range of subjects in …existing panel studies, or a set of smaller changes to existing panel and cross-sectional surveys, would significantly enhance our understanding of the dynamics of health insurance, access to health care, and economic well-being. Show more

Keywords: Survey data, longitudinal studies, health insurance, access to care, health reform

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150408

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 341-356, 2015

Authors: Adler, Nancy | Bachrach, Christine | Prather, Aric A.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper examines the potential contributions of a new longitudinal household survey that assesses physical health and the social and behavioral factors that impinge on it. It considers how such a survey could inform efforts to reduce health disparities in the United States and improve population health. Health is multiply determined by the interaction of genetic vulnerabilities, behavior, social conditions and environmental exposures over the life course. While the mapping of the human genome focused attention on the biological underpinnings of disease, social and behavioral determinants play an equally essential role. Our failure as a nation to adequately address …these determinants may help to explain why the US spends more per capita on health care than do other countries, but compared to the other nations, our population is less healthy and has a shorter life expectancy. This paper describes why achieving better health for the population requires data on individual, family and community conditions and their link to disease risk, onset and progression. It reviews limitations of current surveys in capturing this information and argues for a multi-level life course perspective spanning: macro-environmental exposures (e.g., environmental contaminants, institutional structures), meso-environmental factors (e.g., family and social ties, neighborhood and work conditions), psychological states and traits (e.g., anxiety, mastery, stress), health-related behaviors (e.g., smoking, exercise), and physiological processes and risk (e.g., cortisol, HbA1c, telomeres). We consider challenges to data collection and sample considerations such as oversampling of high SES blacks and sampling based on place as well as person. We note that technological advances that may increasingly enable direct collection of cognitive and emotional states, behavior, biology, and placement in space. Finally, we acknowledge that a single survey cannot address all the relevant questions, point to opportunities to leverage other studies, and identify key elements for a new survey. Show more

Keywords: Health, mortality, disparities, social determinants, stress, gene-environment, biomarkers, place

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150395

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 357-374, 2015

Authors: Conley, Dalton

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this paper, I demonstrate that existing social surveys that include genotypic markers are all limited on at least one of the following dimensions: national representativeness (versus targeted sample), genotyping platform (candidate genes v. genome-wide measures), data structure (i.e. individuals v. pedigrees), or measured phenotypes (lack of rich longitudinal socioeconomic and developmental measures). Given this, I argue that the U.S. either needs a novel, nationally representative household panel study that includes genome-wide marker data or to genotype all respondents of the existing Panel Study of Income Dynamics. I conclude by showing that such a study would be adequately powered to …deploy Genetic Risk Score analysis and that, in turn, such scores could be deployed to model gene-environment interaction effects. Show more

Keywords: Genotype, G × E, national household panel, behavior genetics, Socio-genomics

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150393

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 375-395, 2015

Authors: de Leon, Carlos F. Mendes | Freedman, Vicki A.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper reviews measures of the physical and cognitive abilities of adults in the context of a national household panel survey and considers whether a new household panel survey is needed to answer scientific and policy questions related to disability. To address this topic, we first review illustrative scientific and policy issues related to disability and functioning and review gaps in the nation's disability-related data system. Next, we offer a set of key domains to be measured, review several additional covariates of interest, and describe existing summary measures to identify the population living with disability. Finally, we take up the …challenging issue of tradeoffs in starting a new household survey versus enhancing existing studies or developing specialized studies with a focus on disability to address these issues. Show more

Keywords: Disability, physical functioning, cognitive functioning, household panel survey, adults

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150402

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 397-425, 2015

Authors: Olson, Kristen | Brick, J. Michael

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper identifies new opportunities for innovation and expansion on current survey practice in the design of a new household panel survey, including an increased use of new and mobile technologies, more frequent data collection, modified clustering, and use of non-traditional survey measures such as administrative data, planned missing/matrix sampling questionnaire design, real-time data collection, and biomarkers. These innovative data collection methods require rethinking traditional panel survey methods, but can help reduce respondent burden and expand on current social science knowledge. The paper concludes that a new household panel survey would improve knowledge about important social, economic and health issues …facing the US, and would provide a useful test bed for new hypotheses and innovative methods of data collection. Show more

Keywords: New household panel survey, survey methodology, survey design

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150415

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 427-447, 2015

Authors: House, James S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: A Nationally Representative Household Panel Survey (NRHPS) would represent a natural extension into the mid-21st century of the development of repeated cross-sectional and then longitudinal/panel household surveys that have constituted major resources for developments in social science and social policy since World War II. Although an inherently expensive endeavor, it would keep the U.S. comparable to and competitive with similarly wealthy nations that have already developed NRHPSs. An NRHPS may be the most cost-effective way to generate the data needed for advancement in social science and social policy because such progress requires data on a much wider range of …attributes of the same individuals, households, and their environments than are currently available in existing surveys. These surveys tend to be specialized by scientific disciplines, substantive/policy areas, and/or segments of the population, and thus preclude the kind of thinking and data necessary across disciplines, substantive policy areas, and segments of the population that are most needed in both social science and social policy. To be a cost-effective vehicle for such purposes an NHRPS must: (1) create integration and synergy across disciplines, substantive areas, and population subgroups; (2) cost-effectively meet scientific and logistical challenges; and (3) foster and utilize scientific and methodological innovations. Show more

Keywords: Social science, social policy, nationally representative sample, innovation, interdisciplinary, cost-effectiveness, methodology

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150405

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 449-457, 2015

Authors: Lundberg, Shelly

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150398

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 459-462, 2015

Authors: Raley, R. Kelly

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The United States is undergoing rapid social change. The nation faces declines in stable family formation, related to growing income inequalities and stalled improvements in population health. This essay considers key questions about families in the United States and whether a new nationally representative panel study is necessary to answer these questions. It argues that current data systems are not well equipped to evaluate the potential sources of these changes over historical time. Most of our longitudinal data systems are designed to follow a single cohort as it ages. This provides an incomplete picture, one that ignores period context, because …cohort studies confound period changes with aging. Comparisons across cohort studies can be helpful, but leave a wide gap in our knowledge. A new nationally representative panel study would fill that gap. Show more

Keywords: Family, households, social trends, data collection

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150404

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 463-471, 2015