Assessing the need for a new nationally representative household panel survey in the United States

Issue title: Assessing the need for a new nationally representative household panel survey in the United States

Subtitle:

Guest editors: Robert Moffitt, Robert F. Schoeni, Charles Brown, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Mick P. Couper, Ana V. Diez-Roux, Erik Hurst and Judith A. Seltzer

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Moffitt, Robert^{a; *} | Schoeni, Robert F.^b | Brown, Charles^c | Chase-Lansdale, P. Lindsay^d | Couper, Mick P.^e | Diez-Roux, Ana V.^f | Hurst, Erik^g | Seltzer, Judith A.^h

Affiliations: [a] Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA | [b] Institute for Social Research, Department of Economics, and School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA | [c] Department of Economics and Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA | [d] Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA | [e] Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA | [f] School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA | [g] Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA | [h] Department of Sociology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Robert Moffitt, Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. E-mail: moffitt@jhu.edu

Abstract: We introduce this special issue on the critical matter of whether the existing household panel surveys in the U.S. are adequate to address the important emerging social science and policy questions of the next few decades. We summarize the conference papers which address this issue in different domains. The papers detail many new and important emerging research questions but also identify key limitations in existing panels in addressing those questions. To address these limitations, we consider the advantages and disadvantages of initiating a new, general-purpose omnibus household panel in the U.S. We also discuss the particular benefits of starting new panels that have specific targeted domains such as child development, population health and health care. We also develop a list of valuable enhancements to existing panels which could address many of their limitations.

Keywords: Survey, economics, sociology, health research

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-150411

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 40, no. 1-4, pp. 1-26, 2015