An Exploratory Analysis of Response Rates in the 1990-91 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)

Book excerpt: The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) is a periodic, integrated system of sample surveys on elementary and secondary schools in the United States that collects information on school and district administrators and teachers in public and private schools. This technical report is one in a series of methodological studies relating to the SASS of the National Center for Education Statistics. The report examines nonresponse, not as an indicator of survey data quality, but for the purpose of understanding potential biases in response data with an eye toward changing survey operations in the future. The analysis is exploratory in that it refers to the multivariate analysis of nonresponse. The four main goals of the report are: (1) summarizing known technical and evaluative information about response rates in the 1990-91 SASS round; (2) exploring the differences between respondents and nonrespondents through intensive study of the data; (3) identifying gaps in knowledge about nonresponse; and (4) suggesting priorities for future SASS research. Results indicate that the operation of the SASS is of the highest caliber, but that it can be improved in some ways. Notable among these is the suggestion that the SASS begin a methods test program to keep abreast of the changing nature of school reporting issues. Appendixes present a modeling example and basic response rate tabulations by SASS component. (Contains 87 tables, 7 appendix tables, 31 figures, and 79 references.) (SLD)