Address Sample Effects in the National Medical Expenditure Survey

Abstract

The 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) included an initial screener interview to facilitate the oversampling of groups of particular policy interest: Blacks, Hispanics, the poor and near poor, the elderly, and persons with functional limitations. Although households were then selected based on the characteristics of their members, the sampling unit for the first round of NMES data collection was the household address. The first core interview was then conducted with persons residing at the sample address at the time of the interview, whether or not they lived there at the time of the screening interview. This article examines the consequences of this strategy in terms of meeting specified survey design goals