| Survey Year | Address-Based Sampling | Supplemental Sampling | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invited Households | Complete Households | Response Rate | Complete Households | |
| 2019 | 296,465 | 7,516 | 2.54% | 0 |
| 2021 | 282,698 | 7,136 | 2.52% | 771 |
| 2023 | 173,701 | 3,749 | 2.16% | 437* |
| *Households did not meet data requirements for weighting. | ||||
Sample Plan Evaluation
Overall response rates declined over the course of the study, from 2.54% in 2019 to 2.16% in 2023.
Figure 1 shows the Address-Based Sampling (ABS) response rates by sample segment from 2019 to 2023, divided by sample segment. To aid comparisons across years, households in 2019 were assigned the sample segment assigned to their home block group in 2021 and 2023.
Urban areas tended to have higher response rates than rural areas across all years. In 2021, some segments saw an increased response rate, perhaps due to the change in survey methodology that year, which allowed households to complete using a one-day online diary even if they were eligible for a seven-day smartphone diary.
In 2023, the second reminder postcard was dropped as a cost-savings measure. Small but noticeable declines in response rates followed, and were especially noticeable in urban segments, and less pronounced in Core Rural and Rural Ring segments, where response rates were already quite low.