The Next-Birthday Method of Respondent Selection

Abstract

RECENT and numerous additions to the survey methodology literature, especially in the area of random-digit-dialing, have helped researchers to generate samples of household units for telephone surveys. However, the literature on selecting survey respondents within those household units has not kept pace. In fact, after searching through the standard texts on telephone surveys (see for example, Blankenship, 1977, or Dillman, 1978 researchers might conclude that there is only one method of respondent selection-the Troldahl-Carter (1964) method.In the Troldahl-Carter method, one of four selection matrices which list various combinations of age and sex of household members is assigned randomly to telephone numbers in the sample. Thus, by asking only two questions (How many people 18 years or older live in your household, and how many of them are men?), the interviewer has enough information to select the respondent who is designated at the intersection point on the matrix. This method, which is less cumbersome and more appropriate to telephone interviews than the complete enumeration of the household proposed by Kish (1949), still requires the interviewer to ask potentially sensitive questions early in the interview. For example, two elderly women who live together Abstract Four procedures for selecting telephone survey respondents within a household unit-Troldahl-Carter, male/female alternation, next-birthday, and no-selection methods-were compared in a small-sample survey. The data indicate that the nextbirthday method is a relatively efficient procedure for selecting a sample that is representative of all household members.Charles T.

Prevalence and patterns of morbidity among adults in Germany

“…The target population consisted of adults 18 years of age and older who were living in private households with landline telephones and could fluently speak German. In a two-stage sampling procedure, sampling at the household level was performed by a random digit dialling method [19] and the last-birthday method was applied for sampling at the individual level [20]. A total of 140-236 questions (depending on age, sex, and the number of reported conditions) covered a range of health topics and health-related variables, including medical history and current body weight and height for calculation of body mass index (BMI) estimates, and sociodemographic variables.…”

Perceived Transparency and Fairness of the Organ Allocation System and Willingness to Donate Organs: A National Study

“…A minimum of nine repeat calls were placed to telephone numbers at which there was no answer. When households were reached, random participant selection within households was accomplished by using the next birthday method (16). No substitutions were permitted; no one other than the randomly selected individual within each household was interviewed.…”

The Behavioral Characteristics of Individuals Who Lose Weight Unintentionally

“…The pool of telephone numbers used in this study was generated using a multi-stage cluster sampling design based on the probability proportion of individuals in each state with a telephone number. To select participants from within a household, the next birthday method (20) was used. Individuals were not included in the survey if they were 5 18 years of age, pregnant, or had been pregnant within the past year.…”