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AHS: Dependent Interviewing Summary Available for Download

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A summary of how dependent interviewing is implemented in the
American Housing Survey is now available for download as a PDF
file from the HUD USER web site,
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html .  Scroll
down to the "Technical Supplements" section.

Dependent interviewing is the practice of using the results
from previous surveys or other questions to improve the
accuracy and reduce respondent burden of current surveys.
Since the American Housing Survey is longitudinal, it provides
numerous opportunities to practice dependent interviewing by
using information collected about a housing unit in previous years. While a limited form of dependent interviewing was used
from the very beginning of the AHS, this practice was expanded
considerably after the survey instrument switched to a
computer-assisted form in 1997. In the following national
survey (1999), the instrument had access to the data recorded
in 1997 and could thus supply the Field Representatives with
the information needed for dependent interviewing.

The document explains the different kinds of dependent
interviewing and includes a chart that shows which kind was
applied to each variable in the national AHS, for each survey
year.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Senior Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890