Evaluation of a Monetary Incentive Payment Experiment in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort

The evidence on incentives in survey literature shows that the effectiveness of incentives varies considerably with the topic of the survey, the nature of the respondent, the amount of the incentive, the survey sponsorship, and the form and timing of the payment. (See, for instance, Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, September 1993; Ezzait-Rice, White, Mosher and Sanchez, 1995; Kulka 1995; Groves and Couper, 1998 [chapter 10]; Singer, Van Hoewyrk, Gebler, Raghunathan and McGonagle, 1999; and Singer, 2000.) The literature, however, is sparse on the special case of panel surveys, although anecdotal evidence is available—especially on the effect of unchanging incentive payment levels over several years as has been the case in the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) Program. We contribute to the literature on the effect of incentive fees in panel surveys by providing preliminary analysis of results from an incentive fee experiment conducted in the fourth round of interviews (conducted between November 2000 and June 2001) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort (NLSY97).