KY Module 2 Household Travel Surveys Chapter 6 of TS Manual.
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Transcript of KY Module 2 Household Travel Surveys Chapter 6 of TS Manual.
KY Module 2Household Travel SurveysChapter 6 of TS Manual
Survey Planning
• Agency coordination– Other agencies who rely on local modeling
effort– Notification of law enforcement agencies.
• Critical data elements– E.g. SCAG—transit users, and usage of toll
facilities
Unit of Analysis
• Household?
• Address?
• Person?
• Vehicle?
• What is a TRIP?
• What is an ACTIVITY?
• What is a STOP?
• What is a TOUR?
Typical process for current household
travel/activity survey implementation • Advance letter
• Telephone recruitment (RDD sample)– Include a few characteristics
• Mail out diary package
• Telephone retrieval (limited web retrieval)
• Thank you postcard or letter
The Death of RDD?• Problems with RDD
– Low response rates– Will new laws reduce telemarketing so that
people will be less reluctant to answer the phone?
– Cell phones are not in the RDD frame. 5-7% of hhlds with cell phone only, with young adults being most likely.
– 2.4% of hhlds in U.S. without phones. (2.0% in metropolitan areas, mostly likely renters)
Alternatives to RDD
• Getting a good address frame
• 10-15% “undeliverable” rate
• What % of addresses are missing? (apartment complexes, new housing)
• Can you supplement an address frame with employer-provided lists?
Respondent materials:Section 6.6 in the TS Manual
• Check reading level, 8th is OK, but 6th grade is better!
• Pre-notification letter
• Brochure
• Diary materials
• Reminders
• Thank you
Pre-notification letter and informational brochure
• Letter: TS Manual Pages 6-133, 6-136
• Brochure: TS Manual Page 6-138
• NHTS 2001 letter and brochure
Diary design
• People will NOT read instructions!
• Single sheet or booklet
• Vertical or horizontal
• All of the questions or some of the questions, if telephone retrieval
• fjfjf
Let’s look at some!
• Las Cruces
• Chattanooga
• Charlotte
• Tucson
• SF Bay Area
• SCAG
• NHTS
Use a focus group if you try something new!
Incentives for respondents?
• The best motivation is the belief that the results will be used, and will influence their lives in a positive manner.
• Small, cash, pre-paid• Lottery• Gifts (often not perceived as incentive)• Choice, including donation to local service
agency
The respondent is the “customer”
• Treat them well.
• Personalization.
• Use the method that is convenient for the respondent.
• Brog method to assign ONE contact person, so that person’s name is on the initial letter, and they make the phone calls, etc.
Field implementation
• Pre-testing and Pilot surveys:– TS Manual Section 6.7
Monitoring the survey process• Help develop the interviewer training
materials, especially local knowledge (Place names, company names and nicknames)
• Participate in the training• Make sure that “role playing” is included.• Listen to the interviews (if phone)• Provide materials to incentivize the
interviewers.
Data Cleaning
• Do not underestimate the time and effort needed for this task. Do not expect your survey contractor to do all the work!
Data cleaning
• Check geocoding vs. actual address
• Check travel speed and mode.
• Check TAZ/TAZ pairs and speeds
• Check for people traveling together.
• Check for final return trips to home.
Data analysis
Response Rate
• Calculate using CASRO or AAPOR standards– Can be as high as 65% response to simple
survey of persons.– Can be as low as 20% response to complex
activity diary of households.
What do we know about non-respondents?
• Low-income households and households who are renters. (relevance)
• Young men, aged 18-24
• Households without vehicles (relevance)
• Households with 4+ persons (burden)
• Very high income households (never home)
Ideas to improve response?
Ideas to improve response?
• Ask fewer questions. Use GPS as a passive data collection method.
• Ask fewer questions. Use specialized surveys in place of all questions for all people.
• Give respondents more choice on how and when to participate.
Non-response follow-up studies
• Even if you have a low response rate, if the sample is not biased, your results should be fine.
• However, we know from experience that our sample is somewhat biased, especially at the income tails.
• What we don’t know is how this bias affects our measures of travel and mobility.
Non-response follow-up surveyssee A1D10 webpage
• DRCOG mail-out/mail-back experiment– Small cash incentive included in envelope– Very brief one-page survey– Special survey of hhlds without telephones
• NCHRP 08-37 experiment (Spring 2003)• Tony Richardson work in Australia
– Non-responders are more like early responders, late responders report fewer trips.