Overview

November 1996 Voting and Registration Survey

Census Bureau staff conducted the November 1996 Voting and Registration Survey as a supplement to that month's Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly labor force survey in which interviews are conducted in approximately 48,000 households across the Nation. Attachment __ contains the November 1996 Voting and Registration supplement questions asked of all applicable persons 18 years old or older.

Attachment _ comprises a description of the CPS entitled "Overview--Current Population Survey."

A description of the November 1996 Voting and Registration Survey follows.

The voting and registration questions were asked of all persons who were both U.S. citizens and

18 years of age or older, as applicable. The CPS instrument determined who was eligible for the Voting and Registration supplement through use of check items that referred to basic CPS items, including age and citizenship.

Item S1 asked respondents if they voted in the November 5 election; if they responded "Yes," they were skipped to Item S4. Otherwise, they were asked if they were registered to vote in the November 5 election (Item S2).

All respondents, including those who were not U.S. citizens, were asked Item S8, "How long have you lived at this address?" The interviewer filled Item SCK4, "Who reported for this person?", depending upon whether it was a self- or proxy response.

The data processing involved editing the November Voting and Registration supplement data. This process is described below.

Edits and Allocations. The data processing involved a consistency edit of all Voting and Registration supplement items. In addition, age and citizenship were verified.

The values for each variable are defined in the supplement record layout (Attachment _).

Weighting. There is no supplement weight associated with the November 1996 Voting and Registration supplement. Use the basic CPS weight, PWSSWGT (located in positions 613-622), for tallying the supplement items.

CPS Labor Force Data. The November 1996 CPS file contains 136,279 records. Each record contains 832 characters. Attachment _ contains the variable name, character size, location on record, universe, and the values of the variables.

The variable PRPERTYP (located in positions 161-162 on the CPS Basic Items Record Layout) determines the type of person as follows:

PRPERTYP

1 = Child household member (0-14 years old)

2 = Adult civilian household member (15+ years old)

3 = Adult Armed Forces household member (15+ years old)

The variable HRINTSTA (located in positions 57-58 on the CPS Basic Items Record Layout) determines the interview status of the household.

HRINTSTA

1 = Interview

2 = Type A Noninterview (These records represent households that were eligible for the November 1996 CPS interview, but were not interviewed because no one was home, household members were temporarily absent, etc.)

3 = Type B Noninterview (These records represent sample addresses determined to be ineligible for the CPS by virtue of being vacant, demolished, nonresidential, etc.)

4 = Type C Noninterview (See explanation for Type B above)

By combining the values of PRPERTYP (1-3) and HRINTSTA (2-4), the number of records can be determined.

The values of PRPERTYP are:

1 = (Child) 28,440

2 = (Adult Civilian, 15+) 95,227

3 = (Adult, Armed Forces) 445

The values of HRINTSTA are:

2 = Type A Noninterview 2,983

3 = Type B Noninterview 8,824

4 = Type C Noninterview 360

The November 1996 Voting and Registration supplement universe represented the full CPS sample comprised of all persons 18 years of age or older.

CPS Voting and Registration - 1996 Public Use File Page

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