Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA.
Disabil Health J. 2013 Apr;6(2):149-53. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2012.11.007. Epub 2013 Jan 10.
Determining the prevalence and correlates of disability requires the use of sample surveys in data analysis. In an effort to generate complete datasets, allocation procedures (i.e., the assignment of values to missing or illogical responses) are frequently used for missing or inconsistent responses.
The goal of this investigation was to explore how six disability-related questions vary in their degree of allocation and how research results may be sensitive to this procedure. This is important because many researchers using large disability information banks are not survey methodologists and may be unaware of how the Census Bureau's editing procedures can influence research findings.
We use 2010 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample files from the American Community Survey (ACS). We investigated the allocation rates of the following disability items: self-care; hearing; vision; independent living; ambulatory; and cognitive ability. We also asked how allocation rates varied by demographic characteristics and whether the allocated values could influence multivariate results.
Disability item allocation in ACS data have detectable patterns, where the rate of disability allocation is higher for mail surveys, males, older people, groups who speak English not well or not at all, US citizens, Latinos(as), and for people living in or near poverty. Multivariate models may be sensitive to how these allocated values are treated.
The rate of allocations varies as a function of demographic variables because of methodological procedures and survey participation behaviors. Because allocation rates may affect research and policy about the disabled population, more research is required.
在数据分析中，确定残疾的患病率和相关因素需要使用样本调查。为了生成完整的数据集，经常使用分配程序（即，为缺失或不合逻辑的响应分配值）来处理缺失或不一致的响应。
本研究旨在探讨六种与残疾相关的问题在分配程度上的差异，以及研究结果可能对该程序的敏感性。这很重要，因为许多使用大型残疾信息库的研究人员不是调查方法学家，可能不知道人口普查局的编辑程序如何影响研究结果。
我们使用了美国社区调查（ACS）的 2010 年 1 年公共使用微数据样本文件。我们调查了以下残疾项目的分配率：自理能力；听力；视力；独立生活；行动能力；认知能力。我们还询问了分配率如何因人口统计学特征而变化，以及分配的值是否会影响多元结果。
ACS 数据中的残疾项目分配存在可检测的模式，其中邮件调查、男性、老年人、英语说得不好或根本不会说英语、美国公民、拉丁裔（人）和生活在贫困线或附近的人群的残疾分配率较高。多元模型可能对这些分配值的处理方式敏感。
由于方法程序和调查参与行为，分配率因人口统计学变量而异。由于分配率可能会影响关于残疾人群的研究和政策，因此需要进行更多的研究。
