Impact of Design Differences in School Based Surveys on Population Estimates of Youth Tobacco Use (2002-2003)

This study, funded by the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Office of Smoking and Health, combines the efforts of survey methods researchers with those who study tobacco use in teenagers to explain observed differences in the tobacco use prevalence that have been published in two major national surveys of teenagers. The general aim of this study is to assess the effects of the survey design features tied to measurement and nonresponse on estimates of teen tobacco use prevalence that have been generated by two prominent components of CDC’s smoking surveillance system: the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Both of these surveys utilize stratified multi-stage cluster samples where schools and students are chosen in separate sampling stages and where student respondents complete a questionnaire that includes questions on smoking behavior. Data collection was conducted by the same survey research organization (Macro), but the two questionnaires differ somewhat in that the YRBS instrument includes several other behavioral topics besides smoking.
Principal Investigator: Paul D. Mowery, PhD
RTI International
Source: Center for Disease Control’s Office of Smoking and Health
Dates: 2002 - 2003

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