A population sample registry for public health survey investigations: methods, lessons, and successes

ABSTRACT

Public health relies on sample surveys to monitor the health of populations and investigate factors that contribute to population health and illness. Such investigations require surveying individuals who are selected in ways that support statistical inference to the population. Faced with rising costs and declining participation, survey researchers are exploring economical ways to recruit samples that validly represent larger populations. The current report describes an innovative resource, the Colorado Adult Population Sample–Survey Research Registry, which maintains survey access to respondents from a probability-based state health survey. We describe recruitment and retention strategies, explore representativeness, report several studies that used the registry, and discuss future directions.

KEYWORDS:

• Survey registry
• public health panel
• survey methods

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the participants in the CAPS-SRR panel for their time and effort in supporting public health research. Additionally, we would like to thank Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for funding the CAPS-SRR panel and each of the surveys.

Notes

1. The recruitment script read:

This concludes the main portion of the survey. I have one more thing I want to let you know about. The University of Colorado Denver intends to follow up with some people who complete this survey with new studies about smoking or health. In the future, would you like to hear about new studies that you could join?