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| Note 2: The Current Population Survey (CPS) |
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Definition of Selected Variables The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 50,000 households from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, which is conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for more than 50 years. The CPS sample is scientifically selected to represent the civilian, noninstitutional U.S. population. This includes the household population, people living in noninstitutional group quarters, and members of the military living off post or with their families on post. Thus, inmates in correctional institutions and patients in long-term medical or custodial facilities are not included in the sample. Interviewers ask a knowledgeable adult household member (known as the "household respondent") to answer all of the month's questionnaires for all members of the household. Respondents are interviewed to obtain information about the employment status of each member of the household 15 years of age and older. However, published data focus on those ages 16 and over. The sample provides estimates for the nation as a whole as well as for individual states and other geographic areas. Estimates obtained from the CPS include employment, unemployment, earnings, hours of work, and other indicators. They are available by a variety of demographic characteristics including sex, age, race, marital status, and education attainment. They are also available by occupation, industry, and class of worker. Supplemental questions to produce estimates on a variety of topics including school enrollment, income, previous work experience, health, employee benefits, and work schedules are also often added to the regular CPS questionnaire. Each year, the Annual Social and Economic Supplement and October supplemental questionnaires contain questions of relevance to education policy. The Annual Social and Economic Supplement, formerly known as the March CPS Supplement, is a primary source of detailed information on income and work experience in the United States. The labor force and work experience data from this survey are used to profile the U.S. labor market and to make employment projections. The October Supplement contains basic annual school enrollment data for preschool, elementary and secondary, and postsecondary students, as well as background information relevant to education that is needed to produce dropout estimates on an annual basis. In addition to the basic questions about education, interviewers also ask questions about school enrollment for all household members age 3 or older. CPS interviewers initially used printed questionnaires. However, since 1994, the Census Bureau has used Computer-Assisted Personal and Telephone Interviewing (CAPI and CATI) to collect data. Both technologies allow interviewers to administer a complex questionnaire and increase consistency by reducing interviewer error. In 1994, the survey methodology for CPS was changed and weights were adjusted. The following section contains definitions of selected variables that are used in The Condition of Education 2009. Further information on the CPS can be found at http://www.census.gov/cps. Employment Status Indicator 17 uses data from the March CPS and its supplement, which include questions on the employment of adults in the previous week to determine employment status. Respondents could report that they were employed (either full or part time), unemployed (looking for work or on layoff), or not in the labor force (due to being retired, having unpaid employment, or some other reason). Indicator 44 uses data from the October CPS and its supplement, which also includes questions on employment of adults in the previous week to determine employment status. In this indicator, employed persons include those age 16 or older, who, during the reference week, (1) did any work at all (at least 1 hour) as paid employees, or (2) were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, child care problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Hours Worked per Week Indicator 44 presents data from the October CPS and its supplement on the number of hours worked per week. This estimate is the number of hours a respondent worked in all jobs in the week prior to the survey interview. The population for this variable includes any employed person who also worked in the week prior to the survey inter-view. The sum of the categories may not equal the total percentage employed because those who were employed, but did not work in the previous week, were excluded. Family Income Indicator 21 uses data on family income that are collected as part of the October CPS to measure a student's economic standing. The October CPS determines family income from a single question asked of the household respondent. Family income includes all monetary income from all sources (including jobs, businesses, interest, rent, and social security payments) over a 12-month period. The income of nonrelatives living in the household is excluded, but the income of all family members age 15 or older (age 14 or older in years prior to 1989), including those temporarily living outside of the household, is included. In indicator 21, family income of a recent high school graduate is defined as the income of the household where the graduate has membership. A household is defined as all individuals whose usual place of residence at the time of the interview is the sample unit. The following considerations guide the determination of household members:
Families in the bottom 20 percent of all family incomes are classified as low income; families in the top 20 percent of all family incomes are classified as high income; and families in the 60 percent between these two categories are classified as middle income. The table in the next column shows the current dollar amount of the breakpoints between low and middle income and between middle and high income used in indicator 21. For example, low income for families in 2007 is defined as the range from $0 to $18,400; middle income is defined as the range from $18,500 to $85,500; and high income is defined as $85,600 or more. Median Earnings Indicator 17 uses data on earnings that are collected as part of the March CPS. The March CPS collects dollar value (in current dollars rounded to the nearest hundreds) at the breakpoint between low- and middle-income and between middle- and high-income categories of family income: October 1972-2007 information on earnings from individuals who were full-year workers (individuals who were employed 50 or more weeks in the previous year) and full-time workers (those who were usually employed 35 or more hours per week). Earnings include all wage and salary income. Unlike mean earnings, median earnings either do not change or change very little in response to extreme observations. Race/Ethnicity Over time, the CPS has had different response options for race/ethnicity. From 1972 through 1988, the response options were limited to White, Black, Hispanic, and Other. From 1989 through 1995, the response options were White, Black, American Indian/Aleut Eskimo, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and Other. From 1996 through 2002, the response options were White, Black, American Indian/Aleut Eskimo, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic. From 2003 through the present, the response options have been White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic, and respondents have been allowed to select more than one race category. Race categories presented in The Condition of Education 2009 exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity; thus, the race/ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive. In 1996, Census revised procedures for editing and allocating the race variable to offset an underestimation of data on Asians/Pacific Islanders. One should use caution when making comparisons between data for 1995 and earlier and data for 1996 and later. Indicators 7, 8, 17, 20, 21, and 44 present data by race/ ethnicity using CPS data. For more information on race/ ethnicity, see supplemental note 1. Enrolled in School In indicator 7, which presents the racial/ethnic distribution of public school students, the data for 1979 and 1980 are missing because the data for the variable "attending school" were judged unacceptable due to an error in the design of the questionnaire; therefore, the records are all blank. Status Dropout Rate Indicator 20 reports status dropout rates using data from the October CPS. The status dropout rate is one of a number of rates that are used to report high school dropout and completion behavior in the United States. Status dropout rates measure the percentage of individuals within a given age range who are not enrolled in high school and who lack a high school credential, irrespective of when they dropped out. Because they measure the extent of the dropout problem for the sampled population, status dropout rates can be used to estimate the need for further education and training for dropouts in that population. Status dropout rates are distinct from event dropout rates, which measure the proportion of students who drop out of high school in a given year, and which have been reported in a previous volume of The Condition of Education (NCES 2004-077, indicator 16) See also NCES 2005-046. For more information on measures of student persistence and progress featured in The Condition of Education 2009, see supplemental note 6. The status dropout rate is the percentage of civilian, noninstitutionalized young people ages 16 through 24 who are not in high school and who have not earned a high school credential (either a diploma or equivalency credential such as a General Educational Development [GED] certificate). The numerator of the status dropout rate for a given year is the number of individuals ages 16 through 24 who, as of October of that year, had not completed high school and were not currently enrolled in school. The denominator is the total number of individuals ages 16 through 24 in the United States in October of that year. Status dropout rates count as dropouts individuals who never attended school and immigrants who did not complete the equivalent of a high school education in their home country. The inclusion of these individuals is appropriate because the status dropout rate is designed to report the percentage of youth and young adults in the United States who lack what is now considered a basic level of education. However, the status dropout rate should not be used as a measure of the performance of U.S. schools because it counts as dropouts individuals who may have never attended a U.S. school. The CPS October Supplement items used to identify status dropouts include (1) "Is...attending or enrolled in regular school?" and (2) "What is the highest level of school...completed or the highest degree...received?" See the Educational Attainment section below for details on how the second question changed between 1972 and 1992. Beginning in 1986, the Census Bureau instituted new editing procedures for cases with missing data on school enrollment, i.e., missing data relating to the first October Supplement item, above. These changes were made in an effort to improve data quality. The effect of the editing changes was evaluated by applying both the old and new editing procedures to the 1986 data. The changes resulted in an increase in the number of students enrolled in school and a slightly lowered status dropout rate (12.2 percent based on the old procedures, and 12.1 percent based on the new ones). The difference in the two rates is not statistically significant. While the change in the procedures occurred in 1986, the new procedures are reflected in indicator 20 beginning with 1987 data. Educational Attainment Data from CPS questions on educational attainment are used in indicators 17, 20, 21, and 23. From 1972 to 1991, two CPS questions provided data on the number of years of school completed: (1) "What is the highest grade or year of regular school...has ever attended?" and (2) "Did...complete that grade (year)?" An individual's educational attainment was considered to be his or her last fully completed year of school. Individuals who completed 12 years of schooling were deemed to be high school graduates, as were those who began but did not complete the first year of college. Respondents who completed 16 or more years of schooling were counted as college graduates. Beginning in 1992, the CPS combined the two questions into the following question: "What is the highest level of school...completed or the highest degree...received?" This change means that some data collected before 1992 are not strictly comparable with data collected from 1992 onward and that care must be taken when making comparisons across years. The new question revision changed the response categories from "highest grade completed" to "highest level of schooling or degree completed." In the revised response categories, several of the lower grade levels are combined into a single summary category such as "1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grades." Several new categories are used, including "12th grade, no diploma"; "High school graduate, high school diploma, or the equivalent"; and "Some college but no degree." College degrees are now listed by type, allowing for a more precise description of educational attainment. The new question emphasizes credentials received rather than the last grade level attended or completed. The new categories include the following:
High School Completion The pre-1988 questions about educational attainment did not specifically consider high school equivalency certificates (i.e. GEDs). Consequently, an individual who attended 10th grade, dropped out without completing that grade, and who subsequently received a high school equivalency credential would not have been counted as completing high school. The new question allows for these individuals to be counted as high school completers. Since 1988, an additional question has also asked respondents if they have a high school diploma or the equivalent, such as a GED. People who respond "yes" are classified as high school completers. Before 1988, the number of individuals who earned a high school equivalency certificate was small relative to the number of high school graduates, so that the subsequent increase caused by including equivalency certificate recipients in the total number of people counted as "high school completers" was small in the years immediately after the change was made. Before 1992, the CPS considered individuals who completed 12th grade to be high school graduates. The revised question added the response category "12th grade, no diploma." Individuals who select this response are not counted as graduates. Historically, the number of individuals in this category has been small. Some College Based on the question used in 1992 and in subsequent surveys, an individual who attended college for less than a full academic year would respond "some college but no degree." Before 1992, the appropriate response would have been "attended first year of college and did not complete it," thereby excluding those individuals from the calculation of the percentage of the population with 1-3 years of college. With the new question, such respondents are placed in the "some college but no degree" category. Thus, the percentage of individuals with some college might be larger than the percentage with 1-3 years of college because "some college" includes those who have not completed an entire year of college, whereas "1-3 years of college" does not include them. Therefore, it is not appropriate to make comparisons between the percentage of those with "some college but no degree" using the post-1991 question and the percentage of those who completed "1-3 years of college" using the two pre-1992 questions. In The Condition of Education, the "some college" category for years preceding 1992 includes only the response "1-3 years of college." After 1991, the "some college" category included those who responded "some college but no degree"; "associate's degree in college, occupational/ vocational program"; and "associate's degree in college, academic program." The effect of this change to the "some college" category is indicated by the fact that, in 1992, some 48.9 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds reported completing some college or more, compared with 45.3 percent in 1991 (see indicator 23, table 23-1 in NCES 2008-031). The 3.6 percent difference is statistically significant. Some of the increase between 1991 and 1992 may be the result of individuals who completed less than 1 year of postsecondary education responding differently to the "completed some college" category; that is, they included themselves in the category in 1992, but did not include themselves in the category in 1991. Another potential difference in the "some college" category is how individuals who have completed a certificate or type of award other than a degree respond to the new questions introduced in 1992 about their educational attainment. Some may answer "some college, no degree"; others may indicate only high school completion; and still others may equate their certificate with one of the types of associate's degrees. No information is available on the tendencies of individuals with a postsecondary credential other than a bachelor's or higher degree to respond to the new attainment question introduced in 1992. College Completion Some students require more than 4 years to earn an undergraduate degree, so some researchers are concerned that the completion rate, based on the pre-1992 category "4th year or higher of college completed," overstates the number of respondents with a bachelor's degree (or higher). In fact, however, the completion rates among those ages 25-29 in 1992 and 1993 were similar to the completion rates for those in 1990 and 1991, before the change in the question's wording. Thus, there appears to be good reason to conclude that the change has not affected the completion rates reported in The Condition of Education 2009. Parents' Education Parents' education is defined as either the highest educational attainment of the two parents who reside with the student or, if only one parent is in the residence, the highest educational attainment of that parent. When neither parent resides with the student, it is defined as the highest educational attainment of the householder. Indicator 21 presents data by parents' education. For more information on parents' education, see supplemental note 1. |
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