Locating People in Longitudinal Studies. A Research Report and Suggested Guidelines

A survey was conducted to evaluate tracking procedures used in longitudinal studies. The study grew out of an effort to locate part of a group used in a 1947-57 longitudinal study. A subsample of 320 was chosen from the 2,344 respondents already located. The tracking methods studied were mail, long-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Crider, Donald M
Format Publication
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.05.1972
Subjects
Community Resources
Data Collection
Followup Studies
Interviews
Investigations
Longitudinal Studies
Research Methodology
Research Reports
Research Tools
Surveys
Tables (Data)
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Summary:A survey was conducted to evaluate tracking procedures used in longitudinal studies. The study grew out of an effort to locate part of a group used in a 1947-57 longitudinal study. A subsample of 320 was chosen from the 2,344 respondents already located. The tracking methods studied were mail, long-distance telephone calls, community visits and public records. First-class letters resulted in the receipt of return postcards from slightly less than half the subjects. Long-distance telephone calls were successful for about 80 percent of the sample in each community. Community visit tracks were carried out only for those persons not located by telephone. These were initiated at post offices, residence neighborhoods, schools, and the last known employers. This method was more costly than others but led to the location of almost all the rest of the subjects. The use of public records was successful for just 19 percent of the marriage license tracks, 8 percent of the real estate transfers, and 4 percent of the will registrations. All persons located through public records were also located with other tracks. The various techniques led to current addresses for all but two of the persons tracked. (Author/KM)
Bibliography:Bulletin 778