title: Methodological note: allocation of disability items in the American Community Survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA. Carlos.Siordia@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Siordia
authors.forename: Rebekah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002140:California; D019352:Censuses; D003072:Cognition Disorders; D003625:Data Collection; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015981:Epidemiologic Factors; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006309:Hearing; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011203:Poverty; D012648:Self Care; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014785:Vision, Ocular