StatsRRTC (2008-2013) Projects

The StatsRRTC is conducting nine research and twelve outreach (training, dissemination, and technical assistance) projects. 

Our research projects are producing improved statistics from existing data, ensuring that the strengths and limitations of those data and statistics are well understood, and producing findings to support the improvement of disability data collection. 

Our outreach activities both promote the effective use of disability statistics and transfer research knowledge to the field. These activities leverage the extensive knowledge we have developed from previous work, as well as the knowledge that continue to gain from research projects supported by this grant. 

Projects

• Population Survey Data
  • Project Contact: Andrew Houtenville
  • This project has two primary objectives: (a) to improve knowledge about the prevalence, employment and health of the working-age population with disabilities and how it varies with age, geographic location, time and residence type; and (b) to improve knowledge of the methodological and empirical differences in disability statistics across major sources of population statistics. Because there are multiple sources of data on the population, meta-analytic techniques are necessary to evaluate the different results that these data sources yield.
• Federal Program Data
  • Project Contact: Dave Stapleton
  • This project consolidates and updates information on data and statistics about working-age participants in federal disability programs, in a new User Guide. Status: Published - National and State Program Participation Ratios for Working-Age People with Disabilities
• VR Data (Federal and State)
  • Project Contacts: John O’Neill
  • This project draws on matched RSA-SSA administrative data to examine the characteristics and outcomes of SSA beneficiaries who use state vocational rehabilitation agency (SVRA) services.
• Data on Youth and Young Adults
  • Project Contact: Todd Honeycutt
  • This project develops a framework for the production and interpretation of statistics on youth (ages 15-24) with disabilities, using data from several major surveys, and will produce and compare many statistics for youth with disabilities from the ACS, CPS, the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN), the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1997 (NLSY-1997), the National Longitudinal Transition Survey-2 (NLTS-2), and the National Survey of SSI Children and Their Families (NSCF), including longitudinal statistics from the last three of these surveys.
• Time Use Data
  • Project Contact: Yoni Ben Shalom
  • This project introduces a form of data that is very important, yet relatively rare, both in general and especially in disability research: time use data. This project is partly motivated by the addition of the 2008 ACS disability questions to the CPS. The latter is the sampling frame for the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), the main source of national data on how individuals use their time.
• Customized Technical Assistance
  • Project Contact: Andrew Houtenville
  • In pursuing our research projects, we are developing a tremendous capacity and facility with numerous survey and administrative data sources. We are utilizing this capacity to generate stylized estimates and information for key stakeholders.
• Follow-up TA for Training Events
  • Project Contact: David Vandergoot
  • An important component of training activities is to expect, encourage, promote, and plan for follow-up TA. Our training activities are designed to build capacity in the field to use disability statistics, analyze data, and improve data collection and reporting methods. Follow-up TA can often make the difference between simply knowing about a subject and actually utilizing the knowledge gained.
• Meta-Analysis of Proxy Methods and Proxy Experiment
  • Project Contacts: Janice Ballou and Debra Wright
  • We are conducting two studies concerning the use of proxies in surveys of working-age adults with disabilities. The first study is a meta-analysis of the existing literature on use of proxies when interviewing people with disabilities. For the second, we are conducting an experimental test of two simple screening tools for determining when a sample person is not cognitively capable of answering the survey questions and a proxy is needed: (1) a three-question confirmation to see if the respondent understands the context and content of the interview and (2) a computerized test for a string of “don’t know” or “missing” at the very beginning of the interview.
• CATI vs. CAPI Experiment & Analysis
  • Project Contact: Matt Sloan
  • To assess the differences in data quality and cost between these two modes, we are incorporating an experiment into one of our ongoing data collections with the client’s consent: Round 4 of the National Beneficiary Survey (NBS).
• Annual Disability Status Report and www.DisabilityReport.org
  • Project Contact: Andrew Houtenville
  • We will continue to generate the Annual Disability Status Report, release it at a press briefing/webinar on Capitol Hill, and make both national and state statistics available on our web site, www.DisabilityReport.org.
• Guide to Surveying People with Disabilities
  • Project Contact: Debra Wright
  • One of the outputs from the previous round of the StatsRRTC was a product title, Surveying Persons with Disabilities: A Source Guide (Markesich et al. 2006)—a comprehensive literature review that is the first resource to focus on topics of interest to disability researchers.  Its value will be enhanced when it is updated to maintain the timeliness of the information, and when it is used to inform and support the other projects included in this proposal.
• Publications and Presentations
  • Project Contact: David Vandergoot
  • Each research project is producing at least one scholarly publication (preferably peer-review academic journals).
• Outreach to Consumers
  • Project Contact: Jenifer Simpson
  • We are publishing synopses in the AAPD Quarterly Newsletter and also place the CSAVR Monthly News Updates.
• Information and Referral
  • Project Contact: Andrew Houtenville
  • This project utilizes the capacity we built in our research projects to work with existing data and also uses much of the resources of our research projects (User Guides) and dissemination materials.
• Roll-Out & Customer Training
  • Project Contact: Andrew Houtenville
  • This project is an in-person event that occurs on Capital Hill, which has two components: a lecture style briefing with questions and answers, and an informal consumer-oriented workshop.
• VR Data Process & Collection
  • Project Contact: David Vandergoot
  • This project utilizes a combination of formats, including workshops, conferences, the DigitalChalk Learning Platform, and our Webinar Series to work with the 80 general and blind vocational rehabilitation (VR) state agencies.
• Webinar Series
  • Project Contact: David Vandergoot
  • We are offering a comprehensive in-person/on-line training program targeted at administrators and staff of federal/state vocational rehabilitation programs. We are conducting a webinar series that will focus on disability statistics topics.
• Scientific Conference & Report
  • Project Contact: John O’Neill
  • The State-of-the-Science Conference will be a two-day event held in the Fall of 2012 in Washington, DC. This conference will bring together all the StatsRRTC stakeholders to discuss the current state of disability data and statistics (research findings and ways data/statistics are used in advocacy and decision-making) and ways to move the field forward.