Household Travel Surveys: Using Design Effects to Compare Alternative Sample Designs

A common sample design used in household travel surveys is a geographically stratified RDD sample. Quotas are usually established within each stratum using the number of persons in a household and/or the number of vehicles in the household to define cell quotas. Sampling continues within a stratum until the quotas are met. Due to differential response rates associated with the quota variables, this strategy can significantly increase overall survey costs. How does one measure the benefits of this commonly used approach? Two methods are examined. The first consists of calculating the correlations between key survey variables and quota variables. The second consists of calculating design effects treating the quota variables as post-stratification variables. Design effects index gains or loses in precision for a particular design compared to the use of a simple random sample. Implications for evaluating alternative sample designs are presented. The data come from the 2004 Michigan Travel Counts travel inventory.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Leiman, James M
  • Bengelsdorf, Tobias
  • Faussett, Karen
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2006-1-22 to 2006-1-26
• Date: 2006

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 10p
• Monograph Title: TRB 85th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers CD-ROM

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design; Random sampling; Representative samples (Statistics); Travel surveys; Variables
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01025654
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 06-0965
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 8 2006 11:26AM