Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Americans living with disability and their technology profile

Methodology

This report is based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between August 9 and September 13, 2010, among a sample of 3,001 adults, age 18 and older.  Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.  For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.  For results based on internet users (n=2,065), the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.  In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting telephone surveys may introduce some error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

A combination of landline and cellular random digit dial (RDD) samples was used to represent all adults in the continental United States who have access to either a landline or cellular telephone. Both samples were provided by Survey Sampling International, LLC (SSI) according to PSRAI specifications.  The landline sample for this survey was designed to generalize to the U.S. adult population and to oversample African Americans and Hispanics. To achieve these objectives in a cost effective manner, the design uses standard list-assisted random digit dialing (RDD) methodology, but telephone numbers are drawn disproportionately from telephone exchanges with higher than average density of African-American and/or Hispanic households. The cellular sample was not list-assisted, but was drawn through a systematic sampling from dedicated wireless 100-blocks and shared service 100-blocks with no directory-listed landline numbers.

New sample was released daily and was kept in the field for at least five days. The sample was released in replicates, which are representative subsamples of the larger population. This ensures that complete call procedures were followed for the entire sample.  At least 7 attempts were made to complete an interview at a sampled telephone number. The calls were staggered over times of day and days of the week to maximize the chances of making contact with a potential respondent. Each number received at least one daytime call in an attempt to find someone available. For the landline sample, half of the time interviewers first asked to speak with the youngest adult male currently at home. If no male was at home at the time of the call, interviewers asked to speak with the youngest adult female. For the other half of the contacts interviewers first asked to speak with the youngest adult female currently at home. If no female was available, interviewers asked to speak with the youngest adult male at home. For the cellular sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone. Interviewers verified that the person was an adult and in a safe place before administering the survey. Cellular sample respondents were offered a post-paid cash incentive for their participation. All interviews completed on any given day were considered to be the final sample for that day.

Disproportionate sampling and non-response in telephone interviews can produce biases in survey-derived estimates. The dataset was weighted in two stages.  The first stage of weighting corrected for the disproportionate landline sample design and also accounted for the overlapping landline and cellular sample frames as well as different probabilities of selection associated with the number of adults in the household. The second stage of weighting matched overall sample demographics to population parameters. The demographic weighting parameters are derived from a special analysis of the most recently available Census Bureau’s March 2009 Annual Social and Economic Supplement. This analysis produces population parameters for the demographic characteristics of adults age 18 or older. These parameters are then compared with the sample characteristics to construct sample weights. The weights are derived using an iterative technique that simultaneously balances the distribution of all weighting parameters.

The response rate for the landline sample was 13.6 percent. The response rate for the cellular sample was 17.0 percent.

Questions

DIS001  Thinking again about your own health… Do you have serious difficulty hearing?

            CURRENT            

%            9              Yes

            90           No

            *             Don’t know

            *             Refused

DIS002  Are you blind or do you have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses?

            CURRENT            

%            7              Yes

            93           No

            *             Don’t know

            *             Refused

DIS003  Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?

            CURRENT            

%            11           Yes

            89           No

            *             Don’t know

            *             Refused

DIS004  Do you have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs?

            CURRENT            

%            15           Yes

            84           No

            *             Don’t know

            *             Refused

DIS005  Do you have difficulty dressing or bathing?

            CURRENT            

%            3              Yes

            97           No

            *             Don’t know

            *             Refused

DIS006  Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping?

            CURRENT            

%            8              Yes

            92           No

            *             Don’t know

            *             Refused

DIS4       Do you have any disability or illness that makes it harder or impossible for you to use the Internet, or not?

            CURRENT            

%            2              Yes

            97           No

            1              Don’t know

            *             Refused

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