Forces of Change Survey, United States, 2015, Restricted-Use Level 1 Data (ICPSR 37069)

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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The National Association of County and City Health Officials' (NACCHO's) Forces of Change Survey was developed as an evolution to NACCHO's Job Losses and Program Cuts surveys, which measured the impact of the economic recession on local health departments' (LHD) budgets, staff, and programs. The Forces of Change Survey measures changes in LHD budgets, staff, and programs and assesses more broadly the impact of forces affecting change in LHDs (such as health reform). Beginning in 2014, NACCHO began conducting the Forces of Change survey yearly in years that the National Profile Study of Local Health Departments was not fielded.

Study Design View help for Study Design

NACCHO administered the questionnaire using Qualtrics, an online survey administration tool. On Jan. 5, 2015, the designated primary contact of every local health department (LHD) in the sample received an invitation via e-mail from NACCHO's Executive Director to participate in the survey. The survey link was sent via Qualtrics on Jan. 13, 2015. After the initial invitation, the potential participants received up to five reminder e-mails. In addition, NACCHO made reminder calls to LHDs that had yet to complete the survey, targeting states with low response rates. Some state associations of county and city health officials and state health departments assisted by encouraging their LHDs to take part in the survey.

NACCHO generated national statistics using estimation weights to account for sampling and non-response. All data were self-reported; NACCHO did not independently verify the data provided by LHDs. A detailed description of survey methodology is available on NACCHO's Forces of Change webpage.

Sample View help for Sample

NACCHO used a stratified random sampling design for the 2015 Forces of Change Survey. A representative sample was used instead of a complete census design to minimize survey burden on local health departments (LHD) while enabling the calculation of both national- and state-level estimates.

LHDs were stratified by two variables: size of the population served and state. For stratification by size of population served, three categories were used: small (less than 50,000 people served), medium (50,000-499,999 people served), and large (more than 500,000 people served). Because LHDs with large population sizes represent a relatively small portion of all LHDs, these LHDs were over-sampled to ensure a sufficient number of responses for the analysis. Two states (Hawaii and Rhode Island) were excluded from the study because they have no LHDs. In addition, some states did not have any LHDs in a particular size category, resulting in a total of 122 strata. The sampling plan was designed to select a minimum of 33% of the LHDs in a given stratum and at least two LHDs per stratum whenever possible.

Once the sampling plan was finalized, NACCHO drew a random sample of the specified size from within each stratum. In some centralized states, two or more LHDs had the same person listed as the contact person. To minimize response burden, no more than two LHDs with the same contact person were kept in the sample (when possible). When LHDs with a common contact person were dropped from sample, or when contact information was not available, a replacement was drawn. Overall, a sample of 948 LHDs was selected, of which 690 responded to the survey.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Local health departments (LHD) in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Hawaii and Rhode Island were excluded from the survey because they had no LHD's.

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Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The Forces of Change Survey instrument included some questions used in previous surveys conducted by NACCHO (including the 2014 Forces of Change survey, Job Losses and Program Cuts surveys, and the National Profile of Local Health Departments). Variables are related to questionnaire topics, including budget cuts and job losses, changes in service delivery, and local health departments' collaboration with healthcare.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

73%

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

Several Likert-type scales were used.

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Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2018-09-05

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Weight View help for Weight

A weight variable (WEIGHT) has been included and must be used in any analysis.

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