Census Household Panel Sample Design – Using the Auxiliary Data to Stratify the Master Address File

Research and development work conducted both at the Census Bureau and throughout the field has demonstrated the value of a high-quality panel survey to improve representativeness and significantly reduce burden on households in the interests of collecting high-frequency data. The Census Bureau launched initial recruitment of the Census Household Panel (CHP) in September of 2023. The initial sample was carefully selected and recruited by the Census Bureau to reflect the diversity of our nation’s population. Panel participants were asked to respond to an initial “baseline” questionnaire as well as various monthly survey requests, referred to as “topical collections.” This paper outlines the CHP sample design, covering the stratification used in selecting the initial sample. We used information from the Census Bureau’s demographic frame, a person-level frame based on administrative records and the Census Bureau’s Planning Database to stratify the housing units on the Master Address File. This paper also discusses the CHP sample size targets, “baseline” and “topical” weights and initial demographic distributions from the initial sample respondents and first few “topical” collections.