Preventing non-response in the Canadian Community Health Survey - ARCHIVED

This paper discusses in detail issues dealing with the technical aspects of designing and conducting surveys. It is intended for an audience of survey methodologists.

To fill statistical gaps in the areas of health determinants, health status and health system usage by the Canadian population at the health region levels (sub-provincial areas or regions of interest to health authorities), Statistics Canada established a new survey called the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). The CCHS consists of two separate components: a regional survey in the first year and a provincial survey in the second year. The main purpose of the regional survey, for which collection took place between September 2000 and October 2001, was to produce cross-sectional estimates for 136 health regions in Canada, based on a sample of more than 134,000 respondents. This article focuses on the various measures taken at the time of data collection to ensure a high level of quality for this large-scale survey.