Projects Showcase

Mixed Income Project

Client: Harvard University, Dept. of Sociology

Survey in L.A. and Chicago looking at how families have fared in the recent economic crisis. Using subsamples from LA FANS and PHDCN, we completed 1900+ interviews with respondents who had not been interviewed or tracked for years. Response rate for L.A. after 4 years: 76%. For Chicago, after 12 years, 63%. (Funding: MacArthur Foundation)

Safer Return Evaluation

Client: The Urban Institute

We continued with data collection for this 3-year longitudinal study, a quasi experimental evaluation of a group of 300 former prisoners and 300 family members, looking at how effectively the program is keeping participants from re-incarceration. Interviews at 1, 4 and 16 months from release. (Funding: MacArthur Foundation

Community Action for Child Health Equity

Client: Northshore University Health System

Completed 2.5 year longitudinal study looking at how social and economic factors (poverty, racism, discrimination) affect health outcomes for infants and young children. Conducted five rounds of surveys with 700 families, including collection of biomarkers. Response rate was highest of 5 sites around the country. (Funding: NICHD)

Evaluation of Chicago Group Up Great Science Initiative

Client: NIEER - Rutgers University

We conducted two waves of this longitudinal project to evaluate the effectiveness of this preschool science program. 64 classroom observations and 633 child assessments were conducted, completing project goals. (Funding: PNC Foundation)

Subsidized Employment Evaluation

Client: Economic Mobility Corp.

We conducted this 3-month telephone survey of employers who participated in a subsidized employment pilot project, to assess their opinions and satisfaction with the program. De-centralized telephone interviews were completed with over 700 employers in Wisconsin, Mississippi, and California, with a 75%+ response rate. (Funding: Rockefeller Foundation)

Pretesting a Satisfaction Questionnaire for

Health Education Network Participants

Client: Health-RA

We conducted a quick-turnaround open-ended telephone pretest and identified questionnaire items that were problematic or did not elicit the intended information. Fourteen interviews were conducted. (Funding: CMS, through Premier HEN)

Tracking the Sample of the Evaluation

of the Centers for Working Families

Client: Economic Mobility Corp.

We continued tracking a mobile, low income, sample of over 1600 respondents between interview waves, with calls and field tracking after Wave 1, at 4, 8, 12 and 16 months. (Funding: SIF Funds, through Local Initiatives Support Corporation)

Cognitive Testing of Roster, Coverage, and

Address Questions for the 2020 Census

Client: RTI International

We conducted the first two (of three) waves of cognitive interviews to cognitively test experimental 2020 census forms on paper, tablets, and smartphones. In this study RSS is responsible for recruiting participants and conducting half of the 240 cognitive interviews. Sites are in Illinois, Washington DC, and California. (Funding: U.S. Census Bureau)

Cognitive Interviews for PISA Study

Student Questionnaire

Client: Universidad de Granada

We completed this study consisting of recruiting and conducting 20 cognitive interviews with 15-17 year olds in Chicago. (Funding: U. of Granada and U. of Barcelona)

Affordable Care Act Pretesting

Client: U.S. Census Bureau

We completed this study which sought to design and cognitively test English and Spanish versions of questions to determine exchange coverage in Massachusetts, for the American Community Survey and the CPS. Study included 4 focus groups and 84 cognitive interviews. RSS overcame difficult challenges in recruiting specific types of participants. (Funding: U.S. Census Bureau)

We translated instruments into Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese for a number of grant-funded studies as well as for federal contracts. We followed the modified committee approach. Translated questionnaires for CDC-OSH, ISR-Michigan, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, NORC, Northwestern U. Dept of Health Literacy, RTI, UMass Boston CSR, Westat, U. of Virginia CSR, Vanderbilt University.

We translated consent forms into Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Karen, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, and Ukrainian.