Getting better all the time? Selective attrition and compositional changes in longitudinal and life-course studies

Authors

  • Susanne Kelfve Department of Sociology, Stockholm University Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University
  • Stefan Fors Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University
  • Carin Lennartsson Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14301/llcs.v8i1.350

Keywords:

Longitudinal surveys, Changes in sample composition, Selective attrition, Social inequality, Socio-demographics

Abstract

Longitudinal surveys are valuable tools for investigating health and social outcomes across the life course. In such studies, selective mortality leads to changes in the social composition of the sample, but little is known about how selective survey participation affects the sample composition, in addition to the selective mortality. In the present paper, we followed a Swedish cohort sample over six waves 1968–2011. For each wave we recalculated the distribution of baseline characteristics in the sample among i) the sample still alive and ii) the sample still alive and with complete follow-up. The results show that the majority of the compositional changes in the cohort were modest and driven mainly by mortality. However, for some characteristics, class in particular, the selection was considerable and in addition, was substantially compounded by survey non-participation. We suggest that sample selections should be taken into account when interpreting the results of longitudinal studies, in particular when researching social inequalities. 

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2017-01-25

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2017): Longitudinal and Life Course Studies

Section

Papers

License

Authors who published with Longitudinal and Life Course Studies Volumes 1–9 agreed to the following terms:

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal right of first publication with the work, simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

2. Following first publication in this Journal, Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal, provided always that no charge is made for its use.

3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.