Survey of Kentucky Residents on State Health Policy

Methodology

The Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Kentucky Residents on State Health Policy was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).  The survey was conducted November 18 through December 1^st, 2015 among a random digit dial telephone sample of 1,017 Kentucky residents ages 18 and over.

Computer-assisted telephone surveys conducted by landline (401) and cell phone (616, including 377 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English by SSRS. KFF paid for all costs associated with the survey.

The sample of landline telephone exchanges called was randomly selected by a computer from a complete list of active residential exchanges in Kentucky. The exchanges were chosen so as to ensure that each region within Kentucky was represented in its proper proportion. Within each exchange, random digits were added to form a complete telephone number, thus permitting access to listed and unlisted numbers alike. Within each landline household, one adult was designated by a random procedure to be the respondent for the survey.

Cell phone numbers were generated by a similar random process.  Both the landline and cell phone samples were generated through Marketing Systems Group’s GENESYS sampling system.

The combined landline and cell phone sample was weighted to match estimates for the adult population of Kentucky using data from the Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey on sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, age, education, and respondent’s region of residence defined by county. The sample was also weighted to match current patterns of telephone use projected from the 2013 National Health Interview Survey state-level modeled estimates. The weight takes into account the fact that respondents with both a landline and cell phone have a higher probability of selection in the combined sample and also adjusts for the household size for the landline sample. All statistical tests of significance account for the effect of weighting.

The margin of sampling error including the design effect for the full sample is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Numbers of respondents and margins of sampling error for key subgroups are shown in the table below. For results based on other subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher. Sample sizes and margins of sampling error for other subgroups are available by request. Note that sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll. Kaiser Family Foundation public opinion and survey research is a charter member of the Transparency Initiative of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.