Taiwan Survey
From the very beginning, adults aged 25 and older are planned as the main respondents for the panel survey in Taiwan. Due to limited budget, the initial group of main respondents was confined to individuals born in 1953-64. The first-wave survey of this group of main respondents was conducted by face-to-face interview in 1999, with the population covering residents of Taiwan (except outlying islands) who were born in the specified years. The sampling frame is household registration records kept by the government. Townships, villages and households were randomly selected using a multi-stage stratified PPS sampling method. For the first-wave survey on the first group of main respondents conducted in 1999, 999 questionnaires were completed, with the response rate being 52.41%.
An older sample born in 1935-54 (aged 46-65 at the time of survey) was added as the second group of main respondents by conducting a face-to-face survey in 2000, in which 1,959 questionnaires were completed, and the corresponding response rate was 52.20%. In 2003, a younger sample born in 1964-76 (aged 26-38 at the time of the survey) was added as the third group of main respondents, and 1,152 interviews were completed (the response rate was 47.33%). Since then, refreshment samples of younger cohorts have been added to the main respondents every 6 or 7 years. In 2009, a refreshment sample born in 1977-83 (aged 26-32 at the time of the survey) was included as the fourth group of main respondents, and 2,182 interviews were completed (the response rate was 50.63%). The survey for the refreshment sample born in 1984-91 (aged 25-32 when surveyed) was conducted in 2016, with 1,973 complete interviews for the fifth group of main respondents (the response rate was 48.35%).
| Survey Year | Birth Year | Completed Questionnaires | Response Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1953-64 | 999 | 52.41% |
| 2000 | 1935-54 | 1,960 | 52.22% |
| 2003 | 1964-76 | 1,152 | 47.33% |
| 2009 | 1977-83 | 2,182 | 50.63% |
| 2016 | 1984-91 | 1,973 | 48.35% |
Follow-up surveys for main respondents were conducted annually before 2012. Since 2012, follow-up surveys have been conducted every two years instead. For example, if a main respondent is in the first group of main respondents and has finished all the follow-up questionnaires, then eighteen waves of data in total have been collected from the respondent so far (1999-2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020).
To generate two-generation survey data, the sample has been extended to the young children of the main respondents since 2000. When a child of the main respondents reaches the age of 16, he or she is added to the child respondents and re-interviewed biennially using the child questionnaire (Questionnaire C). When a child respondent comes to the age of 25, he or she is treated as the main respondents and is interviewed using the first-wave questionnaire of the main respondents (Questionnaire RCI). After that, the children are re-interviewed with the main respondents using the follow-up questionnaire of the main respondents (Questionnaire RI).
China Survey
In 2004, in collaboration with the Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IPLE-CASS), we started parallel data collection in Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian. The sample structure and questionnaire design of the China survey were based on those of the Taiwan survey. The respondents in the first-wave China survey were born in 1936-79, with the same birth years as the first three groups of main respondents in Taiwan. In the first-wave China survey, the numbers of complete questionnaires for Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian are 903, 1,856, and 1,925 respectively. The survey for each region was conducted by face-to-face interview, with the targeted sample being randomly drawn from the residents satisfying the birth year requirement. Five waves of follow-up surveys have been completed in 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2019. In 2017, besides the follow-up surveys stated above, a refreshment sample born in 1980-91 was added to the respondents. The follow-up survey for the newly added respondents was conducted in 2019.
Due to expiry of the contract, the collaboration between RCHSS and IPLE-CASS comes to an end in 2020. After the latest survey of 2019, the PSFD project will no longer conduct any survey in China.