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The objective of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) has been described as providing policymakers with more accurate and comprehensive information ... about the income and of persons and households ... (J abine, 1990, p. 5), improving' 'reporting of income and other program-related data and doing it in way that would allow the analysis of changes over time at microlevel (Nelson et aI., 1984, p. 3), and permitting a more accurate portrayal of the impact of government tax and transfer policies on the economic status of the population (Vaughan, 1989, p. 1) emphasis added. These descriptions demonstrate the empj:lasis in the design of SIPP on obtaining good measures of eligibility, participation, and targeting. The purpose of this paper is not to review SIPP history. But mention of the original rationale for developing SIPP is useful in assessing the adequacy of SIPP data for studies of economic status and change among the elderly and suggesting appropriate changes in data collection. It is unrealistic to aim for single data set that could address all major research issues. Thus, in developing recommendations, I begin with the question of what SIPP is designed to do best, whether it does that for the elderly population, and what additional or improved data could be collected that other surveys of the elderly could not do better. This paper takes as its point of departure the meaning of program participation in understanding the usefulness of SIPP in investigating gerontologi-
Karen Holden (Thu,) studied this question.