Response Rates and Representativeness: A Benchmark Comparison of the General Social Surveys to the American Community Surveys, 2012-2018

The response rate for the General Social Survey (GSS) declined in 2016 and 2018 more than expected. After a slight decline in 2014 to 69.2 percent, the response rate fell abruptly to 61.3 percent in 2016. In 2018, it fell again, but by a more modest amount to 59.5 percent. The reasons for the recent declines are not fully understood, and research with auxiliary data and other surveys may be able to provide additional clarity in the future. In the meantime, I offer this report to promote transparency and reassurance. On the one hand, the GSS is fighting the same non-response headwind that other national surveys confront, and thus there is reason to be concerned. On the other hand, the problem is not so acute that a decline in the demographic representativeness of the GSS is yet apparent. This overall conclusion is based on a comparison of the realized demographic demographic composition of the GSS and the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) from 2012 through 2018.