attrition in longitudinal studies

[Carolyn Chaney]

Hi Shelly,

I had pretty good luck...only lost 2 of 42 and those moved out of state.
BUT I was willing to go to great lengths, including doing some travel
myself.  My study retested kids after 3 years.

First, families move a lot, so get the names and contact information for
family members who are in stable living situations...Grandma will know
where the kids have moved, for example.

Second, provide some incentive for families to stay in touch.  I didn't
pay anything, but I CARED about the kid's progress in literacy and would
call about once a year to see how little Johnny was doing with books.  I
really miss some of the families and still think of the kids in my study,
especially those who were not leaping into literacy.

Good luck,

Carolyn Chaney


On Wed, 11 Jun 2003, Shelley Velleman wrote:

> Assistance urgently needed!
>
> I need to know what kinds of attrition rates people have had
> in longitudinal studies, especially of very young kids (I hope to be
> following mine from 12 - 42 months).  Especially if you've had experience
> with low SES groups, I'd really appreciate you sharing your experience,
> including any strategies that helped to reduce attrition.
>
> Please include:
>
> Age range:
> SES:
> Strategies that did or did not work to reduce attrition (Please state
> which!):
> Location:
>
> Many thanks!!
>
> Shelley Velleman
> UMass - Amherst
>
>
>
>