outcomerate: AAPOR Survey Outcome Rates

In outcomerate: AAPOR Survey Outcome Rates

AAPOR Survey Outcome Rates

Description

Provides standardized outcome rates for surveys, primarily as defined by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). Details can be found in the Standard Definitions manual \insertCiteaaporoutcomerate.

Usage

outcomerate(x, e = NULL, rate = NULL, weight = NULL, return_nd = FALSE)

Arguments

x	a character vector of disposition outcomes (I, P, R, NC, O, UH, UR, UO, or NE). Alternatively, a named vector/table of (weighted) disposition counts.
e	a numeric eligibility estimate in ⁠[0, 1]⁠. A length-one value is applied to all unknown dispositions. Alternatively, use a named vector such as c(UH = 0.4, UR = 0.7, UO = 0.2) for category-specific estimates. A non-scalar vector must contain one uniquely named value for every unknown category with a positive aggregate count (weighted when weight is supplied); categories with a zero count may be omitted. eligibility_rate() provides a default scalar estimate. If an e-dependent rate is explicitly requested when every unknown category has count zero, e may be omitted.
rate	an optional character vector specifying the rates to be calculated. If NULL (the default), all rates available for the supplied value of e are returned.
weight	an optional numeric vector that specifies the weight of each element in 'x' if x is a character vector or factor. For AAPOR weighted rates, use base weights (inverse selection probabilities); two-phase designs should also account for subsampling. If none is provided (the default), an unweighted estimate is returned. Individual zero weights are permitted, as required for phase-2-eligible cases that are not subsampled. Weights cannot be supplied with an already-aggregated named vector or table.
return_nd	a logical to switch to having the function return the numerator and denominator instead of the rate. Defaults to FALSE.

Details

Survey and public opinion research often categorizes interview attempts for a survey according to a set of outcome codes as follows:

• I = Complete interview

• P = Partial interview

• R = Refusal and break-off

• NC = Non-contact

• O = Other eligible non-interview (2.30, 2.90)

• UH = Unknown if household/occupied housing unit (3.10)

• UR = Unknown if sampled unit is eligible/housing unit contains an eligible respondent (3.20)

• UO = Unknown, other (3.90)

• NE = Not eligible (4.0)

UR is the 10th-edition aggregate symbol for 3.20, which the 9th edition included under UO. Legacy UO inputs remain supported. With a scalar e, moving a 3.20 case from UO to UR does not alter a rate. With category-specific estimates it can, so new 3.20 cases should be coded UR for standards conformance.

These high-level classes are used to calculate outcome rates that provide some measure of quality over the fieldwork. These outcome rates are defined here as follows:

The formulas below show the traditional scalar form e(UH + UR + UO). If e is supplied by category, that term is evaluated as e["UH"] * UH + e["UR"] * UR + e["UO"] * UO. Each value is the conditional probability that a case in that unknown category is ultimately eligible for the survey, following the companion guidance in \insertCiteaapor_e_2025outcomerate. Calculate e separately for each frame. One vector applies to the cases in one call; combining frames requires a scientifically justified aggregation. Other design components, modes, or phases may also require separate estimates when their mechanisms differ. Document the scientific basis for every estimate.

AAPOR Response Rate

The proportion of sampled cases that yield a complete or partial interview, depending on the selected definition.

• RR1 = I / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + (UH + UR + UO))

• RR2 = (I + P) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + (UH + UR + UO))

• RR3 = I / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + e(UH + UR + UO))

• RR4 = (I + P) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + e(UH + UR + UO))

• RR5 = I / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O))

• RR6 = (I + P) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O))

RR5 and RR6 are appropriate only when no unknown cases are eligible or no cases have unknown eligibility.

AAPOR Cooperation Rates

The proportion of all interviewed cases among eligible units ever contacted. These printed formulas are AAPOR's household-level rates.

• COOP1 = I / ((I + P) + R + O)

• COOP2 = (I + P) / ((I + P) + R + O)

• COOP3 = I / ((I + P) + R)

• COOP4 = (I + P) / ((I + P) + R)

AAPOR Refusal Rates

The proportion of the sample that refuses to participate in the survey.

• REF1 = R / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + (UH + UR + UO))

• REF2 = R / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + e(UH + UR + UO))

• REF3 = R / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O))

As with RR5 and RR6, excluding unknown cases from REF3 must be justified by the study's actual eligibility situation.

AAPOR Contact Rates

The proportion of cases in which a responsible member of the housing unit is reached. These printed formulas are AAPOR's household-level rates.

• CON1 = ((I + P) + (R + O)) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + (UH + UR + UO))

• CON2 = ((I + P) + (R + O)) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + e(UH + UR + UO))

• CON3 = ((I + P) + (R + O)) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O))

Location Rate

The proportion of cases that could be located for an interview.

The location rate is not defined in AAPOR's Standards, but can be found in \insertCitevdkoutcomerate. Note: depending on how the located cases are encoded, this may or may not be the correct formula.

• LOC1 = ((I + P) + (R + O + NC)) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + (UH + UR + UO))

• LOC2 = ((I + P) + (R + O + NC)) / ((I + P) + (R + NC + O) + e(UH + UR + UO))

Value

If return_nd = FALSE, a named numeric vector containing the requested outcome rates. If return_nd = TRUE, a numeric matrix with one row per requested rate and columns NUM and DEN containing its numerator and denominator. Names for weighted rates have a w suffix.

References

\insertAllCited

Examples

# load the outcomerate package
library(outcomerate)

# Create a vector of survey dispositions
#
# I  = Complete interview
# P  = Partial interview
# R  = Refusal and break-off
# NC = Non-contact
# O  = Other eligible non-interview (2.30, 2.90)
# UH = Unknown if household/occupied housing unit (3.10)
# UR = Unknown if sampled unit is eligible/housing unit contains an eligible
#      respondent (3.20)
# UO = Unknown, other (3.90)
# NE = Not eligible (4.0)
x <- c("I", "P", "I", "NC", "UH", "I", "R", "NE",
      "UR", "UO", "I", "O", "P", "I")

# calculate all rates
elr <- eligibility_rate(x)
outcomerate(x, e = elr)

# use separate eligibility estimates for each unknown category
e_by_class <- c(UH = 0.4, UR = 0.7, UO = 0.2)
outcomerate(x, e = e_by_class, rate = c("RR3", "REF2", "CON2"))

# return only one rate
outcomerate(x, rate = "COOP1")

# calculate weighted rates using illustrative base weights
w <- seq(0.5, 1.8, length.out = length(x))
outcomerate(x, e = elr, weight = w)

# alternatively, provide input as counts
freq <- c(I = 6, P = 2, NC = 3, R = 1)
outcomerate(freq, e = elr)

outcomerate documentation built on Sept. 1, 2026, 9:07 a.m.