Working Paper

Reaching the Hard to Reach with Intermediaries: The Kansas City Fed’s LMI Survey

Abstract: Reaching hard-to-reach individuals is a common problem in survey research. The low- and moderate-income (LMI) population, for example, is generally hard to reach. The Kansas City Fed?s Low- and Moderate-Income Survey addresses this problem by sampling a database of organizations to serve as proxies for the LMI population. In this paper, I describe why the LMI population can be hard to reach. I then explore potential problems with using a nonrandom survey sample and address the empirical validity of the Kansas City Fed?s LMI Survey. I compare results from the survey using the standard sample to results from the survey using a random sample. I find that the results of the surveys using the standard and random samples are not significantly different and conclude that the use of a nonrandom sample is not a significant problem for the LMI Survey. I find that the series of responses from the LMI Survey are correlated with the things they should be correlated with, suggesting that the survey is empirically valid and does a good job of measuring economic conditions in LMI communities.

Keywords: Kansas City Fed Low and Moderate Income Survey; Hard to reach; Polls; Empirical validity; Nonrandom;

JEL Classification: C81; C83; I32;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Part of Series: Research Working Paper

Publication Date: 2018-07-16

Number: RWP 18-6

Pages: 51 pages