This project will design and launch the Puerto Rico Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PR-PSID), a new longitudinal panel survey that will provide representative data on the Puerto Rico population. PR-PSID will support detailed research on a variety of topics, focused on the causes and consequences of demographic change and the relationship of this change to the wellbeing of the island?s population. In collaboration with Elizabeth Fussell of Brown University, we will develop the necessary survey instruments, sampling procedures, and fieldwork protocols for PR-PSID by borrowing and adapting these to the Puerto Rico context from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)?a long-running panel survey of U.S. families that allows for the study of these and related topics. By adopting and adapting PSID definitions, questionnaire instruments, and procedures, the PR-PSID will provide data for Puerto Rico that are directly comparable to data available for the U.S. This will support measurement continuity and comparability for PR-PSID respondents who migrate between PR and the U.S. mainland in future waves of data collection. Our specific aims are to develop survey instruments and a sampling frame for collecting population representative data for PR-PSID; to pilot test the PR-PSID questionnaire, sampling procedures, and fieldwork protocols; and to implement the baseline wave of PR-PSID in Puerto Rico in 2023 and process and distribute these data free of charge to the research community. The new data from PR-PSID in 2023 and beyond?in conjunction with comparable data from PSID for the U.S.?will provide a unique and valuable resource for studying economic and social wellbeing and the causes and consequences of demographic change among Puerto Ricans. PR-PSID is significant for a number of reasons. It will be the only representative panel survey of families in Puerto Rico and will capture a broad range of social, economic, and demographic processes. The study will also provide a unique data source for studying Puerto Rican?s moves to and family connections in the mainland U.S., including remitting behavior. Of particular value are the comparative data from PSID for the U.S. and the potential for continued survey participation and measurement for PR-PSID sample members who move to and from the mainland U.S. In time, PR-PSID has the potential to become an integral part of PSID with advantages for PSID incorporating a large Latino sample and having nationally representative data if Puerto Rico should ever become a U.S. state. Finally, PR-PSID scientific data for Puerto Rico on social, economic, and demo-graphic processes of individuals and families will inform public policies and interventions that seek to improve the status and wellbeing of the Puerto Rican population.
Funding:
Brown University
Funding Period:
09/01/2021 to 05/31/2024