Quality of Responses in the 1987 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. Technical Report. Contractor Report

An analysis was done of the quality of the data supplied by respondents to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 1987 (NPSAS:87). The NPSAS:87 was a large-scale survey that obtained extensive data on the educational, demographic, and financial aspects of postsecondary students and their parents. The study compared the responses to similar questions asked of the three groups of respondents to determine the consistency and validity of responses. In particular comparisons were made for similar items between students and institutions, between parents and institutions, and between parents and students. The analysis found the following: (1) good correspondence was found between student and institution respondents for factual demographic information such as student age, sex, year of high school degree and marital status; (2) there was little agreement between students and institutions with regard to whether or not students received certain types of financial aid with students tending to underreport amount of aid received; (3) there was good agreement between parents and institutions for reporting adjusted gross income; (4) parents were not as accurate in reporting on tuition and fees as institutions and parents systematically overreported the amount paid for tuition and fees. Appendixes contain methodology and technical information. (JB)