The Understanding America Study (UAS) is a probability-based longitudinal study housed at the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at USC. Currently, the UAS has over 14,000 respondents, with plans to grow the sample size to 20,000 in the coming years. The study collects extensive information on respondents, including the complete Health and Retirement Study questionnaire, additional cognitive tests, personality measures (the Big Five), mental health assessments, disability status, employment and occupation details, knowledge of Social Security rules, financial literacy, and more. Researchers can link newly collected data to the existing longitudinal information for each panel participant. The UAS aims to serve as a common platform for data collection within the scientific community. This seminar will introduce researchers to the data sources and platform, as well as recent projects using this data to study Social Security retirement and disability topics.
Speakers:
Francisco Perez-Arce (Economist and Research Scientist, Center for Economic and Social Research at University of Southern California)
Lila Rabinovich (Director, Policy and Development at Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California)
Suggested resources and readings:
The Understanding America Study (UAS) is a panel of households at the University of Southern California (USC) of approximately 14,700 respondents, growing to 20,000 by 2025 representing the entire United States. The study is an ‘Internet Panel,’ which means that respondents answer our surveys on a computer, tablet, or smart phone, wherever they are and whenever they wish to participate.