The Data

This website currently features data from three surveys. A third iteration of the survey was completed in June 2022, with results recently published here.

In May-June 2020, April-May 2021 and April-June 2022, the Tufts University Priority Area Research Cluster for Equity in Health, Wealth, and Civic Engagement contracted with Ipsos to conduct surveys using its KnowledgePanel. Ipsos uses addressed-based probability sampling to create a nationally representative online panel of respondents who take regular surveys. Individuals are provided with Internet access if they need it.

The Tufts team designed the survey using items that we chose or wrote. In addition, we purchased approximately 350 variables for each respondent that Ipsos had collected in previous surveys.

The target population consisted of non-institutionalized adults age 18 and older residing in the United States. A subsection of KnowledgePanel members was assigned to this survey. The number of complete responses was 1,267 in 2020, 1,449 in 2021 and 1,831 in 2022.

The 2021 sample consisted of 931 individuals who had been surveyed in 2020 (allowing us to track change over time), plus over-samples of 264 African Americans and 254 Latinos who were not surveyed in 2021, which allows more precise analysis of those two populations. All results are weighted to national demographic benchmarks, as described in more detail below.

We fielded and completed the first survey between May 29 and June 10, 2020 and the second between April 23 and May 3, 2021. Selected panel members received an email invitation to complete the survey and were asked to do so at their earliest convenience. This email notification contained a link that sent them to the survey. The survey was fielded in English and Spanish.

Since we know the ZIP code, age, and location at age 10 for each respondent, we were also able to import variables describing these individuals’ contexts. We thank the Boston University School of Public Health Biostatistics and Data Analytics Center for providing the county-level data that is shown on this website.

The researchers never see names or other individually identifiable information. Respondents give explicit consent to the study, which was approved by the Tufts University Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Anyone can explore selected variables through the data visualization tool on this site. Members of the working group are analyzing the full dataset and writing peer-reviewed articles as well as shorter “research briefs” to be published here. At a later point, the whole dataset will be made available for sharing (with random “noise” added to prevent any possible identification of individuals).

Data are weighted to match Census estimates for the following categories:

  • Gender (Male and Female) by Age (18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60+)
  • Race-Ethnicity (White/Non-Hispanic, Black/Non-Hispanic, Other/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races/Non-Hispanic)
  • Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) by Metropolitan Status (Metro and Non-Metro)
  • Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or Higher)
  • Household Income (Under $25K, $25K-$49,999, $50K-$74,999, $75K-$99,999, $100K-$149,999, $150K and Over)
  • Language Proficiency (Non-Hispanic, English Proficient Hispanic, Bilingual Hispanic, Spanish Proficient Hispanic)

More information about the model, methods, and results of the Equity in Health, Wealth, and Civic Engagement Research Cluster Survey may be found in the paper Assessing Equity in Health, Wealth, and Civic Engagement: A Nationally Representative Survey, United States, 2020. Thomas J. Stopka, Wenhui Feng, Laura Corlin, Erin King, Jayanthi Mistry, Wendy Mansfield, Ying Wang, Peter Levine, Jennifer D. Allen. International Journal for Equity in Health, January 2022.