Medical researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wanted to provide the most representative sampling frame for a population-based study of the spread of HIV among heterosexual African Americans living in eight rural North Carolina counties. They found that the list of driver’s licenses for men and women aged 18 to 59 gave them the “best coverage” and a “more nearly complete sampling frame” for this population, one that permitted “efficient sampling,” followed by voter registration lists. It far exceeded all census lists and at least four other available population lists.

they do not publish unlisted numbers, thereby eliminating those people from the study. Medicare lists only tally the elderly, disabled, or those with diagnosed diseases. Motor vehicle registries only cover people who own cars, and random-digit dialing does not tell a researcher whether the person called belongs to the targeted demographic subset. Census lists are not good enough, either, the researchers found, because driver’s license files often exceeded in number the projected population based on the census, highlighting its inaccuracy. Furthermore, the list of registered drivers was superior to voter registration lists in identifying men in the desired population, inasmuch as fewer men were registered to vote than women.

In 1992, other medical researchers had employed driver’s license lists as a sampling frame for their studies of bladder and breast cancer among adult blacks. But in 1994, a congressional act restricted the release of driver’s license lists to applications for statistical analysis but not direct contact of license holders. Unfortunately for market researchers, subsequent congressional, judicial review, and legislation at the state level in selected states have kept this sampling frame methodology in a state of uncertainty and flux.

Questions

1. What kinds of usable data could a statistical analysis of driver’s license lists generate, and how would you go about the study?

2. Identify two other market research categories in which driver’s license lists would excel in providing accurate data.