National Beneficiary Survey Round 4, (Volume 1 of 3): Editing, Coding, Imputation, and Weighting Procedures

As part of an evaluation of the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program (TTW), Mathematica Policy Research conducted Round 4 of the National Beneficiary Survey (NBS) in 2010. The survey, sponsored by the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, collected data from a national sample of SSA disability beneficiaries (hereafter referred to as the Representative Beneficiary Sample) and a sample of TTW participants (hereafter referred to as the Ticket Participant Sample). Mathematica collected the data by using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), along with computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) followup for CATI nonrespondents and those preferring or needing an in-person interview to accommodate their disabilities.

A voluntary employment program for people with disabilities, TTW was authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (TTWIIA). The legislation was designed to create market-driven services to help disability beneficiaries become economically self-sufficient. Under the program, SSA provides beneficiaries with a "Ticket," or coupon, that they may use to obtain employment support services, including vocational rehabilitation, from an approved provider of the beneficiary’s choice (called Employment Networks, or ENs).