The 2005 U.S. National Alcohol Survey (NAS) is a national household Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey of persons ages 18 and older. Data were collected using list-assisted Random Digit Dialing (RDD) with a sampling frame of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to the main sample, the NAS includes oversamples of African Americans and Hispanics, as well as residents of low-population states. Interviews were conducted in either English or Spanish, according to respondent preference. Data were collected from 6,919 respondents, including 3,967 whites, 1,054 blacks and 1,610 Hispanics; among these were 2,810 white, 504 black, and 766 Hispanic current drinkers. The response rate was 56%, consistent with current response rates for telephone surveys (Curtin, et al., 2005). While such rates raise concerns about nonresponse bias, recent methodological studies find that increased nonresponse does not necessarily result in biased population estimates (Groves, 2006; Keeter, et al., 2006). Moreover, a series of mode studies conducted on the NAS showed that telephone-based results with this level of response are not biased in their alcohol-related variables, as compared with earlier face-to-face surveys typically achieving higher response rates (see (Greenfield, et al., 2006; Midanik and Greenfield, 2003)).
