Proposals invited for new experimental modules in 2028

All modules must conform to the following design limitations.

• Proposed modules must be appropriate for telephone, face-to-face and web modes and designed for the entire HRS sample.
• Modules that target specific groups by age, sex, health status, or any other variable do not fit well within this structure. If one module were asked of all 51-56 year olds, for example, then the other modules would not represent that age group, with negative consequences for all of them. It is possible, however, to construct different sequences of questions for different groups within a module. For example, a module about cancer knowledge could ask women about breast cancer and men about prostate cancer.
• Note that because individual respondents are assigned randomly, it is not possible to require both members of a couple in coupled households to answer the same module. 
• Keep in mind that experimental module questions come at the end of a very long interview, so keeping them as simple and straightforward as possible increases the chances of your proposal’s selection. Experimental modules are administered to randomly-selected sub-samples of HRS self-respondents, after the main interview is completed, with a strict limit of two to three minutes in average length.

Each respondent is randomly assigned to only one module. Respondents can refuse to participate in any module before assignment, and can refuse to answer questions in the module to which they are randomly assigned. The sample size for each module depends on the number of modules included in the wave and the number of self-respondents in that wave. In general, though, the number of respondents who complete each module ranges between 1,400 and 1,800.