Abstract The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS‐R) is a survey of the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders in the US that was carried out between February 2001 and April 2003. Interviews were administered face‐to‐face in the homes of respondents, who were selected from a nationally representative multi‐stage clustered area probability sample of households. A total of 9,282 interviews were completed in the main survey and an additional 554 short non‐response interviews were completed with initial non‐respondents. This paper describes the main features of the NCS‐R design and field procedures, including information on fieldwork organization and procedures, sample design, weighting and considerations in the use of design‐based versus model‐based estimation. Empirical information is presented on non‐response bias, design effect, and the trade‐off between bias and efficiency in minimizing total mean‐squared error of estimates by trimming weights. Copyright © 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

The US National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS‐R): design and field procedures