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Sally Guttmacher, PhD, Beth C. Weitzman, PhD, Farzana Kapadia, MPH and Sharon L. Weinberg, PhD

Sally Guttmacher is with the Department of Health Studies, New York University School of Education, New York City. Beth C. Weitzman is with the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University. At the time of this study, Farzana Kapadia was with the Department of Health Studies, New York University School of Education. Sharon Weinberg is with the Department of Humanities and the Social Sciences, New York University School of Education.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Sally Guttmacher, PhD, New York University School of Education, Department of Health Studies, 726 Broadway, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10003 (e-mail: sally.guttmacher{at}nyu.edu).

Objectives. This investigation examined the effectiveness of intensive efforts to include frequently absent students in order to reduce bias in classroom-based studies.

Methods. Grade 10 students in 13 New York City high schools (n = 2049) completed selfadministered confidential surveys in 4 different phases: a 1-day classroom capture, a 1-day follow-up, and 2 separate 1-week follow-ups. Financial incentives were offered, along with opportunities for out-of-classroom participation.

Results. Findings showed that frequently absent students engaged in more risk behaviors than those who were rarely absent. Intensive efforts to locate and survey chronically absent students did not, however, significantly alter estimates of risk behavior. Weighting the data for individual absences marginally improved the estimates.

Conclusions. This study showed that intensive efforts to capture absent students in classroom-based investigations are not warranted by the small improvements produced in regard to risk behavior estimates.

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