2023 Compendium of Disability Data Collection Methods

Entities involved in quantitative and qualitative data collection—such as federal agencies, university survey centers, and private polling firms—should (and sometimes by law must) consider the extent to which their methods create barriers to participation for people with disabilities. Yet few resources are available to address this problem. To fill this knowledge gap, we created the Compendium of Disability Data Collection Methods, an easily accessible source of research on the methodological issues associated with collecting data from or about people with disabilities. The 2023 version of the compendium, an indexed reference list, contains 615 references on the following subjects:

• disability/impairment type (for example, developmental, cognitive and intellectual impairments, physical disabilities)
• data collection modes and adaptive technologies
• proxies
• questionnaire design and measurement issues
• inclusive strategies and participatory research
• special populations such as youth with disabilities and veterans’ populations