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Analytic Limitations	-Download NJPS Report PDF -Download PowerPoint Summary
All surveys are subject to certain analytic limitations due to research design and methodology, and NJPS is no exception.

The NJPS questionnaire was administered to 4,523 respondents who represent the total Jewish population. Of these, 4,220 respondents with stronger Jewish connections received a "long-form" questionnaire.  An additional 303 respondents with Jewish connections that are not as strong answered a "short-form" questionnaire. The short-form version consisted of a subset of questions on the long form, omitting many questions on specifically Jewish topics. As a result, some data -- for example, many demographic items -- are available for the entire population. Other data, especially on many Jewish subjects, are restricted to a more engaged population of Jews represented by respondents to the long form.

The most important implication of this design decision is related to findings on Jewish connections. Descriptions of Jewish involvement and identity that are restricted to the more engaged Jewish population would, in many cases, be somewhat less strong if they had been collected from all respondents representing the entire Jewish population.

Furthermore, in many instances, data in NJPS 2000-01 are not fully comparable with data on similar topics found in NJPS 1990 due to changes in question wording. Many methodological studies have shown that how a question is asked affects how respondents answer it. Researchers who designed NJPS 2000-01 frequently changed question wording, especially on Jewish topics. This was designed to produce more precise questions than had been asked in 1990, but it also reduced comparability between the surveys. As a result, comparisons between the studies are limited in this report.

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