This report presents the topical modules that have been included in the survey since the 2009 AHS. You will see what we measured, discover how organizations are using data from these modules to examine a wide variety of issues, and find suggestions for how you can use these data to answer your organization’s most pressing housing-related questions.

The AHS topical modules place an array of unique new data sets at users’ fingertips and enable HUD to examine a range of emerging issues that intersect with housing. Data collected in the AHS topical modules fill critical research gaps. For many of these topics, the AHS is the only national-level survey conducted with such a large random sample, which regularly captures this detailed household-level information. HUD and the Census Bureau have been able to collect this new information without increasing respondent burden. Instead of appearing in every survey, the topical modules are rotated into the survey every 4 or 6 years. To further expand the number of topics we cover without increasing overall respondent burden, in 2013, we began randomly splitting the AHS sample into two groups—administering some topical modules to half of the sample and the remaining modules to the other half.

The addition of the AHS topical modules is one critical way in which HUD and the Census Bureau ensure that the AHS continues to deliver accurate, up-to-date data you can apply to your work. We keep the modules relevant by regularly reaching out to the AHS user community to seek input on topics to include in the rotating modules. We ensure that the topical modules obtain the highest quality data by collaborating with agencies and organizations that bring deep knowledge and specialized subject matter expertise to the development of module questions and analysis of results.