National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979: Child Surveys Resource Guide |
Introduction
About the Guide
This resource guide provides a brief overview of the children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 and instructions for creating an extract dataset which you can download to your own computer. It also offers guidance in obtaining access to additional data from the main sample of mothers and for other family members, as well as guidance in accessing restricted-use versions of the data.
About the Data
Data about the children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979, which can be found in the NLSY79 Child Surveys, provides detailed data on the cognitive, socio-emotional, physiological, and demographic characteristics of children born to a cohort of women who have participated in the NLSY79 surveys. Sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the original NLSY79 survey consisted of a sample of individuals ages 14-22 first interviewed in 1979, annually through 1994 and then biennially to obtain information on labor force characteristics as well as a variety of other demographic, social, and financial indicators.
Beginning in 1986, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) sponsored a set of supplemental surveys to gather information about the children of female NLSY79 participants. Data collection for the NLSY79 Child Surveys includes a maternal interview and child assessment performed by the interviewer for all biological children of NLSY79 mothers. Children of any age were assessed prior to 1994, while only children under age 15 were assessed starting in 1994. Since 1988, children ages 10 to 14 have also answered self-administered, confidential questions on sensitive topics such as family, friends, school, attitudes, and deviant behavior. For children who have reached age 15 by the end of the survey year, the assessment portion of the interview is omitted for these children are instead viewed as young adults and therefore complete an interview similar to the general NLSY79 computer-assisted interview.
In 1994-1995 a Child School Survey also was conducted, collecting detailed information from Principals and other administrative staff regarding the school and the performance of individual students. Many school survey variables are available in the public-use version of the NLSY79 Child Surveys file, while others are available on a restricted-use basis only.
The Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR) at The Ohio State University and National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago are responsible for the design, collection, and distribution of the NLSY79 data and documentation.
Acknowledgements
This resource guide was prepared by Donald J. Hernandez, Department of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York. It was developed for the PreK-3rd Data Resource Center: The First Six Years of Schooling and Beyond, a Web site hosted by ICPSR with support from the Foundation for Child Development.
