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Description & Citation--Study No. 6227

Bibliographic Description

Study No.:

06227

Title:

Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth, 1976-1992: Concatenated Core File

Alternate Title:

MTF 1976-1992 (12th Grade)

Principal Investigator(s):

Bachman, Jerald G., University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research. Survey Research Center

Johnston, Lloyd D., University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research. Survey Research Center

O'Malley, Patrick M., University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research. Survey Research Center

Funding:

United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Drug Abuse

Bibliographic Citation:

Bachman, Jerald G., Lloyd D. Johnston, and Patrick M. O'Malley. Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth, 1976-1992: Concatenated Core File. ICPSR06227-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2008-11-24. doi:10.3886/ICPSR06227.v2

Series:

Monitoring the Future (MTF) Series

Scope of Study

Summary:

This data collection contains the "core" variables for the first 17 years of this annual survey that explores changes in the important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Personal and family characteristics, political and religious beliefs, school performance and educational goals, and type and degree of drug usage are some of the topics explored in the core variables. Each year, a large, nationally representative sample of high school seniors in the United States is asked to respond to these core questions, as well as to an average of 200 additional questions not included in this dataset.

Subject Terms:

alcohol, attitudes, demographic characteristics, drug use, educational objectives, family background, high school students, human behavior, life plans, lifestyles, religious attitudes, social change, tobacco use, values, youths

Geographic Coverage:

United States

Time Period:

  • 1976--1992

Date of Collection:

  • 1976--1992

Unit of Observation:

individual

Universe:

High school seniors in the contiguous United States.

Data Types:

survey data

Data Collection Notes:

Conducted by the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center.

Percentage distributions provided in the codebook were generated using full weights, which are not available on the public use files. Therefore, these results cannot be replicated using the public use files. The differences between results produced using the full weights and those produced using the sampling weights available on the public use files are estimated to be below 1 percent.

To protect the confidentiality of respondents, all variables that could be used to identify individuals have been collapsed or recoded on the public use files. These modifications should not affect analytic uses of the public use files.

Methodology

Sample:

Multistage area probability sample design involving three selection stages: (1) geographic areas or primary sampling units (PSUs), (2) schools (or linked groups of schools) within PSUs, and (3) students within sampled schools. Of the 72 PSUs, 8 were selected with certainty and 62 were selected with probability proportionate to size based on the size of the senior class. In schools with more than 400 seniors, a random sample of seniors or classes was drawn. In schools with less than 400 seniors, all seniors were asked to participate. Each school was asked to participate for two years, so that each year one-half of the sample is replaced. Schools refusing participation were replaced with similar schools in terms of geographic location, size, and type of school (e.g., public, private/Catholic, private/non-Catholic). The participation rate among schools has been between 66 and 80 percent since the inception of the study.

Weight:

The data file contains a weight variable, V8. It was originally varied by school but was modified to protect respondent confidentiality. Users should use the weight variable for all analyses, the results of which will differ slightly from published data tables that used original data.

Mode of Data Collection:

on-site questionnaire

Data Source:

self-administered questionnaires

Response Rates:

The student response rate has been between 77 percent and 86 percent for the years between 1976 to 1992.

Extent of Processing:

All archived data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. The archive also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, the archive performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Performed consistency checks.
  • Standardized missing values.
  • Created online analysis version with question text.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Access and Availability

Note:

Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.

Original ICPSR Release:

1994-03-10

Version History:

  • 2008-11-24 New files were added. These files included one or more of the following: Stata setup, SAS transport (CPORT), SPSS system, Stata system, SAS supplemental syntax, and Stata supplemental syntax files, and a tab-delimited ASCII data file. Some other minor edits were made to improve the data and documentation.

  • 2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions.

  • 1997-12-19 The codebook is now available as a PDF file.

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