This data collection is part of the Monitoring the Future series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth in eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades. The collection provides two datasets for each year since 1976 that are accessible only through the ICPSR Virtual Data Enclave (VDE) and include original variables, including the unaltered weight variable, that in the public-use data were altered or omitted: one dataset without State and Zip Code and one dataset including State and Zip Code. Use of the geographic identifiers such as state or zip code is limited and researchers interested in these variables are encouraged to read FAQs: MTF Restricted-Use Geographic Variables.
Also included as part of each annual collection is a zip archive of the Monitoring the Future public-use data and documentation for each respective year. The basic research design used by the Monitoring the Future study involves annual data collections from eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders throughout the coterminous United States during the spring of each year. Identical forms are used for both eighth and tenth grades, and for the most part, questionnaire content is drawn from the twelfth-grade questionnaires. Thus, key demographic variables and measures of drug use and related attitudes and beliefs are generally identical for all three grades.
For more information, visit the Monitoring the Future Web site.
Years Produced: Annually. Note: the 1975 data is not available. Data available from NAHDAP are the restricted-use and public-use annual cross-sectional datasets accessible only in the ICPSR Virtual Data Enclave (VDE).
For information about the MTF Public-Use Data and to download files, see Monitoring the Future (MTF) Public-Use Cross-Sectional Datasets