Longitudinal Surveys of Children (1998)

British National Child Development Study (NCDS)

All persons born the week March 3-9, 1958, in Great Britain, about 16,500 total.

In 1991 all children of a random sample of one-third of NCDS respondents (age 33) were added.

None

Five major follow-ups since 1958:

• 1965 (7 years old).;

• 1969 (11 years old).;

• 1974 (16 years old).;

• 1981 (23 years old).;

• 1991 (33 years old.

Factors associated with birth outcomes.

Family formation, employment, education, training, housing, income, health, smoking, drinking, voluntary activities.;

Children's cognitive, socioemotional, and behavioral outcomes.

Family, school, community.

Census data; school records.

Interviews with parents, teachers, spouses, cohabitees, children.

Medical exams.

Educational tests.

Mother, children, mother figure.

John Bynner Peter Shepherd NCDS User Support Social Statistics Research Unit City University Northampton Square London ECIV QHB;

Phone: (0171) 477-8484; Fax: (0171) 477-8583; E-mail: ncds@ssru.city.ac.uk

Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)

National sample of 22,831 children ages 0 to 11 in 1994 from 13,439 households in the 10 provinces (excludes Yukon and Northwest territories). (Data for Northwest and Yukon territories will be analyzed separately.)

Cohorts: 0-11 months, 1 year, 2-3 years, 4-5 years, 6-7 years, 8-9 years, 10-11 years old.

As the children grow older, new children ages 0-2 will be added to the sample.

Households that contained at least one child in the two youngest cohorts.

Study began in 1994; children surveyed every two years into adulthood.

Cycle 1:

• household collection, November 1994 to June 1995.

• school collection, March to June 1995.;

Cycle 2:

• household collection, November 1996 to April 1997.

• school collection, March to June 1997.

Child development.

Parent(s).

Family.

School.

Neighborhood.

Currently no planned linkages.

No incentive given.

In-home:

• face-to-face or telephone interviews.

• main respondent is "person most knowledgeable" about the child, usually the mother.

• 4-5 year olds tested face to face for school readiness.

• 10-11 year olds completed self-administered questionnaire.;

In Cycle 2, 12-13 year olds also completed self-administered questionnaire.;

In-school (for school-age cohorts):

• teachers and principals completed questionnaires sent by mail.

• teachers administered math tests (also sent by mail) to children in grade 2 and above; in Cycle 2 a reading comprehension test was added.

Gilles Montigny Statistics Canada Tunney's Pasture Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A0T6 Phone: (613) 951-9731

Children and Young Adults of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth

All children born to female participants in the NLSY79 cohort interviewed in 1986; in addition, all children born since 1986 who reside at least part-time with their mothers.;

Starting in 1994, children 15 and older at date of interview in the household within the previous 2 rounds were interviewed regardless of current residence status.;

In 1986, 5,255 children; 4,971 assessed.;

In 1988, 6,543 children; 6,266 assessed.; In 1990, 6,427 children; 5,803 assessed.;

In 1992, 7,255 children; 6,599 assessed.;

In 1994, 6,622 children not young adults; 6,109 assessed.;

In 1994, 1,240 young adult children; 980 interviewed.

None.

Began in 1986; assessments are conducted biennially of both mothers and children.;

Since 1988, children ages 10 and over also complete a confidential self-report in addition to assessments.;

Starting in 1994 (and each subsequent round), children ages 15 or older as of Dec. 31 of the survey year receive a comprehensive omnibus questionnaire in lieu of assessments.

Linkages between maternal-family behaviors and attitudes and subsequent child development.

Family.;

Job.;

School.;

Cognitive, socioemotional, and physiological development of each child.

Current link between child interviews and 1995 NLSY79 Child School Survey file for children 5 and older.;

Current link to QED data for schools identified in 1995 NLSY79 Child School Survey.;

Planned links to geocode data files and files on neighborhood characteristics.

Paper-and-pencil personal interviews administered by National Opinion Research Center interviewers.;

Self-reports from older children and mothers.;

Starting in 1994, computer assisted personal interviews (CAPI) used for child assessments and young adult interviews.;

School transcripts and student and principal questionnaires used in 1995 Child School Survey.

Randall Olsen Director Center for Human Resource Research 921 Chatham Lane; Columbus, OH 43221; Phone: (614) 442-7300; E-mail: stats.bls.gov:80/nlsmothr.html

Delinquency in a Birth Cohort in the People's Republic of China

5,341 males and females born in 1973.

Study began in 1990; will continue until 2000.

Delinquency, school records. occupation, income, marital status, age, sex, family.

School, family, community.

School records, census, police files.

Interviews with subjects, parents, teachers. control group.

Department of Criminology University of Pennsylvania 3937 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104-3110

Early Childhood Longitudinal Study • Birth Cohort 2000 (ECLS-B);

(NOTE: This study is still in the development stages; certain details have not been finalized).

Nationally representative sample of approximately 15,000 children born during 2000;

Racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.

Asian and Pacific Islanders.;

Maybe other minorities, such as Native Americans.;

Also maybe high-risk children (low-birth weight, low-income).

Study of children from birth through grade 1:

• first data collection occurs within 6 months of birth, followed by data collections at 12, 18, and 24 or 30 months.

• Thereafter, data will be collected on a roughly annual basis (exact timing to be determined).

Children's early learning and development, specifically:

• development and growth,

• transition to non-parental care and school,

• school readiness.

Homes/family.; Communities.;

Child care.;

Early childhood program environments.;

Schools.;

Classrooms.;

Teachers.;

Children's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.

ZIP codes, census codes.

Age-appropriate gifts to children (e.g., children's books). Whether monetary incentives will be given to parents and child care providers has not yet been determined.

Primary source of information: interviews with parents (usually mother, as primary caretaker).;

In addition:

• direct assessments of children's cognitive and non-cognitive development beginning at 2 1/2 years of age.

• interviews with child care providers/teachers.

• when children reach school age, school administrators and teachers to complete questionnaire.

Jerry West National Center for Education Statistics 555 New Jersey Ave., NW, Room 417B; Washington, DC 20208; Phone: (202) 219-1574; E-mail: Jerry_West@ED.GOV ECLS@ED.GOV

Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

• Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K);

(NOTE: This study is still in development stages; certain details have not been finalized).

Nationally representative sample of approximately 23,000 children enrolled in 1,000 public and private kindergartens for the 1998-99 school year.;

Racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.;

Will also gather information on the kindergartens that the children attend: (includes full- and part-day kindergarten programs).

Private schools and children.;

Asian and Pacific Islander children.;

(Maybe also children with disabilities.)

Information collected twice during base year (once at beginning and once at end of 1998-99 school year).;

Follow-ups are planned for spring of grades 1, 3, and 5.;

A fall grade 1 follow-up is being planned for a 25% sample of the base-year sample (approximately 5,000 children).

Children's development and environment, specifically:

• school readiness

• transition to school

• schooling and performance in the early grades

• interaction of school, family, and community.

Interaction between:

• child and family,

• child and school,

• family and school and community.;

Also, children's cognitive, social, and emotional growth.

$100 honorarium to schools. Teachers are paid as data collectors to report on academic achievement, social skills, and special education services ($5 per completed case). Children are given stickers and other age-appropriate gifts (e.g., children's books).

Information collected from children, parents, teachers, school, classroom, special education teachers, administrators/children's principals.;

Only kindergartners and first graders participate in the assessment.;

Beginning in grade 3, children are assessed and interviewed.

Jerry West National Center for Education Statistics 555 New Jersey Ave., NW, Room 417; Washington, DC 20208; Phone: (202) 219-1574; headmasters/ E-mail: Jerry_West@ED.GOV ECLS@ED.GOV

Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project

National sample of approximately 3,000 low-income families from diverse EHS programs in 17 communities (selected from 143 programs funded in 1995 and 1996).;

As families are recruited by programs, they are randomly assigned to the EHS program or to a comparison group.;

Sample members at intake are pregnant women or mothers with infants 12 months of age or younger.

None

Age-based child assessment, parent interview, and child care provider assessment when child is 14, 24, and 36 months old.;

Intake-based parent interview about services parent uses at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months after random assignment.;

Site visits in 1996, 1997, and 1999

Effectiveness of EHS programs with varying approaches to affecting child and family outcomes (theories of change), in terms of:

• children's cognitive, language, and social development, health, resiliency, and parental attachment;

• family development, including parent-child relationships, home environment, family functioning, family health, parental involvement, and parental self-sufficiency;

• staff development; and

• community development, including child care quality, collaboration, and services integration.

Relationships and interactions among all of the following: child, parent(s), sibling(s), Early Head Start program staff, child care providers, and communities in which EHS families live and work.

National evaluation data to be linked with data collected by 15 local researchers.;

Potential links to other studies of current policy relevance, including welfare reform, low-income fathers, child care, and children with disabilities.;

ECLS Birth Cohort.

Age-based assessments: $15 plus small gift.;

Intake-based interview: $10.

Data from program application and enrollment forms.;

Parent interviews.;

Direct child assessments.;

Observations of child care provider settings.;

Videotaping of mother-child interactions (at 14 and 24 months).;

Surveys of program staff.;

Site visits to programs that include interviews with all staff, observations of child development services (center and home-based), focus groups with parents, and focus groups with community representatives.

John M. Love, Program Director Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. P.O. Box 2393; Princeton, NJ 08543; Phone: (609) 275-2245; Email: jlove@ mathematica-mpr.com;

and;

Helen H. Raikes, Program Monitor Administration on Children, Youth, and Families 330 C St. SW; Room 2411; Washington, DC 20011; Phone: (202) 205-2247; E-mail: heraikes@acf.dhhs.gov

National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:1988)

National sample of 26,435 eighth graders in 1988 attending 1,057 public and private schools.

Hispanic students. Asian/Pacific Islander students.;

Subsamples (for each student):

• one parent,

• one school principal,

• two teachers.

In 1988.;

Follow-up surveys in 1990, 1992, and 1994.;

Another follow-up proposed for 2000.

''Educational attainment":

• reasons for and consequences of academic success and failure.

Family.;

School.;

Classroom.;

Community.

ZIP codes, census codes, Integrated Postsecondary Data Education System (IPEDS).

Sample survey.;

School transcript records.;

Assessment test.; In base year, first and second follow-ups:

• four cognitive tests

• student, parent, teacher, school administrator questionnaires.;

Follow-up surveys also include dropout questionnaires.

Jeffrey Owings Data Development and Longitudinal Studies Group National Center for Education Statistics 555 New Jersey Ave., NW, Room 417; Washington, DC; 20208-5651; Phone: (202) 219-1777

National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health)

Clustered, school-based.;

WAVE I:

• 90,000 seventh through twelfth grade students from 134 schools (high schools and their "feeder" schools) took in-school questionnaire.

• 12,105 youth chosen for in-home interviews (approximately 200 from each pair of schools).

• Genetic sample: siblings in same household.;

WAVE II: Included all those in WAVE I except:

• students who were in grade 12 in WAVE I and did not qualify for genetic sample,

• WAVE I disabled sample (was unreliable),

• 65 adolescents who were not interviewed in WAVE I but qualified as part of the genetic sample.

1,038 African Americans from well-educated families (parent has college degree).;

334 Chinese adolescents;

450 Cuban adolescents;

437 Puerto Rican adolescents

In-home interviews:

• WAVE I conducted between April and December 1995.

• WAVE II conducted between April and August 1996.;

School administrator survey:

• conducted in first year of study.

• updated by phone in spring 1996.

Differential health of adolescents.

Social environment (from family to community).;

Health-related behaviors.;

Vulnerabilities and strengths.;

Family.;

Friends/peers.;

School.;

Neighborhood.;

Community.

In-school adolescent questionnaire.;

In-home adolescent interviews.;

School administrator questionnaire.;

Parent questionnaire.;

Community contextual dataset.;

In-school friendship network dataset.;

Geographic location of household in community.

J. Richard Udry Carolina Population Center University of North Carolina University Square; Chapel Hill, NC 27516; Phone: (919) 966-2829; Website: www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/whois.html

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 (NLSY:79)

12,686 youth ages 14-21 as of January 1, 1979.;

Dropped to 11,607 in 1985 when interviewing of military sample discontinued.

African Americans.;

Hispanics.; Economically disadvantaged non-African-Americans and non-Hispanics (discontinued in 1990).;

Youth in the military (discontinued in 1984) (women were an oversample within the youth in the military oversample).

Annual since 1979.

Labor force experience.;

Factors affecting labor market behavior.

Education/training.;

Location.;

Parents.;

Marital status.;

Financial.;

Work-related; attitudes.;

Health problems.;

Discrimination.

Personal interviews.;

Telephone interviews in 1987.

Randall Olsen Director Center for Human Resource Research 921 Chatham Lane; Columbus, OH 43221; Phone: (614) 442-7300

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 (NLSY:97)

12,000 youth ages 12-17.; 2,500 disabled children ages 12-17.

None.

Initial interviews conducted January to May 1997.;

Annual interviews in following years.

Youths' transition into:

• labor market,

• adulthood,

• career and family formation.

Individual.; Parents.; Schools.

Computer-assisted personal field interviews of youth and parents.;

Self-administered audio CASI section.;

Youth in grade 9 and below will also take a Peabody Individual Achievement math test (PIAT).;

Survey of school administrators.;

School transcripts.

Michael Horrigan Program Director National Longitudinal Surveys Two Massachusetts Ave., NE, Suite 4945 Washington, DC 20212 Phone: (202) 606-7386

New Immigrant Survey Pilot Study (NIS-PS)

1,982 child and adult (out of 148,987) immigrants who were granted legal permanent residence (PR) during July and August 1996.

Immigrants receiving PR based on employment.;

Undersample: children (people under the age of 18).

Baseline survey, conducted in 1997.;

Three-month follow-up of half the sample.;

Six-month follow-up of whole sample.;

One-year follow-up of whole sample.

Assess immigrants' experience in and adaptation to the U.S. (e.g., socioeconomic integration).;

Comparison of immigrants with native born.;

Effects of immigration on the U.S.

Socio-demographic and economic characteristics and activities (to compare immigrants to native born).;

Characteristics and behavior unique to immigrants.

Interviews with adults (ages 18 and over).;

Interviews with parents or care givers of children (under age 18).

Guillermina Jasso New York University; E-mail: jasso@is3nyu.edu;

Douglas S. Massey University of Pennsylvania; E-mail: dmassey@ lexis.pop.upenn.edu; Mark R. Rosenzweig University of Pennsylvania; E-mail: markr@ markr2.pop.upenn.edu;

James P. Smith RAND Corporation; E-mail: James_Smith@ monty.rand.org

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care;

Two components: Phase I Phase II (Phase I follow-up)

Phase I: National sample of 1,364 families; selected from designated hospitals at the 10 data collection sites; included only families with full-term healthy newborns; 123-150 participant families at each site. During child's first year:

• 53% of mothers worked/went to school full-time,

• 23% worked/went to school part-time,

• 24% stayed home. Ethnicity of mother:

• 81% white,

• 19% minorities (African American, Native American, Asian, Hispanic, Mixed). Homes:

• 86% two parents,

• 14% single parent. Mother's education:

• 11% <grade 12,

• 25% high school/GED,

• 28% some college,

• 24% B.A.,

• 12% postgrad.; Phase II: Includes 1,247 families of original 1,364.

None.

Phase I:

• Families recruited between January and November 1991.

• Children enrolled at 1 month old were studied until 3 years old.

• At 1, 6, 15, 24, and 36 months old, home visits.

• At 15, 24, and 36 months old, lab setting assessment.

• At 6, 15, 24, and 36 months old, observed in primary child care setting (if child attends more than 10 hours a week).

• Telephone interviews with mother every 3 months.;

Phase II:

• At 4 1/2 years old and in grade 1, home visits, lab assessments, child care setting observation, school observation.

• During kindergarten, parents and teachers complete mailed questionnaires and phone interviews.

Child care:

• quality,

• history of enrollment,

• type,

• stability,

• hours.;

Home environment.;

Child development:

• cognitive,

• social,

• attachment,

• emotional.; Mother's development.

Phase I:

• child care,

• home/family.;

Phase II:

• child care,

• home/family,

• school.

No linkage.

Phase I:

• Face-to-face and telephone interviews.

• Videotaping of play/interaction.

• Observation of child, parents, primary child care setting, family setting.

• Standardized tests/assessments of child development.;

Phase II: Same as Phase I, with the addition of observation and interviewing of teachers and schools.

Sarah Friedman National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20892 Phone: (301) 496-9849

Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)

National sample of 5,000 households, beginning in 1968.;

8,700 households in 1996.

African Americans.;

Hispanics in 1990-1995, with Cubans and Puerto Ricans oversampled relative to Mexican Americans.

Annual, since 1968.

Family structure, dynamics, and financial status, specifically:

• family composition,

• demographic events,

• income sources and amounts,

• employment,

• poverty status,

• public assistance,

• housework time,

• housing,

•socioeconomic background,

• health.

Economics.;

Demography.;

Sociological factors.;

Psychological factors.;

Family unit.;

Primary adult.;

Family members.;

Neighborhood.

Medicare records.;

National Death Index (NDI), Panel Study of Income Dynamics geocode.;

Does not have Social Security number links;

Census data via address.

Interviews of family members.

Sandra Hofferth Institute of Social Research University of Michigan 426 Thompson St. Room 3234; Ann Arbor, MI 48106; Phone: (313) 763-5131; E-mail: Hofferth@umich.edu Website: www.umich.edu/-psid

Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement (CDS)

National sample of 3,500 children 0-12 years old.;

Includes approximately 550 immigrant children.; Also:

• 2,500 mothers,

• 2,000 other caregivers and noncustodial parents,

• 1,415 teachers,

• 1,226 school administrators.

African Americans.

Began in 1997.;

Will follow children into adulthood.

Early human capital formation.

Cognitive development.;

Socioemotional well-being.;

Health.;

Parents/family.; Neighborhood.;

Teachers.;

Schools.;

Time use.

Census Bureau information on neighborhoods.

Initial in-home interview of family members.;

Telephone interviews of family members.;

Woodcock Johnson achievement test.;

Self-administered questionnaires completed by child's teacher and school or child care provider.

Sandra Hofferth Institute of Social Research University of Michigan 426 Thompson St. Room 3234; Ann Arbor, MI 48106; Phone: (313) 763-5131; E-mail: Hofferth@umich.edu Website: www.umich.edu/-psid

Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency;

Three coordinated projects:;

• Denver Youth Survey,

• Pittsburgh Youth Study,

• Rochester Youth Development Study.

Probability sample of 4,544 inner-city youth, ages 7-15 in 1987.;

Denver: (N = 1,527) 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 year olds in 1987 living in stratified sample of households.;

Pittsburgh. (N = 1,517) First, fourth, and seventh graders attending public schools in 1988.;

Rochester: (N = 1000), 7th and 8th graders attending public schools in 1998.

Youth at high risk for serious delinquency (all three states).

Denver: Annual interviews; 1998-1992, 1994-1999.;

Pittsburgh: Youngest and oldest cohorts—every 6 months, 1988-1991; annually, 1994-1999. Middle cohort—every 6 months, 1988-1991.;

Rochester: Every six months, 1988-1992; annually, 1994-1997. Potential continuation through 2002.

Delinquency. Violent behavior. Drug use/abuse. Gang membership. Psychopathology. Victimization. Employment. Sexual behavior and pregnancy. Use of mental health services.

Individual. Peer. Family and parenting. Schools. Neighborhood opportunities and social disorganization.

Common measures and analyses;

three states.;

Common measures and collaborative analyses possible and in progress with other longitudinal research projects.

Monetary or merchandise incentives across all youth and parent respondents.

Face-to-face interviews in private settings with youth provided to caretakers.;

Archival data from police, courts, schools, social services.

Program information: David Huizinga Institute of Behavioral and primary Science University of Colorado; Phone: (303) 492-1266;

Denver study: David Huizinga (see above);

Pittsburgh study: Rolf Loeber Life History Studies University of Pittsburgh; Phone: (412) 383-1015;

Rochester Study: Terrence Thornberry School of Criminal Justice University of Albany; Phone: (518) 442-5218

Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN);

Two studies in one:

• Community survey (CS)

• Longitudinal cohort study (LCS)

1. CS: Split Chicago into 343 neighborhood clusters (NCs) using 1990 Census data. All clusters were in the sample for CS. Target number of interviews to complete = 9,260 (interview one person 18+ years old in each chosen household).;

2. LCS: 7,000 children and youth (ages prenatal to 18) and their families from 80 randomly selected, representative NCs.

• Seven cohorts of 1,000 each (0-1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 year olds in 1996).

• 50% male/50% female.

• Balanced representation of African American, Latino, white, and mixed communities.

• Three socioeconomic levels based on income.

• Includes children from all social classes in each ethnic group.; (Added in 1994) Infant Study: 400 infants, ages 5-7 months

None.

1. CS: Completed in 1996.;

2. LCS: Study will cover 8-year period from 1995-2003.

• Uses "accelerated longitudinal design"—nine different age groups (from ages 0 to 18) will be followed over the 8 years.

• Annual interviews.

How social and physical environments affect human development, specifically origin and development of social competence vs. antisocial behavior.

Community.;

Neighborhood.;

Family.;

Peers.;

Individual characteristics.;

Schools.

$30 incentive payment is given.;

As an added incentive, participants' names are entered in a monthly lottery of $100.

1. CS:

• Interviews with households and key community members.

• Systematic observations of the communities' physical and social characteristics.

• Official records.;

2. LCS:

• Field interviews with individuals using computer (in English, Spanish, and Polish).

Stephen Buka Harvard School of Public Health 677 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115-6028; Phone: (617) 432-3870

Survey of Program Dynamics for Assessing Welfare Reform (SPD);

Three components:

• 1992 and 1993 SIPP (1992-1996)

• SPI) Bridge Survey (1997)

• SPD surveys (1998-2002)

35,000 respondents from 1992-1993 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).;

Bridge Survey: 30,000 successful interviews.;

1998 SPD: Expects to include approximately 18,500 households.

1998 SPD: all households under 150% of poverty level and all households with children under 200% poverty level will be included; others will be subsampled.

Data collected will cover a 10-year period that includes pre- and post-welfare reform.

• SIPP 1992: covers 1992, 1993, and 1994.

• SIPP 1993: covers 1993,1994, and 1995.

• Bridge Survey: covers 1996 (and will get some informationfrom SIPP 1992 participants about 1995); conducted from April to June 1997.

• 1998 SPD: covers 1997; conducted from April to June 1998.

• 1999 SPD: covers 1998; conducted in spring 1999.

• Until 2002, SPD will be administered every spring.

Dynamics of income and program participation, child well-being, evaluation of welfare reform.

Economics.;

Social characteristics.;

Household characteristics.;

Program participation.;

Eligibility and money income.;

In-kind benefits and services received from programs, employment, earned-income, and income from other sources.;

Family composition.;

Child well-being and environment.

Social Security number will allow links to earnings records; contextual information on welfare programs in sample counties being collected by Univ. of Wisconsin.

$20 incentive payment given to a sample of low-income respondents in 1997.

In-person and computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI).;

Self-administered adolescent survey.;

Surveys done in Spanish and English.;

Will conduct a reinterview.

Michael McMahon SPD Operations Manager Demographic Surveys Division Washington, DC 20233-8400; Phone: (301) 457-3819; Fax: (301) 457-2306; E-mail: Michael.F. McMahon@census.gov;

Daniel H. Weinberg Principal Investigator Housing and Household Economics Statistics Division U.S. Bureau of the Census Washington, DC 20233-8500; Phone: (301) 457-3234; Fax: (301) 457-3248; E-mail: Daniel.H. Weinberg@census.gov

Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

10,317 women and men who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. Sample has been supplemented with all twins and with a randomly selected brother or sister of approximately 5,000 graduates.

No oversamples, excepting a small number of twin pairs.

Data have been collected irregularly and at relatively long intervals from graduates (spring 1957), parents of graduates (1964), graduates (1975), 2,000 siblings (1977), graduates (1992-93), and 5,000 siblings (1993-94). Next planned contact will be in 2000 or 2001.

Effects of social background, ability, and aspirations on post-secondary schooling, occupational standing, and earnings; family formation; sibling resemblance; and health, especially women's health.

Families (including parents, siblings, and children of graduates), schools and colleges, communities, employers.

Data have been linked to selected high school records of graduates and siblings, Wisconsin state tax records of parents, Social Security earnings (of men only), Census geography, college and employer characteristics. Social Security numbers and other identifiers provide a link to the National Death Index for parents, graduates, and siblings, and offer possible future linkages to OASDI and Medicare records.

No tangible incentives have ever been offered, except to a very small subsample now participating in a small biomedical study.

Surveys of graduates, parents, and siblings by telephone and mail. More than 85 percent of survivors of the original cohort of graduates participated in the 1992-93 telephone interview.

Robert M. Hauser (hauser@ssc.wisc.edu), Vilas Research Professor of Sociology University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive Madison, WI 53706; E-mail to wls@ssc.wisc.edu.; Documentation and public data files are available at: http://dpls.dacc.wisc.edu/WLS/.