The NLSY97 Sample: An Introduction

Official Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), part of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) program

Age of cohort: Born between 1980 and 1984. At the time of first interview, respondents' ages ranged from 12 to 18. The respondents were 22 to 28 at the time of their round 11 interviews (Round 11 is the most recent data release, fielded in 2007-2008)

Number of respondents in survey: 8,984 individuals initially interviewed in round 1. A little more than 82 percent (7,418) of the round 1 sample were interviewed in round 11.

Gender: 4,599 (51%) males and 4,385 (49%) females in initial survey

Race/ Ethnicity (in initial survey):

Non-black/non-Hispanic: 4,665 (51.9%)

Black: 2,335 (26%)

Hispanic or Latino: 1,901 (21.2%)

Mixed: 83 (0.9%)

Subsample design: Two subsamples comprise the NLSY97 cohort (see variable denoted as CV_SAMPLE_TYPE in Investigator) :

a cross-sectional sample of 6,748 respondents designed to be representative of people living in the United States during the initial survey round and born between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1984. (For more information on representativeness of sample, see NLSY97 Technical Sampling Report (2000)

a supplemental sample of 2,236 respondents designed to oversample Hispanic or Latino and black people living in the United States during the initial survey round and born during the same period as the cross-sectional sample.

Number of survey rounds available to the public thus far: 11 rounds (access data at www.nlsinfo.org/investigator). Round 12 data are scheduled for release in July 2010.

Types of information gathered in survey:

Labor market behavior

Educational experiences (high school, college, training)

Family background (including data collected from parent in round 1)

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (measures knowledge and skills including reading and mathematics)

High school information received from respondents' schools and from respondents' school transcripts

Government program participation

Family life (marital status, fertility, and child care)

Health issues

Assets and income

Table 1: An overview of the NLSY97 cohort across survey years

Table 1. NLSY97 Sample Sizes by Subsample, Race/Ethnicity & Gender

	Cross-sectional Sample						Supplemental Sample
	Total sample	Cross-sect. total	Non-black, non-Hisp.	Black, non-Hisp.	Hispanic or Latino	Mixed race	Supp. total	Black, non-Hisp.	Hispanic or Latino	Mixed race
Round 1
Male	4599	3459	2413	537	469	40	1140	632	508	--
Female	4385	3289	2252	544	452	41	1096	622	472	2
Total	8984	6748	4665	1081	921	81	2236	1254	980	2
Round 2
Male	4283	3213	2238	504	433	38	1070	599	471	--
Female	4103	3066	2095	517	417	37	1037	584	451	2
Total	8386	6279	4333	1021	850	75	2107	1183	922	2
Round 3
Male	4169	3143	2193	490	421	39	1026	572	454	--
Female	4039	3029	2076	503	412	38	1010	568	441	1
Total	8208	6172	4269	993	8330	77	2036	1140	895	1
Round 4
Male	4116	3097	2153	485	422	37	1019	580	439	--
Female	3964	2957	2027	489	402	39	1007	570	435	2
Total	8080	6054	4180	974	824	76	2026	1150	874	2
Round 5
Male	3988	3011	2110	455	410	36	977	541	436	--
Female	3894	2907	1991	478	401	37	987	558	427	2
Total	7882	5918	4101	933	811	73	1964	1099	863	2
Round 6
Male	3997	2995	2083	466	410	36	1002	567	435	--
Female	3899	2903	1973	486	408	36	996	568	426	2
Total	7896	5898	4056	952	818	72	1998	1135	861	2
Round 7
Male	3928	2951	2060	460	395	36	977	555	422	--
Female	3826	2831	1916	482	396	37	995	564	429	2
Total	7754	5782	3976	942	791	73	1972	1119	851	2
Round 8
Male	3732	2816	1966	433	383	34	916	506	410	--
Female	3770	2784	1866	491	390	37	986	563	421	2
Total	7502	5600	3832	924	773	71	1902	1069	831	2
Round 9
Male	3666	2734	1910	424	367	33	932	523	409	--
Female	3672	2703	1820	473	376	34	969	561	406	2
Total	7338	5437	3730	897	743	67	1901	1084	815	2
Round 10
Male	3803	2850	1988	445	385	32	953	535	418	--
Female	3756	2774	1867	490	380	37	982	567	413	2
Total	7559	5624	3855	935	765	69	1935	1102	831	2
Round 11
Male	3735	2803	1954	441	374	34	932	519	413	--
Female	3683	2718	1826	483	376	33	965	552	411	2
Total	7418	5521	3780	924	750	67	1897	1071	824	2

Note: This table was created using the following variables: CV_SAMPLE_TYPE (R12358.), KEY!RACE_ETHNICITY (R14826.), KEY!SEX (R05363.), and RNI (R25102., R38297., etc).

Funding Sources for the NLSY97:

Basic funding to collect data on youth labor force experiences and investments in education is through the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The following special sets of questions have been funded as indicated:

Various questions in the self-administered portion of the Youth Questionnaire, including questions on health, fertility, and social relationships, have been funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

The 1996 and 2000 school surveys, which collected information from all high schools with a 12^th grade in the 147 NLSY97 primary sampling units as well as the collection and coding of high school transcripts, were funded by the Department of Education. See School & Transcript Surveys for details and availability information.

Questions on crime and criminal activities found in the self-administered portion of the Youth Questionnaire were sponsored by the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. These questions are described in Crime, Delinquency & Arrest.

The round 1 administration of the ASVAB, a military enlistment test that was given to NLSY97 respondents, was jointly sponsored by the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor. See Administration of the CAT-ASVAB for further details.