Glossary of Terms


 

This glossary provides terms used in the NLSY97 questionnaires and User's Guide. The glossary is divided into two sections. The first section, "NLS Survey Terms," defines terms pertinent to the entire NLS project. The second section "Terms Used in NLSY97 Interviews," includes terms used during the NLSY97 interview that relate to specific questions. The definitions in the latter section are available to interviewers and respondents during survey administration.

 

Section 1: NLS Survey Terms

This section defines terms related to survey management and data dissemination that researchers should understand when working with the NLS cohorts. 

Any word search
This search function allows users to select any word or words and to view all variables that contain those words in their titles.

Area of interest
Variables are grouped by common topical areas.  The data set includes a search function so that users can view variables in an area of interest.

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)
This test measures the applicant's knowledge and skills in a number of topical areas and is used by the military to produce a general standard of trainability and enlistment eligibility for the Armed Forces.  The computer adaptive form of the test, the CAT-ASVAB, was administered to NLSY97 respondents during round 1.  This test was sponsored by the Department of Defense.

Audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI)
Self-administered portions of NLSY97 instruments use an ACASI system that allows the respondent to listen to the questions and response categories being read over headphones.  ACASI sections can be heard in either English or Spanish.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
This agency of the U.S. Department of Labor sponsors and oversees the National Longitudinal Surveys project.

CAT-ASVAB
See Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).

Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR)
A research unit at The Ohio State University, CHRR is responsible for NLSY97 variable creation, documentation and dissemination of the data, and user services.

Check item
Check questions are used during the course of the interview to identify the sample universe and denote the skip pattern for a particular set of questions.  These questions are answered based on previous responses or direct observations, without asking the respondent.

Children of the NLSY79
This survey group comprises all children born to female NLSY79 respondents.  The group was first surveyed in 1986 and has been reinterviewed biennially.  Since 1994, a separate survey has been administered to children age 15 and older, referred to as the "Young Adults."

Codeblock
Information about each variable is presented in a consistent form called a codeblock.  Most codeblocks provide users with the variable title, reference number, question number, survey year, coding information, and a frequency distribution.

Codebook
In the NLS Investigator software, the codebook contains complete information about all the variables in a data set.  It comprises a number of codeblocks presenting information about each variable.

Cohort
A cohort is a group of people who share similar characteristics at a particular point in time.

Computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI)
These interviews are administered using a survey instrument on a laptop computer.  CAPI allows for more complex questionnaire programming, bounded interviewing, and faster data dissemination than with PAPI interviews.

Created variables
Created by survey staff after the interview, this type of variable may be based on information provided by the respondents or obtained from other outside sources.  These variables can be found under the "Created Variables" area of interest in the data set.

Current Population Survey (CPS)
Conducted by the Census Bureau, these monthly interviews collect up-to-date information about the number of persons in the country who are employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force in a specific survey week.  Labor force status questions included in rounds 1 and 4 of the NLSY97 were the same as the CPS questions used to determine employment status and were administered as closely as possible to the method used by the Census Bureau so that findings are comparable.

Date of Last Interview (DLI)
DLI, which stands for "date of last [most recent] interview," is a common abbreviation found in NLS question titles.  Because an NLSY respondent may not be able to interview each survey year, many questions are designed to pick up information all the back to the respondent's previous interview. Similar abbreviations include SDLI (since date of last interview), LINT (last interview), and PDLI (prior to date of last interview).    

Employment Status Recode (ESR)
Available in round 1 and round 4, ESR is a variable created from information collected on employment status in the week before the survey.  It provides a standardized employment status code for each member of the sample. 

Geocode
Geographic codes, published by the National Bureau of Standards as the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), are assigned to NLSY97 respondents' residences.  They can be used to match NLS data with other data (e.g., City and County Data Books).  To preserve respondent confidentiality, geocode data are available only to researchers who satisfactorily complete a BLS accessing agreement. 

Household Income Update
This one-page paper instrument, administered to a parent of respondents still living at home, collects information about the income of the parent and his or her spouse or partner.

Household unit
A single room, or group of rooms, that is intended as separate living quarters for a family, a group of unrelated persons living together, or for a person living alone.

Independent youth
A respondent with at least one of the following characteristics:  is age 18 or older, has had a child, is enrolled in a 4-year college, has ever been married or is in a marriage-like relationship at the time of the survey, is no longer enrolled in school, or is living outside his or her parent-figure's home.

Industry Census code
A 3-digit numeric code from the 1990 Industrial Classification System used by the Census Bureau to assign codes to industries (Census Bureau. 1990 Census of Population Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations.  Washington, DC:  U.S. Government Printing Office, 1991).

Int.
This is an abbreviation for interview.

Longitudinal study
A longitudinal study follows the same group of individuals over an extended period of time. 

Mature Women cohort
This group of 5,083 respondents born in April of 1922 through March of 1937 (ages 30-44 on March 31, 1967) was first interviewed in 1967 and was surveyed 21 times before its discontinuation in 2003.  The Mature Women cohort is one of the four NLS Original Cohorts.

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79)
This group of 12,686 male and female respondents was first interviewed in 1979 and has been interviewed a total of 23 times through 2009.  Respondents in this cohort were born in 1957 through 1964 (ages 14-21 as of December 31, 1978).

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)
Respondents born in 1980-1984 (ages 12-16 as of December 31, 1996), were selected for inclusion in the newest NLS cohort.  The NLSY97 numbers 8,984 respondents.

National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
Associated with the University of Chicago, NORC is responsible for the management of the NLSY97 cohort and collection of the data.

Occupation Census code
A 3-digit numeric code from the 1990 Occupational Classification System used by the Census Bureau to assign codes to occupations (Census Bureau.  1990 Census of Population Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations.  Washington, DC:  U.S. Government Printing Office, 1991).

Older Men cohort
This group of 5,020 respondents born in April of 1906 through March of 1921 (ages 45-59 on March 31, 1966) was first interviewed in 1966 and was subsequently surveyed 12 additional times before its discontinuation in 1990.  The Older Men cohort is one of the four NLS Original Cohorts.

Original Cohorts
The four cohorts (Older Men, Mature Women, Young Men, and Young Women) selected in 1966 and first surveyed between 1966 and 1968.

Paper-and-pencil interview (PAPI)
Although the NLSY97 surveys have been almost entirely administered using computerized instruments, traditional paper-and-pencil instruments were used for some screening interviews and for the administration of the Household Income Update.

Peabody Individual Achievement Test Math Assessment (PIAT Math)
The Peabody Individual Achievement Test Math Assessment, which was given to a subset of the NLSY97 cohort, measures the respondent's ability in mathematics.  The math assessment is one subtest in the full PIAT battery.

Primary Sampling Unit (PSU)
A primary sampling unit (PSU), as defined by NORC, is composed of either a single county (or the equivalent), a group of counties, or an SMSA and is based on population and area constraints.  PSUs are the basic unit of sample selection for the NLSY97.

Profiles of American Youth (PAY97)
The name given to describe the ASVAB tests taken by the NLSY97 respondents from summer 1997 to spring 1998.  The ASVAB, a military enlistment test, was administered to NLSY97 respondents and to other youths selected during the same screening process by the Department of Defense in an effort to establish new norms for the recruits entering the Armed Forces.

R
This is an abbreviation for "respondent."

Reference number
A reference number is a unique identifying number, originally beginning with "R," which is assigned to each variable in the data set.  Reference numbers never change after they are assigned to the variables from an interview even as additional information is added to the data set from later surveys.  Users should not that, because available "R" numbers were exhausted, beginning in round 6 new reference numbers start with "S."

Sampling weights
A numeric value calculated on the basis of each respondent's characteristics (gender, ethnicity, year of birth, sample type, and location).  The value, which is adjusted for differential probabilities of selection into the sample and for attrition, allows for population estimates. 

School surveys
Supplemental surveys of the high schools in the NLSY97 primary sampling units, conducted in 1996 and 2000-01.  The school surveys XE "School surveys"  collected information about school characteristics (enrollment, library size, vocational programs, ethnic diversity of students and teachers, etc.) and school-based learning programs.

Screener, Household Roster, and Nonresident Roster Questionnaire
The simple and extended screener sections were administered in round 1 to the initial sample of households to locate respondents eligible for the NLSY97.  NORC interviewers screened 75,291 households to identify eligible respondents based on age, race, and ethnicity.  If an eligible youth resided in the household, the remainder of the questionnaire (household roster and nonresident roster) was administered to collect basic demographic information about other household residents and key nonresident relatives.

Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA)
An SMSA, defined by the Census Bureau, consists of one or more entire counties containing at least one city (or twin cities) having a population of 50,000 or more plus adjacent metropolitan counties that are economically and socially integrated with the central city.  In New England, towns and cities rather than counties are the basis for defining an SMSA.  SMSA boundaries may cross state lines.

Transcript survey
At two separate points in time, survey staff collected high school transcripts from respondents' high schools after respondents were no longer enrolled as high school students and coded information from these transcripts for use by researchers. The NLSY97 transcript survey processed high school transcripts from 1,417 respondents in 1999-2000 (Wave 1) and from 4,815 respondents in 2004 (Wave 2) for a combined total of 6,232 respondents. 

Young Men cohort
This group of 5,225 respondents born in April 1941 though March 1952 (ages 14-24 on March 31, 1966) was first interviewed in 1966 and was subsequently surveyed 11 additional times before its discontinuation in 1981.  The Young Men cohort is one of the four NLS Original Cohorts.

Young Women cohort
This group of 5,159 respondents born in 1943 though 1953 (ages 14-24 on December 31, 1967) was first interviewed in 1968 and was surveyed a total of 22 times through 2003, when it was discontinued.  The Young Women cohort is one of the four NLS Original Cohorts.

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Section 2: Terms Used in NLSY97 Interviews

Most of the terms in this section are defined for interviewers and respondents in "help screens"-screens that may be referred to during an interview if a respondent or an interviewer needs further clarification of a term or concept.  A few terms are defined within the text of the applicable question.  These terms may be found in the Youth Questionnaire, the round 1 Parent Questionnaire, or the round 1 Screener, Household Roster, and Nonresident Roster Questionnaire

Active forces
An umbrella term used to refer to the regular branches of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force) as a group.  The Reserve and Guard components of these branches are not included.

Active job search
An active job search is one that could have resulted in a job offer without further action on the part of the job seeker.  Methods include: