NLSY79 Interim Release: Updates to Documentation 02/05/2016

Release Date: 2/5/2016

While a little bit of work remains on some of the items listed below, there have been some substantial adjustments made to the following with respect to the documentation for the R25 interim release:

• The WORK HISTORY - DUAL JOBs array has been broken into 4 separate arrays (WORK HISTORY - DUAL JOB 1, WORK HISTORY - DUAL JOB 2, etc.). The single array was reaching a threshold which would make it impossible to display as one array. Users can now display each Dual Job array individually.
• Question names (qnames) for Round 15 (1993) have been somewhat of an anomaly. As the first survey year in which the questionnaire was fielded only in electronic form, the question names were not all comparable to the subsequent questionnaires, as the instrument evolved.  Consequently, the qnames for many 1993 variables have simply been their reference numbers, which complicated searches for specific variables that might be comparable in other survey years. In this interim release, 1993 variable qnames have now been reassigned so as to be more comparable with other survey year variables. This should reduce considerably the need to search 1993 separately to locate variables comparable to other survey years.
• Data items related to the 1978 screener survey have been assigned their own area of interest (1978 SCREENER) and their own survey year (78SCRN). Please be aware that the area of interest contains some additional variables not found in the survey year 78SCRN. While variables assigned to 78SCRN are variables that were actually collected in 1978, those found in the area of interest 1978 SCREENER include some 1979 variables that were collected or recorded as part of the 1979 data, but refer back in some way to the 1978 screener.
• Most question names for CPS items from 1979-1993 have been reassigned to facilitate searching the questions in these sections. The CPS questionnaire sections were very similar in structure for those survey years. However, the qnames were often not very consistent for comparable variables. While there are still a few sets of qname revisions to be made in these sections, substantial changes made for this interim release should make it much easier to identify comparable variables through survey years from 1979-1993. These qname adjustments also more clearly identify variables that were collected in the CPS section from 1979-1993 but were collected only in the Employer Supplements in 1994 and subsequent survey years. The CPS section underwent significant modifications in 1994. Qnames in 1994 and subsequent survey years are comparable to each other.
• Researchers using household roster items will find far more consistency in qnames throughout the roster items. Household roster items are found in the HOUSEHOLD RECORD area of interest. Qnames for roster items from 1979 through the present interview now begin with 'HHI_FINAL_'. Household roster items from the screener begin with 'HHI_SCREENER_'.
• Qnames and variable titles for data items contained in the PERIODS NOT WORKING WITHIN JOB TENURE area of interest have been adjusted in a similar manner so that researchers may more reliably search and identify comparable variables.
• Users Guide links were added to the remainder of 2012 (round 25) variables for which they were missing.
• In one of the extremely rare instances in which reference numbers have been altered, five sets of date variables in survey year 1996 only have been adjusted slightly. These variables were collected in a Month and Year format (DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB ###), but were inadvertently released in a Day/Month/Year format. The 'day' variables containing invalid data were eliminated. This caused the reference numbers for the 'month' and 'year' variables to be incrementally adjusted, resulting in the new series of reference numbers. The affected variables are as follows:

Some smaller sets of modifications have been made for the interim release as well, including the following:

• The JOB INFORMATION area of interest was dropped from some small sets of variables, including Fringe Benefits, some Firm Size items and Tenure items. The JOB INFORMATION area of interest has been too large to display for quite some time. We will continue to shift some items out of JOB INFORMATION and into more substantively more useful areas of interest as time allows.
• Qnames for Firm Size variables were reassigned consistently in each survey year they were asked and were assigned to their own EMPLOYER FIRMSIZE area of interest.